Pig producers on brink as input costs rocket

摘要

Pig producers will face bankruptcy unless pork buyers urgentiy increase their prices to cover soaring input costs. London wheat futures readied a new high of 207/t for March this week, with crude oil breaking the 100/barrel barrier, adding further toalready high fuel and feed costs. Corinne and Roger Eves, who keep 350 sows at Abbots Farm, near Braintree, Essex, say producers are being squeezed on both sides. "We are piggy in the middle, with feed suppliers on one hand, justifiably able to pass on their increased costs, and buyers on the other, happily purchasing cheaper imported meat without giving a thought to our domestic industry," said Mrs Eves. "We are losing money hand over fist - everyone else is passing on their costs, so why can't we?"