UK pig meat production was 101,600 tonnes in March, according to data from Defra, a rise of 5% in the same month year-on-year, and 14% month-on-month.
For the year to date 276,000 tonnes of pig meat has been produced, 6% more than at the same point a year ago.
A similar number of clean pigs (1.06 million head) were slaughtered in the month as in March 2021, meaning the increase in production is almost entirely a result of heavier carcase weights.
The average weight was 92.5kg in March, which despite being 1.4kg lighter than in February, was still over 4kg heavier year-on-year. AHDB said that this indicates that despite some improvement in the backlog, there is still some way to go.
In the year to date, 2.85 million clean pigs have been killed in UK abattoirs, 1% more than at the same point in 2021.
AHDB said that this rise is to be expected as although there has been a significant decline in the number of breeding sows, the sector is still working its way through the backlog, supporting throughputs.
It added that in the second half of the year the number of clean pigs available to kill is expected to be materially lower year-on-year.
