Pig farmers under pressure as banks refuse them credit

A lack of credit has combined with the rocketing price of feed to the extent that animal welfare in the county is at risk, according to some distressed farmers. Numerous pig farmers have told The Anglo-Celt that they are selling pigs at a loss and that is compounding an already perilous situation. There are around 150,000 sows in the Republic of Ireland today (approximately 30,000 in Cavan, which is competing with Cork for the number one spot). If cashflow does not improve, a mill and a factory will be lost, 15,000 hectares of grain will not be required and 750 jobs and exports of €40m will disappear, Teagasc advisor Seamus Clarke said last week. There are units on the brink of closure and if they run out of money, they run out of feed. The Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, met the Irish Banking Federation last Thursday, one of a series of meetings at which he has stressed the need for banks to provide credit to farmers and the food industry. Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Andrew Doyle was in Cavan last week to hear about the hardship experienced due to lack of credit lines; he said the real killer was the cost of inputs. Millers have told farmers that they can't afford to supply them unless they have the money to pay and it was paramount the credit crisis was addressed, so that farmers can trade their way out of this situation. Cllr. Winston Bennett said a lot of jobs depends on the pig sector and the crisis needs to be sorted. It is also important that the sector is put back on a sound footing to take advantage of Harvest 2020, which forecasts an increase in production. Teagasc advisor Seamus Clarke says many farmers have around 1,500 sows and they usually sell 50,000kg of carcass. They get €67,000 for that, but people buying that product in a supermarket pay €400,000. All his work at present with pig farmers is related to finance, Mr. Clarke said. The Irish herd consumes about 80,000 tons of feed monthly: in January, 2010, it would have cost €19m to purchase that feed, and now in January, 2011 it costs €25m. The price of feed went up €71 per ton by January of this year. The pig that was fed for €70 last year would cost €91 to feed at present and is likely to go to €100. The farmer is getting €1.39 a kilo for pigs and it costs €1.55 to rear them. This could go to €1.65 in the course of a few months. However, Mr. Clarke pointed out that if the problems with the banks can be sorted, the future for the pig industry in Ireland is excellent and farmers could be at least be breaking even by May or June. He also expects feed prices to decline after August of this year. “The immediate problems that confronts pig farmers is the fact that there is no money there to purchase feed,†he said. Wheat was €140 ton last June, today it is more than €250 per ton though there is positive news in respect of the wheat harvest in Australia. Asked if pigs could die, Mr. Clarke said that if farmers can't get feed, there will be a welfare issue there. “That is a place we don't want to go,†he said. He also revealed that farmers were putting pigs into factories at present below the optimum weight because of the lack of cash, something that's bad for farmers and processors. Fine Gael TD Seymour Crawford says “the time for talking is overâ€. “Minister Smith and the government must find a way to rectify this situation and find a mechanism to save the industry,†he added. Senator Joe O'Reilly told the Seanad that “pig farmers are on the verge of going out of business, and one large piggery in Cork did just that recentlyâ€. He asked the leader of the house to facilitate a debate with Minister Smith as soon as possible to discuss the crisis in the pig industry. “The debate should take place immediately, even if we have to extend the sitting of the House,†he said.