Weeks from closure - pig farmer makes passionate plea

Pig farmers have endured quite the 18 months. Prices have tumbled from highs of nearly €1.90/kg in the summer of 2014 to €1.44/kg this time last year to €1.38/kg at present.

With the Teagasc-accepted cost of production figure of €1.60/kg, farmers have been losing thousands of euro every week and, as result, they have been exiting the sector.

The sector was always considered one with the most financially astute farmers – shrewd men and women who were more businessmen and women than farmers.

The sector is a focussed one. There are just 300 farmers with an average herd of 550 sows. It is these 300 farmers who have built €600m worth of buildings in order to remain compliant with animal welfare regulations.

However, whether it is the small producer of 200 sows or the large 2,000-sow unit, all pig farmers have seen prices and profits tumble.

One such farmer is Co Cavan-based pig farmer Frank Brady, who has worked in pig farming for 40 years.

“I got into pig farming when my mother bought a sow once after mass. At the minute and the way things are for me, I wish she had left the sow there,” he said.

Brady afforded the Irish Farmers Journal the opportunity to take a forensic look at his accounts and examine just how exposed he is to the rapid decrease in farmgate prices since 2014.

Despair, desolation, desperation and despondency. That would sum up how we are feeling

Brady, who runs a medium-sized herd just outside Cootehill, said there is little optimism among pig farmers in Ireland at present.

“[What is] the general mood [of pig farmers] at the minute? Despair, desolation, desperation and despondency. That would sum up how we are feeling,” Brady said.

“Things were very bad in 1998 but at least you could see an end to the problems at the time. I have absolutely no idea how we will get out of this scenario,” Brady added.

“Pig prices are at the equivalent of 16c/litre. We have seen the 100 and 200 sow farmer go bang, next will be the mid-sized, family farm model who pulls out.”

He has calculated his cost of production at €1.50/kg. The biggest aspect of his cost is feed, which equates to €1/kg. The remaining .50c/kg is made up of energy costs, wages (he has four staff), borrowings and other miscellaneous costs. Brady had his loans restructured with AIB last year and thanked his bank managers for working with him to find a solution.

Brady’s feed cost is quite extraordinary to the majority of farmers outside of the pig sector. Based on prices of €275/t to €280/t, Brady is spending €135,000 each month on feed costs alone.

The difference between €1.44/kg 12 months ago and €1.38/kg now equates to a loss of €1,850/week or nearly €8,000/month for Brady based on selling 375 pigs per week. These are losses which he describes as “unsustainable”.

“We have improved our efficiencies. We are doing our job very well but the returns aren’t there and that makes farming unsustainable at the present time. One of my favourite sayings is that everything coming up the lane into the yard is making a profit and a margin but everything I’m sending down the lane isn’t and is losing money. That’s just how it is for me,” he said.

Pig farmers attribute the woes in the sector to an oversupply in European production, the closure of the Russian market and input prices remaining high.

“We have the perfect storm in pig farming. Pig numbers throughout Europe have risen, the political unrest in Russian closed that very important market and feed prices have not fallen in line in the way they should have,” he said.

However, he does offer a potential solution to dealing with low prices in Ireland but it “requires buy-in from every pig farmer”.

“We have too many pigs. It’s as simple as that. With fewer markets to sell pigs into, the domestic market takes on a greater significance and when we have too many pigs then retailers hold the power over us.

“If we can get farmers to reduce sow numbers then we have a chance of making retailers fight more and pay more for what we have. I think we need to take 10,000 sows out of the system just to bring a balance. We could employ a person to go around to farmers to ensure that everyone is doing that.

“The domestic market is so important to us and we need more and more retailers using the Bord Bia quality assurance mark. We need people buying Irish assured pig products to support us. If we don’t then we’re gone. Simple as.”

IFA leadership

At a time when pig farmers are under enormous pressure, there has been a focus on the IFA pig committee. There have been talks of a split away from Bluebell to establish a new pig group and there has been an particular focus on current chair Pat O’Flaherty.

Brady has called on the committee to show leadership.

“The in-fighting and bickering is not doing anyone any good. As a former member of the IFA pig committee, it’s not something that I like to see happening at all.

“However, if there isn’t support there then people should take a long hard look at themselves and whether they should be there at all.

“Pig farmers are crying out for leadership and we’re not getting it. Leadership is needed. If that means one or two people taking a step back then so be it. People have to realise that there are bigger issues at play here.”

Brady is married to Addie and they have four children. Their eldest son Christopher works in a piggery in Co Kilkenny and their eldest daughter Ciara is in third year in UCD, with Marcus and Claudia both in secondary school.

“The eldest lad has an interest alright (in taking over the farm) but I won’t be encouraging him to do that. Why would I? Why would I and how could I subject him to this? We’re moving to a place where farming will be controlled by a few beef barons or pig barons. It’s pointless producing more for less. That’s a race to the bottom.

“We have seen farmers leave the sector this year alone. I’m the next one to go. Farmers like me are teetering on the edge of staying farming.

“If I didn’t have an understanding bank manager in AIB I’d be long gone. There’s only so long a bank manager can be understanding before he has to draw the line,” Brady concluded.