Pig margins coming under severe pressure

He further explained. “Adding to the pressure on pig businesses has been the very significant increase in all costs that have impacted on farms since the beginning of the hostilities in the Persian Gulf.

“We use kerosene to heat all our houses. This cost alone has doubled over the past three months. Meanwhile feed costs continue to come under pressure.

“The impact of all this has seen a number of pig production businesses slipping into a negative margin situation.

“And there seems little possibility of the costs pressure that have impacted on pig businesses easing in the near future.”

Given these background circumstances, Shields points to the need for pig farmers to secure enhanced levels of animal performance and efficiency within their businesses.

He added: “This can be achieved through the use of improved genetics. Traits such as feed conversion efficiency and daily growth are highly heritable.

“At current pig prices, securing an improvement in feed conversion efficiency of just 0.1 will deliver enhanced margins in the region of £7.50 per pig.

“Improvements in pig genetics are being secured at an ever increasing rate. And this level of progress will improve yet again during the period ahead.

“So investing in top genetics makes absolute sense from the point of view of all pig farmers.”

The Kilkeel-based pig producer indicated that elite breeding boars can now achieve dally live weight gains of 1.5kg from 10 weeks of age onwards.

“This is a staggering level of performance given that their birth weights would have been in the range 1.5 to 1.7kg,” he said.

Meanwhile, Glenmarshal Sires continues to export pig semen to countries around the world, including: Europe and South East Asia. The operation is home to a selection of the world’s elite Landrace, Duroc and Large White blood lines.

Trevor Shields again: “We recently hosted a group of visiting Danish farmers. They indicated that the Glenmarshal bloodlines were, in many cases, superior to what was available in their own country.

“Our export business is based on a reputation to produce breeding pigs of the highest quality. Adding to this is the fact that the island of Ireland has a very strong pig and animal health reputation.”

The man driving the Glenmarshal business is acutely aware of the need for all pig businesses in Northern Ireland to make sustainable profit margins on a continuing basis.

He concluded: “Current pig prices are one third those available for finished beef cattle. Given this huge difference in market value, the scope for consumers to eat more Ulster pork and bacon is obvious.

“The world’s population continues to increase. This will help to boost pork consumption levels into the future. But for pig farmers, it remains a case of striving to improve production efficiency levels.”