Pig farmers 'slowly but surely coming out the other side' as prices begin to creep upwards
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Pig farmers are "slowly but surely coming out the other side" of the "horrendous situation" they have faced for the past 18 months or so as prices are beginning to creep upwards.
Farmers are gearing up to attend the Irish Pig Health Society (IPHS) Symposium 2023 next week, with secretary Shane McAuliffe saying that a big talking point for those attending the gathering will be the difficult conditions that pig farmers have been operating in.
He said that it will "take a long time for the substantial losses on farms to be recouped" following this very challenging period.
"Our breeding herd is at its lowest number in 35 years so the scarcity of pigs needs to be reflected in the price we are receiving,” Mr McAuliffe told the .
The IPHS Symposium, which is the country’s largest pig event and attracts a diverse group due to the array of keynote speakers and the presence of industry and pig farmers alike, takes place at the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise on Tuesday, April 18.
The theme of this year's event is 'Quality over quantity by maximising health and efficiency'.
In the last week, the TAMS 3 Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme opened up to help farmers invest in animal welfare and energy efficient measures, and Mr McAuliffe said that this has been reflected in some of the new exhibitors that will be at this year's symposium, "as we welcome companies working in the renewable energy sector".
"There is a lot of talk about solar energy at the moment, and indeed we have renewable energy expert Barry Caslin from Teagasc as one of our keynote speakers," Mr McAuliffe said.
"Well-known pig consultant Stephen Hall is coming over from the UK to speak about sow longevity, and Canadian sow lactation biology researcher Chantal Farmer will be discussing her expert area."
A farmer discussion panel will also take place, "and I have no doubt there will be many topical issues up for discussion," Mr McAuliffe added.
Thomas Gallagher, who works for MSD Animal Health in the integrated livestock business unit, will take over the proceedings of the event in his first year as IPHS president.
According to Teagasc, pig prices rose gradually over the course of 2022 to reduce monthly losses, however, despite this increase and significant state support to the sector in 2022, the average pig farm will have incurred losses of over €400,000 last year.
Pig prices are forecast to continue to improve in 2023.
A 22% increase in pig prices is predicted, and according to Teagasc economists, this would restore profitability in the sector to a more normal level.
Pig production is expected to fall slightly this year, a result of the contraction of the sow herd that occurred in 2022.
The Irish Farmers' Association's latest pig market update from April 12 said that there was no change to Irish pig prices last Friday, with farmers reporting quotes of €2.28 as an average Irish price.
Some farmers are reporting top prices of circa €2.36 – €2.38 with some processors.
Irish pig prices generally averaged higher than the average EU price.
The average European pig price for week 13 was €2.36 per kg according to the European Commission for a grade E carcass pig, which is 26% higher than the price for the same week last year.
A significant tightening of pig supplies across the EU has been reflected in prices being driven on further since week 13 in some member states.
The weekly throughput for the week ending April 9 was 64,252, of which 1,346 were sows. The Republic of Ireland weekly pig kill is running 11% below this time last year.
According to Bord Bia, Irish pigmeat exports contributed €540m to the Irish exchequer in 2022 (up 2% on 2021) representing 13% of the total value of food, drink, and horticulture exports.
The volume of pigmeat exported last year totalled 228,000 tonnes, down 20,000 tonnes on 2021.
Speaking on Friday's Teagasc Signpost webinar, Ger McCutcheon, specialist pig development officer said that Ireland produces about 2% of the European pigmeat supply.
Mr McCutcheon said that the exceptional increases in feed and energy prices last year greatly added to the cost of production for farmers, leading to "such a fallout of sows from the system, and a number of pig producers have got out of production as a result of the margins that are there".
"The pig sector is a capital-intensive operation - a lot of money is invested in buildings, in stock, and obviously in feed, on an ongoing basis," he said.
"You need to be able to make sure that your production costs are not going to exceed the price that you get for your pigs."
