Pigs
PIGS
Thousands of pigs may be culled (rather than sent to market)
"The excess number of pigs on British farms is growing by 15,000 each week with roughly a quarter fewer than usual leaving for slaughter. Animals ready for slaughter but stuck on farms cause financial issues for farmers, as they require feeding and housing – and many are already becoming too large for a slaughterhouse to handle. " The groups NFU & F&DF are proposing a special one year visa (called 'short term Covid recovery visa)', which would allow foreign workers to be recruited for jobs like HGV drivers and fruit-pickers. 120,000 pigs to be slaughtered on farms due to shortage of abattoir workers. Johnson's response "I hate to break it to you but our food chain involves killing animals." Interviewed by Andrew Marr at the Tory Conference, in a 'car crash' of an interview, BJ enraged famers by saying ""If I may say so, the great hecatomb of pigs you describe on farm has not taken place."
Boris wont save their bacon "The UK is suffering from a lack of experienced butchers and abattoir workers caused partly by Brexit. Many from the EU went home before or because of the pandemic and have not returned because of tighter immigration rules, including the need for skilled worker visas and an English language requirement that is the same level as that expected from European doctors and vets." "I’m afraid pigs are very often eaten in this country. If you have a bacon sandwich, that’s what happens,” Johnson joked to Times Radio’s Tom Newton-Dunn.
Suffolk farmer hits out "The industry will be decimated by this and it will fall to the hands of just a few producers that will end up being vertically integrated."
AHDB has announced it "will fund an off-farm cull and render service for mature pigs as a 'backstop' for farmers who are struggling with a backlog. The levy organisation is in the process of setting up the plant, which will have capacity for between 2,000 and 3,000 mature pigs per week."
DEFRA agrees summit - 'shortly'. "It comes as the pig backlog is now estimated to be well in excess of 170,000 due to a lack of butchers in pork processing plants, as a result of the pandemic and Brexit." The Minister Mrs Prentice "acknowledged that recruitment of butchers via the temporary visa route, which closed to applications on 31 December, had ‘taken longer than initially expected’. "
Farm slaughter method approved for on-farm Defra has approved a new humane method for the killing of piglets as part of efforts to tackle the backlog of pigs on farms Feb 22
Nick Allen sets the record straight & challenges Government claims
BBC’s Farming Today programme gave Nick Allen the opportunity to set the record straight over recent criticisms levelled at processors by George Eustice. Government has persistently claimed that processors have failed to take up the 800 temporary visas for butchers and also accused them of not increasing the throughput of pigs to clear the backlog. Both of these claims are untrue, and Nick gave the real picture to the programme. He explained why, despite processors asking for 800 butchers, Government weren’t able to deliver them and how the number of pigs killed last year was the highest it’s been for 15 years. Listen from 8:11 minutes
@BBCFarmingToday 17 Dec: remember those 800 temp butcher visas ? 50 turned up (not even 2/EU country) So 30 000 pigs culled - and burnt, while UK imports pork from EU. Got a bit lost in the news, but Brexit means better treatment of animals,
Pork processors have hit back after Defra Secretary George Eustice accused them of ‘ripping up their contracts’ with British farmers as the crisis in the pig sector intensified. A demonstration at the Tory Conference was held to raise awareness of a shortage of skilled workers in processing plants, which has seen pig producers restricted to selling just 75 per cent of their contracted pigs to slaughter. Mr Eustice acknowledged there were labour shortages across the supply chain, but accused processors of being disingenuous (ie buying European pork) with their suppliers.
British retailers are being urged by pig producers to prioritise domestic pork to help resolve the current supply chain crisis impacting the sector. Farmers are now seeing a backlog of well over 100,000 pigs on farms, with many producers quickly running out of space and many more at or close to the limit.
BUT THE OPPOSITE IS HAPPENING!!!
Cheap European pork flooding the market. "Phil Woodall, general manager at Thames Valley Cambac, a leading pig marketer, said the sector had been blighted by “a vast shortage of butchery staff as a result of Brexit, aggravated by the pandemic. Woodall said German producers are filling the gap left by a lack of British meat – with cheap pork they were unable to export to China because of a bout of African Swine fever."
Germany are also snapping up the abatoir workers. In German, this is what’s known as die Brexit-Dividende.
Britain will offer six-month emergency visas to 800 foreign butchers to avoid a mass pig cull. This will be extension of Seasonal Workers scheme. The Minister said Brexit is not primary cause, and "the government had decided not to ease the English language requirement for skilled visas to allow more butchers to come via that route - a key demand from farmers" CC It is not clear whether this refers to temporary scheme or full-time visas. If former, let's stand back for the rush.