Essex pig farmer warns pork prices will rise due to "unprecedented" wheat costs

The invasion of Ukraine is having an impact in the UK

Jonathan Smith is the owner of Great Garnett's farm, which has operated for over 50 years
Author: Sian RochePublished 17th Mar 2022

A pig farmer in Essex is warning consumers to expect pork to increase in price to cope with the sky-rocketing price of wheat, caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Jonathan Smith owns Great Garnetts Farm, near Chelmsford. It's a family owned business which has been breeding pigs for over 50 years.

Farmers like Jonathan feed their pigs a predominantly wheat-based diet, and with Ukraine being one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, they've found themselves dealing with rapidly increasing costs.

He says he's never seen prices so high...

"In February 2020, wheat was ÂŁ150 a tonne, February 2021, wheat was ÂŁ200 a tonne and now today, wheat is ÂŁ300 a tonne - it's unprecedented."

To cope with these increasing costs, he says the price of pork needs to rise: "The consumer is going to see the price of pork going up but it has to...

"I can't get quotes on feed because the price is rising so quickly. That coupled with energy costs - our energy price has doubled in just eight months, so the wholesale price of pigs needs to go up rapidly."

Jonathan says the current situation is causing many farmers to consider leaving the profession as it's just not viable: "Over 30% of the UK pig industry since October last year has gone, or committed to going, because costs just don't add up.

"With the feed price and the price of pigs where it is, it just doesn't add up."

Pigs at the farm

He's now encouraging more people to shop local to assist farms struggling with price increases: "As far as our green credentials go, it's got to be a good thing. Shopping local has more of an impact than lots of things people try to do...

"Don't just think it's local because it comes from a local store. If someone says it comes from a local wholesaler, ask the question: where does that come from? Look a little deeper.

"We've got very close supply chains, a local abattoir, you can buy from here, we've got local butchers in the area and I'm employing local people.. it's supporting local businesses."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.