Scottish pig farmers are being invited to apply for support through a government hardship fund worth more than £680,000.
The Scottish Government’s Extended Pig Producers’ Hardship Support Scheme is designed to help pig farmers affected by the temporary closure of the country’s main pig abattoir at Brechin last year and the subsequent loss of the plant’s export licence for China.
It will pay eligible pig producers £7.50 per pig supplied to the Quality Pig Processors plant at Brechin between April 1 and September 30, 2021.
“I am very pleased to provide much-needed support to our pig industry during challenging times, once again,” said Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon.
“By extending the Pig Producers’ Hardship Support Scheme, we are making over £680,000 available to affected pig farmers that have incurred financial losses through no fault of their own.
“I encourage all eligible pig producers to submit their applications, to benefit from this additional funding.”
Warnings industry on brink of collapse
The scheme follows an initial hardship fund in 2021, which was worth £715,000 and delivered support to farmers who supplied pigs to the Brechin plant between February 8 and March 31, 2021.
Details about the newly extended scheme, which closes for applications on February 20, are available from the Scottish Government website or by emailing pigproducers.support@gov.scot
Earlier this week the National Pig Association and the NFU south of the border warned the British pig industry was on the brink of collapse.
In a joint letter to Defra Secretary of State, George Eustice, both organisations called on the UK Government to convene an emergency summit with stakeholders from across the supply chain to address the industry crisis.
They say the ongoing labour crisis in meat processing plants has resulted in more than 170,000 pigs waiting for slaughter on British farms, with estimates 35,000 healthy pigs
have been culled and destroyed as a result of the backlog.