Pigs: Slaughterhouses

(asked on 20th October 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many healthy pigs have been culled on farms in each week during the last three months.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 25th October 2021

Defra does not collect data on the number of pigs culled on farms. Producers, who are responsible for the welfare of animals on farm, are also not required to submit such data to us. However, from our engagement with the pig sector, we understand that around 6000 pigs have been culled on farms in the last three months. This is largely due to the backlog of pigs on farm caused by a unique combination of factors including shortages of labour in the processing sector, disruption to the export market and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Defra has been working closely with pig producers and the processing sector in recent months. We are very conscious of the impact that the culling of animals on farm has on individual pig farmers. We announced a series of measures on 14 October that will support the pig sector and help address the current challenges it is facing. These include allowing up to 800 pork butchers to apply for a 6-month working visa to the UK, a pork levy holiday for pig farmers and producers during November 2021, and a private storage aid scheme which will enable meat processors to store slaughtered pigs for 3-6 months so that they can be preserved safely and processed at a later date.

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