Cowgirl

I tend to listen to the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2 most week days while walking my Boo. Friday the 29thMarch was no exception to the rule. I found the show very interesting this day. I knew agriculture in the U.K was struggling but was surprised and concerned and how desperate the pig farming industry seems to be.

The main problem the industry is facing at the moment is the ever increasing price of feed, which has almost doubled since Christmas, at a cost of £400 per ton for organic pig meal!! Ouch, that has gotta hurt… This is due to the poor harvest where wheat crops are produced in places such as Canada-brought about by the bad weather conditions. Also, places including India and China having high demand for wheat, pushes the prices up so high that it has a great chance of destroying the pig industry in the U.K. It is said that 95% of U.K pig farmers asked are seriously contemplating packing up pig farming for good.

As the production cost of pig meat rapidly increases, we would expect the super markets to increase the price they give to the farmers but so far this is not the case. The shops are continuing to make massive profits of BILLIONS of £’s, the pig farmers are suffering a massive loss of £26 per pig that leaves the farm to be slaughtered, and winds up in the Super market fridge or freezer, helping them wallow in their huge profits.. If this continues, the main % of pig meat purchased by the U.K public will be imported, which will then lead to serious concern for security!! An increase of £1.30 per kilo to the pig farmers should be enough to save the industry, which I personally think has got to be well worth the increase. There is also the option of feeding pigs on a cheaper feed of left overs from shops and restaurants but this would have to be closely monitored and strict guidelines followed, as there is a concern that disease such as Foot and Mouth can be caused from certain meats in the diets of livestock but if regulated correctly, this idea could be a good option…