The UK Government has announced plans to carry out an immediate review of supply chain fairness in the pig sector.
Defra Farming Minister Victoria Prentis confirmed the review would take place after chairing a pig industry summit at Defra’s headquarters in London.
The summit, which was organised following calls from the National Pig Association (NPA) and NFU, comes as the backlog of slaughter-ready pigs waiting on British farms has risen to more than 200,000.
The backlog is a result of staff shortages in abattoirs and meat processing plants, with the NPA and NFU describing the situation as “dire”.
Ms Prentis said: “The sector has been faced with a range of challenges, including the loss of exports to the Chinese market for certain pig processors, global disruption to CO2 supplies, and global labour shortages and we want to support the industry to reduce the current backlog of pigs on farms.
“The effects on pig farmers have been devastating, and it is clear that many contractual arrangements are simply unfair.”
Ms Prentis added: “We want to hear from industry about improvements to fairness and transparency that could be made to ensure a profitable and productive future and we will begin engaging with industry on this straightaway with a consultation expected later this year.
“I want to reiterate my commitment to work with the sector to address the challenges they are facing, both in the short-term and the long-term.”
As the summit took place, pig farmers demonstrated outside Defra’s offices in York.
One of the farmers – Kate Morgan, who farms near Driffield in East Yorkshire – told the PA News agency: “We’re protesting to show our support and let them [Government] know that this meeting is vital to the industry; they must do something.”