Concern over rise in compound feed prices

IFA Pig Chairman Tom Hogan said pig compound feed prices have moved out of line with ingredient costs. He called on the industry to reverse recent price increases imposed from 1st May.

“Compound feed mills supplying feed to the pig sector implemented increases of between €8-€12/tonne for finisher ration last week and the price of weanling and link rations have also increased by €15-€20 per tonne,” he said.

Spot prices for cereal have not increased much above €200/tonne and barley is trading as low as €175. While there was a logistic issue with availability of soya bean meal in Ireland for a short period in April, it’s now trading at €330/tonne, which is on a par with where all compounders would have hedged their forward supply.

Tom Hogan said pig farmers that are home milling have not experienced any increase in raw material prices, and this is also true for the compounder feed sector. All businesses are faced with the challenges posed by Covid-19 and this can not be used as an excuse to burden pig farmers with an increase in compound feed cost.

The pig sector has taken a big financial hit terms of price since the global pandemic took hold, with the Irish pig price dropping from €1.96/kg to €1.74/kg today.

The pig sector is the largest consumer of Irish feed grains. Tom Hogan said he will be contacting all compounders and making it very clear that there must be an immediate price correction.

He agreed with the call by IFA Grain Chairman Mark Brown to support the grain sector and include Irish grains in pig rations where possible. Irish grains are the best source of energy that pig farmers can use to feed their pigs, and without the millers continued support, the tillage sector will continue to decline.