Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Pig industry welcomes retailer support but warns crisis not over

The NPA said retailers had shown support for the sector in response to Mr Mutimer's letter.

Pig industry leaders have welcomed pledges of support from retailers but warned the sector’s crisis is far from over.

The National Pig Association (NPA) said all major UK retailers had responded to an open letter, sent by association chairman Rob Mutimer earlier this month, urging them to take steps to support the British pig farming sector.

In his letter, Mr Mutimer called on retailers to prioritise British pork through their plants and to divert butchery staff, who have been working on imported EU pork or on products such as gammons for Christmas, back to British pigs to get the supply chain moving again.

It came against the backdrop of slaughter-ready pigs waiting on farms for slaughter due to a lack of staff in abattoirs, and reports retailers were stocking more EU pork due to falling EU prices.

A lack of labour in abattoirs has led to pigs waiting for slaughter on British farms.

The National Pig Association said most major retailers had responded to say they were committed to stocking British pork and supporting the sector.

Mr Mutimer welcomed the support, but warned the pig sector was “nowhere near to being out of the woods” despite a UK Government support package to address labour shortages.

The package, announced earlier this month, includes the provision of temporary visas for up to 800 pork butchers to work in the UK for up to six months, and the introduction of a private storage aid scheme in England for meat processors to store slaughtered pigs for three to six months so they can be preserved safely and processed at a later date.

“Despite the Government’s welcome support package for the pig sector, we are nowhere near to being out of the woods,” said Mr Mutimer.

“In fact, we remain deep in crisis, with thousands of pigs backed up on farms and pig farmers still seeing no improvement.”

He added: “With farmers also facing an unprecedented financial crisis, the support of retailers the entire supply chain and of the British public will be critical to the survival of the British pig sector.

“We will continue to monitor the level of British pork in supermarkets closely to ensure the retailers keep to their commitments.”