Pig farmer demonstration urges Defra to help industry

Pig farmers have gathered outside a meeting with government officials to highlight a crisis in their industry.

Farmers from the across UK staged a demonstration outside York's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) building.

Up to 30 farmers, some wearing "Save Our Bacon" t-shirts and one dressed in a pig costume, unfurled banners.

Last year a shortage of butchers left farms overflowing with piglets and led to widespread culling.

The National Pig Association said the number of pigs having to be held on farms because of a shortage of butchers was estimated at more than 200,000 animals.

Kate Morgan, from East Yorkshire, said: "We need to let them know how important this meeting is to our industry."

Ms Morgan, who farms near Driffield, appealed for help and said pig farming would be "devastated" if the government did not take action.

Abattoir labour shortages are being blamed on factors including Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

The government announced measures last October that included allowing 800 foreign abattoir workers into the UK on temporary visas.

Speaking after the meeting, farming minister Victoria Prentis said the industry had faced challenges and the government wanted to reduce the current backlog of pigs on farms.

She said there would be an immediate review of the supply chain in the sector.

Ms Morgan said: "We're in a really desperate position.

"There's been about 35-40,000 pigs that we know that have been culled on farms and wasted.

"Forty independent farmers have decided to pack in and get out of pigs, which is devastating for the industry."

She called for continued government help and for the processors and the retailers to work together to clear the backlog.

Ms Morgan added: "It's just so wrong because it is not the farmers' fault".

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