Next year will be more of the same for Europe's pig producers, predicts AHDB Pork director Mick Sloyan, with maybe one percent more production in the first half of the year, falling away a bit in the second half.
French producers were struggling and contraction in their herd would continue, he told NPA Producer Group, but for the rest of Europe it was probably fair to say price pressures were not telling on bigger producers as fast as it might, as a result of continuing growth in productivity.
Data from Defra, which focuses on income from March 2014 to February 2015, shows a decline in the profitability of almost all farming sectors and emphasises the volatility challenges for farm businesses.
Crucially, the NFU points out that these figures only paint part of the picture.
They do not reflect the more recent shifts in commodity prices which have hit our members hard since February, as pressure on farmgate prices intensified through 2015.
Government urged to adopt EU loan guarantees for British pig farmers
British pig-producers would find it easier to improve productivity if Government can be persuaded to adopt new guidelines from Brussels on financial instruments such as loan guarantees, according to the National Pig Association.
Most European Union countries have so far been reluctant to provide this kind of help, even though there is scope to do so in rural development plans.
Only seven countries used financial instruments in the 2007-2013 rural development programme period — Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia and Romania.
The European Commission wants to help farmers unlock investment funding from banks that have become much more cautious since the financial crisis.
It would like to see a doubling of the use of financial instruments, such as loan guarantees, compared to the 2007-2013 period.
There is now a dedicated coaching service to help national management authorities understand the potential of financial instruments.
