Pigs shipped south for slaughter as crisis hits
Moves have been made to mitigate the crisis in the Scottish pig industry brought about by the shortage of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas used at the main processing plant in the pre-stunning stage at slaughter.
Quality Meat Scotland has granted a temporary derogation to allow pigs which would have been processed at the Brechin plant to be transported to a plant south of the Border and still remain eligible for the Specially Selected Pork brand which earns a premium on shop shelves.
Meanwhile, NFU Scotland has asked UK Business Secretary Greg Clark that pig processors be given priority ahead of other industries when distributing the short supply of CO2 gas.
In his letter to the minister, union president Andrew Mccornick said that in order to maintain the high levels of animal welfare which Scottish farmers and processers were proud of, it was imperative that the processing plants had enough CO2 to continue to process pigs and poultry.
The issue has arisen with the closure earlier this week of Scotland’s largest pig processing site at Brechin due to a lack of CO2.
While recognising that other businesses would be affected by the CO2 shortage, Mccornick said that, given the potential impact on animal welfare if slaughter businesses were unable to operate, there was a “need for government intervention to ensure available supplies are directed towards slaughterhouses”.
Meanwhile, Alan Clarke, chief executive of QMS, said his organisation was keen to limit the impact of the temporary closure of the Brechin abattoir which, prior to its shut down this week, handled two thirds of all pigs produced in Scotland.
One QMS move, taken after consultation with the companies involved, the Scottish SPCA and wider industry representatives, was the granting of a temporary derogation which would allow pigs eligible for the Specially Selected Pork brand and which would have been slaughtered at Brechin, to be slaughtered in an abattoir at Ashton.
Clarke said: “The shortage of CO2 affecting the Brechin premises has created an exceptional set of circumstances.
“Our decision to grant a temporary derogation reflects that exceptional situation and has been taken in the best interests of the Scottish pig industry.”
With other food and drink manufacturers, including multi-national companies, caught up in the CO2 shortage, gas manufacturing factories which had been shut down for routine maintenance are being brought back into production leaving an industry analyst to predict that the shortage scare would be over within a week.