A bacon retailer in Bulls says New Zealanders need to get behind domestic pork products, or risk losing the industry.
Michelle Fox says pig farmers are struggling from a drop in schedule pork prices and public pressure on their farming systems coupled with rising costs.
She says a number of piggeries closed over the past few years and warns there will be more if the public doesn’t show some support.
She believes imported pork should be levied, saying 800 tonnes per week is coming into New Zealand.
The Pork Industry Board agrees pig farmers are under a lot of pressure at the moment.
Chief executive Sam McIvor says imported pork is set at prices below what New Zealand farmers can produce it for.
Meantime, the Pork Industry Board is keeping a close eye on animal welfare standards in the European Union, after reports it's going ahead with plans to restrict the use of sow stalls.
The European Commission says the new rules will see the use of sow stalls limited to four-weeks after mating by the end of 2012.
The rules are in line with a new welfare code proposed for pigs here, which limits the use of sow stalls to four weeks from 2013, but with a complete phase-out by 2017.
While farmers in NZ are committed to meeting the new rules, Mr. McIvor says he’s heard that quite a few of the European countries are not ready.
But Mr. McIvor says the board’s concerns really lie with NZ’s main competitors, the United States and Canada, where there have been no moves to restrict pig farming practices.
Pig farmers in Australia are not expected to face any restrictions until 2017, when the use of sow stalls will be limited.
