Pig price has remained static and pig farmers are losing €25 for every pig they slaughter, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) pigs committee chair Roy Gallie told the Irish Farmers Journal on Tuesday 12 December.

After seven price drops over the course of the last three months, the current average pig price is sitting at €2.11/kg.

This price, Gallie explained, is below break-even for a lot of the 270 pig farmers left around the country, describing the sums of money being lost on each of these farms as "frightening".

At a meeting in Portlaoise on Wednesday 6 December, which was organised by the IFA, pig farmers called on processors - namely Kepak, Rosderra and Dawn Meats - to give producers a higher price for their pigs.

"We're down €25 per pig and, for me as a small farmer - I've got 180 sows - that per annum is €100,000 in losses. That's more than the money the Government have given me to keep me in business.

"I got €80,000 for my farm in exceptional aid this year and the reduction in price from those seven drops in €100,000," he said.

Agri-Food Regulator

While the pressure remains firmly on processors in the short term for a price increase, Gallie said that the new Agri-Food regulator will hopefully help iron out the kinks in the supply chain.

"We've got to deal with the food chain; we've got Joe Healy as the new chair of the regulator, we've got Angus Woods on it and we've got Paul Brophy on it. So there's three very astute agri-business men on that board. Niamh Lenehen [CEO] comes from a legacy of insolvency, so she knows all about businesses going down the tube.

"We now have the skill base, I hope, to understand and hopefully deal with the breaks in the chain with regards to farmers' equitibility within the food chain," he said.