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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support pig breeders in the UK.

The British pig sector is highly resilient and plays a significant role in the production of high quality pork meat. It operates in an open market and the value of commodities is established by those in the supply chain.

Defra continues to support the pig sector through a range of measures. Outdoor pig breeders may now apply to the Sustainable Farming Incentive and may access free business planning advice from independent advisers through the Farming Resilience Fund which is open until March 2025. They are also eligible to apply for our productivity and innovation grants via the Farming Investment Fund. This includes the £200 million that is available to support livestock farmers to manage slurry through the Slurry Infrastructure grant and the Farm Equipment & Technology Fund. Following feedback from the pig sector, we increased the storage capacity that pig farmers can apply for in Round 2 of the Slurry Infrastructure grant from six to eight months’ covered storage capacity.

Pig breeders are also eligible to apply for support through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway. This includes access to bespoke health and welfare advice through a fully funded vet visit and, as announced at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference earlier this month, imminent access to a second round of grants toward the cost of 59 equipment and technology items supporting improvement in the health and welfare of pigs.

At the NFU conference, the Prime Minister confirmed we will introduce a regulatory framework for contracts with producers in the pig sector later this year, following the supply chain fairness review of the UK pig supply chain that was undertaken in 2022.