They’re losing money. Every single day.
Scottish pig farmers got a lifeline last week. The Scottish Government threw £2 million their way. An emergency package. Grateful? Absolutely. Saved? Not even close.
Here is the reality: African Swine Fever broke out in Spain. Export markets like China slammed their doors shut. Now Europe is drowning in pork. Wholesale prices crashed. And Scotland’s farmers are stuck at the bottom.
The math doesn’t lie.
Independent farms are burning through an estimated £1 million per month. Some producers have already quit. Walked away entirely. The herd size shrank by 15% since January. Four operations vanished.
“The industry’s in a sorrowful state.” — Andrew Connon, NFU Scotland President
Danny Skinner runs a farm near Insch in Aberdeenshire. He’s got 450 sows. Sells roughly 270 finished pigs a week. Currently.
He is losing £40 on every animal he ships out.
Do the arithmetic. That’s a £10,00 hole in his pocket every single week. Unsustainable? That’s an understatement.
The new support scheme tries to patch the wound. Farmers can claim the gap between what they get paid and 85% of Standard Pig Price. Sounds decent until you look closer. The SPP sits at roughly £1.75/kg. But guys like Danny were getting lucky if they saw £1.
The government cash cuts that loss to £25 per pig. Better than nothing, sure. Skinner isn’t deluded though.
“We’re very grateful for something. But it’s not the answer.”
Still deep in the red. Just less drowning.
Rural Affairs Secretary Gillian Martin called it a “vital funding” initiative. She wants to offer more but says the financial context is… well, tough.
- It protects local jobs (around 2,200 of them)
- It safeguards the Prime Scottish Pork brand
- It helps the most vulnerable farms
She wrote to Westminster demanding better border biosecurity. To stop ASF from crossing into the UK.
Here’s the rub.
Pig farming doesn’t get direct subsidies. Unlike crops or beef, this sector stands on its own two shaky legs. Until now. This cash applies retrospectively to losses starting in March. Runs until August.
But there is a catch. Vertical integration kills the payout. If you own the pigs and the slaughterhouse? You don’t get the money. Independent operators are the only ones qualifying.
Andrew Connon says this is the worst crisis in 50 years. He wants fair pricing. Prices below production costs aren’t just bad business, they’re an existential threat.
The £2m is a bandage on a broken leg. It stops the bleeding for now. But if prices don’t recover?
Farmers will keep leaving. More imports will flood in. The local chain will thin out further.
The government bought some time. Nothing more.
So where do we go from here?
The pork on your plate might taste the same. But the story behind it is getting harder to write.
