A new aid package brought to Cabinet by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalgue worth €13 million will give pig farmers up to €70,000, however, according to RTE news, access to the new fund is conditional on farmers reducing production by 10%.
Pig farmers in the country have made appeals for the struggling sector as many have reported making extensive losses of more than €40 per pig as a result of rising feed costs due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The new package brings the total Government support to the sector to €20 million this year, as a €7 million package had already been announced in February, however it falls short of the €100 million intervention from the State, half of which they proposed to repay over 14 years.
The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) raised concerns over the impact of the conditions on reducing the size of pig farms, with IFS president Tim Cullinan commenting: “While any funding is welcome, I am concerned that it will not be enough to stop departures from the sector. We are in real danger of losing a whole sector.”
Dr Fiona Thorne, one of Teagasc’s economists who worked on a Teagasc’s farming outlook report for the following year which amended forecasts to reflect the invasion in Ukraine, said that the invasion of Ukraine the widespread increases in input costs have been unprecedented.
“The greatest challenge is for the pig sector with very significant declines in income forecast and already seen in 2022,” said Dr Thorne. “The average pig farmer in the country has lost over €160,000 already this year.”
