President Kenneth Sharkey and Union Pork and Bacon Policy Chairman Raymond Pogue lead a UFU delegation to the UK rally which culminated in hundres of producers from across the country converging on Downing Street.
Kenneth Sharkey said: "Local pig farmers continue to lose money on every pig sold into the food chain. Farm gate prices must urgently rise to a profitable level; the current loss making conditions can not be sustained Thousands of signatures have been collected in a UK wide campaign by the National Pig Association to highlight the plight facing pig producers and the potential loss of local choice to consumers if pig producers exit the industry".
The rally had several objectives:
o Calling on SHOPPERS to support the UK pig industry by buying Quality Standard Mark pork, bacon, ham and sausages;
o Calling on RETAILERS to protect their supply chains by progressively stepping up the prices they pay for local pork products; acknowledging the dramatic increase in production costs in the past year;
o Calling on the FOOD SERVICE industry to use high-welfare local pork;
o Calling on PROCESSORS to safeguard their future by passing on price increases to where they are most needed, at the farm gate.
UFU President Kenneth Sharkey said; "We hope this rally at Downing Street will highlight the dire plight of the pig sector and spark a recovery in the industry.
"We will also be highlighting the industry's problems at the Northern Ireland Assembly in the weeks ahead, focussing on public procurement and country of origin labelling in the food service sector".
The British Pig Executive (BPEX) blames soaring wholesale grain costs, which have doubled in the past year, pushing up the cost of feeding livestock.
Stewart Houston, the BPEX chairman, led a delegation which delivered a 10,000 signature petition to Number 10 calling for help for pig farmers.
"We have been struggling with losses of £26 per pig for over six months," Mr Houston said.
"The supply chain is obviously not working and we are looking for the government to take action so that producers receive justifiable costs of production."
He said that although supermarkets have begun to raise prices on pork products, little of that had found its way back to pig producers.
Joining today's demonstration was Winnie the pig, a veteran of a similar campaign in 2001, who dozed in a pen on Whitehall while protesters waved placards around her.
Jonathan Bradley, a pig farmer from Stowmarket, Suffolk, warned that if action wasn't taken to save the British pork industry, the country would become dependent on imports.
"If you think you pay a lot now for food, just think what it would be like if there was no pig industry," he said.