Sofina Foods, one of the UK’s biggest integrated pig businesses, is set to close some of its own pig breeding units, as market pressures continue to weigh heavily on the pig sector.
Sofina’s Brydock Farms has operated around 24,500 outdoor sows across a number of breeding units in Scotland, plus 100 rearing sites on farms in Scotland and England. Following a review of its farming operations, it is planning to reduce the size of its herd.
“Ongoing global volatility, sustained pricing pressure and changing customer demand continue to create significant challenges for the British and Irish pig sector, requiring closer alignment between supply and market needs,” Sofina Foods group agriculture director Graham Wilkinson said.
“As part of this, we are reviewing our own dedicated farming operations, which could result in the closure of some of our Brydock breeding farms.
“These are incredibly difficult decisions and are in no way a reflection of the commitment, professionalism or dedication of the people who may be affected. Rather, they reflect the same market pressures being experienced across the industry, including within our own farming operations.
“While these decisions are never easy, they are necessary to ensure our farming business remains sustainable and well positioned for the future.”
Huge uncertainty
All the big processors have served notice on producers since around the start of the year, including around 40 independent pig farmers supplying Sofina in Northern Ireland.
According to the NPA’s Pig Industry Group, the overall effect, as things stand, could be that there 10,000 pigs a week available but without an outlet in the autumn, creating huge uncertainty for many independent producers.
One producer member of PIG described the ‘unprecedented’ situation as a ‘nightmare’ and said independent producers are ‘rightly angry and emotional’.
A number of independent farmers who had notice served on contracts or are struggling with low prices and rising costs have already made a decision to leave the industry or are at least considering their futures, while others are reducing herd size.
The PIG meeting discussed actions that could be taken to improve the situation, at least in the medium to long-term, including moving towards 12-month contracts as standard, addressing processors’ use of the ‘shout price’ as an adjustment mechanism to keep prices down and improving forecasting.