Source: UK Farmer’s Weekly, 5 October 2021, photo credit: Fanpop
Pig producers are demonstrating in Manchester on Monday morning (4 October) close to the Conservative Party conference, to raise awareness about the crisis affecting their sector.
Pig numbers have been building up on farms for weeks due to the shortage of slaughterhouse workers, and has got to the point where a welfare cull of about 150,000 animals is said to be imminent.
Last week, it was reported that one Yorkshire farmer had already been driven to cull healthy piglets for lack of room on his farm.
The Manchester demonstration is being attended by about 50 farmers, suppliers and vets. One placard read “Take a butchers Boris, you’re killing our industry”, while another declared “All we want for Christmas is our pigs in blankets”.
The demo was organised in just a few days by East Yorkshire producers Vicky and Kate Morgan.
They keep about 1,700 breeding sows on their farm and would normally supply 900 bacon weight pigs a week, though this has been reduced by 25% for the past 11 weeks due to the factory slow down.
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.
