Boris Johnson must take action, says quitting pig farmer

A pig farmer who is quitting after 50 years said the prime minister has "lost the plot" over the industry crisis.

Peter Mortimer, 73, said rising costs and a lack of local labour were among issues that had made his business in Metfield, Suffolk, "unsustainable".

He described the proposed mass cull of pigs due to a shortage of abattoir workers as a "heartache" for farmers.

The government said it was "working closely" with the sector and understood the challenges it was facing.

"It's about time he [Boris Johnson] realised action is needed immediately to sort this problem out," said Mr Mortimer.

"He doesn't understand or doesn't want to understand the situation - he's lost the plot."

Mr Mortimer built up the family farm, near Harleston on the Norfolk border, in the 1960s.

He said he was "lucky" that any cull would not include his pigs, which were not yet ready for slaughter.

Asked why he was bowing out, he said: "There have been a few issues, but the straw that broke the camel's back was that I needed to employ some more staff, and I advertised locally and I got no response at all.

"The job involves getting your hands dirty - like abattoir work - and people don't want to get involved.

"We've also got high feed prices - wheat passed £200 a ton on Friday, and its unsustainable to feed pigs, with the prices we're getting [for them], for any length of time.

"My wife bought a shoulder of lamb the other day for £34 off a local butcher, and that is the price we will probably get for one sow today."

Mr Mortimer added that farmers were also expected to meet "high specifications" on quality, while struggling to compete with cheaper imports on price.

"What infuriates me more than anything is the crass comments we got from Boris Johnson at the weekend," he said.

Mr Johnson faced fury from farmers for appearing to dismiss their concerns about the mass cull when questioned on the Andrew Marr Show.

"I think it's despicable to even suggest slaughter and dumping.

"We had to go down this road 20 years ago for disease reasons, but at least there was a scheme where the government aided and helped," said Mr Mortimer.

"At the moment the government has just turned their back on the whole situation."

A government spokesperson said: "We understand the challenges that the pig industry has faced in recent months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, labour shortages, accessing CO2 supplies, and reduction in exports to the Chinese market.

"We are keeping the market situation under close review and working closely with the sector during this time."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]