The average cost of pig production has fallen back slightly this month but remains well ahead of the average prices being paid for pigmeat, meaning producers continue to lose, on average, in excess of £30/pig.
Wheat prices have come down since May highs of £330-350/tonne, although AHDB’s was still quoting nearly £270/tonne for feed wheat for November today.
As the feed ingredient market has eased slightly, the cost of production is currently estimated to be 231p/kg deadweight in July, down from 244p/kg in June. With current carcase weights around 88kg this would indicate a full economic cost of producing a pig at £203 per slaughter pig, according to AHDB analyst Carol Davis.
With SPP prices at 193.09p/kg and APP at 195.47p/kg, this equates to farmers losing between £31 and £33 per slaughter pig.
“As feed is always the key driver, any feed price movement has the biggest impact. Historically, feed costs have been responsible for around 60-65% of the farmgate cost of producing a kg of pork meat. Since December 2021, feed costs have risen to 71-74% of the full economic cost of production,” Ms Davis said.