Scotland’s pig sector is ‘drowning not waving’
EMBATTLED pig producers have been given the ‘cold shoulder’ by the Scottish Government, according to NFU Scotland’s Pigs Committee chair Jamie Wyllie.
A month ago, NFUS wrote to the First Minister Nicola Surgeon and Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon to make the strongest case for support on behalf of the Scottish pork industry to help it to continue producing ‘ one of the most cost-efficient proteins currently available to produce in Scotland’.
The union’s board of directors then raised the same issues in person with the Cabinet Secretary fully two weeks ago – but it is still to receive a response.
“Input costs such as feed and electricity are at record highs, demand at abattoirs for product is low, pigs are starting to back up on farm and go out of spec again,” noted Mr Wyllie.
“We are still receiving a price that is about 20p per kilogram below cost of production and with the speed that the price has been rising over the last few weeks, this will take at least another 10 weeks to get to break even.
“Scottish Government talk about doing all they can to help the cost-ofliving crisis but, without intervention, we risk letting an entire food sector that is able to produce one of the most cost effective and carbon efficient proteins that our country can produce go to the wall.
“We have made two suggestions to Scottish Government and have received no feedback on either,” he said. “The first was a direct payment made to each pig farmer per sow to try and recover some of the losses that have been made over the last year. The pig sector is an unsupported sector, and we would not ask for direct support of this kind were the situation not dire.
“The second was a ‘bounce back loan’ Ongoers Scheme, which would have ScotGov covering the interest on loans, enabling us to fix the cost of our overdrafts and restructure debts that we have incurred over the last year.”
Mr Wyllie said that both requests were vital to ensure the longevity of the pig industry – the first to keep it in production now and the second to allow businesses to manage finances to ensure their future survival.