Draft welfare codes causing stress for pig farmers

• Published date: 22 June 2022
• Publication title: Central Rural Life

By any measurement, pig farming is not an easy business today, even putting aside increasingly stricter rules

The Molloys were a worker down after struggling to recruit someone in today’s tight labour market.

Feed barley grown in the adjoining dairy grazing block fed the sow herd, but that was only about 40% of their total feed intake.

Another 800tonnes of feed wheat was bought for the growing pigs and that had gone from $420/t to $560/t, and there were concerns it could climb to $600/t.

Soya meal used to cost $745/t from South America and is just under $1000/t now. The Molloys had managed to offset that by buying waste milk from dairy factories, fish meal from Sealord or meat and bone meal from meat companies.

But prices are rising for imported amino acids, vitamins, minerals and other feed ingredients with a box quadrupling to $8000.

The Molloys had filled up sheds to avoid months-long delays for imported goods clogged in shipping lanes by COVID-19 disruption and more lately the ripple effect from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Then there is the influx of imported pork coming into the country — once 60% of all pork sales and now 70%.

Among this is pork from Germany, which has over the past year become our leading importer despite an African swine fever outbreak.

Mr Molloy said that was short-sighted because it was saturating the market, crashing the price, and ran counter to the welfare of pigs if the disease should enter.

‘‘A lot of countries have said no way we’re not taking it, but good old New Zealand we just stuck up our hand and said ‘no worries, you can bring it in over here’. Absolutely there’s a risk because we have a huge amount of back yarders who don’t always respect the rules or don’t...