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last update:Jun 4, 2008
UK sow cullings on the rise
Sow cullings in the United Kingdom are up by almost 40% so far this year,
prompting renewed fears about the future of British pork
supplies.
The high sow cull rate is a result of the continuing financial problems in
the country's pork industry due to a 70% increase in feed prices. The steep
increase in feed prices is yet to be matched in the rates processors pay farmers
for hogs, according to The Press and Journal.
BPEX, the pig levy board,
said weekly cullings were running at more than 4,000, with the total number of
sows slaughtered so far this year reaching 102,000, against 77,000 in 2007.
Britain's pig breeding herd has been cut in half in the last decade to 436,000
sows, and is predicted to fall to 390,000 by December. BPEX states that high
feed costs are the reason farmers are reducing their breeding
herds.
Related website
• Press and Journal
• BPEX
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