Private storage schemes for pigmeat will be extended for a further three months for meat that is already in the scheme, the EU announced yesterday.
The decision was taken at the EU’s pigmeat management committee in Brussels with the aim of helping pig farmers through a difficult period fuelled by rising feed costs.
EU farm commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, commented that the scheme had done little to slow down the climb in feed prices. At the EU Farm Council on Monday, the Commissioner suggested that the EU’s recent ban on Brazilian beef could, in fact, help the EU’s pig farmers if consumers were to start choosing pork over beef.
The APS scheme closed on November 27 last year, after aid requests for around 97 000 tonnes of pigmeat came from member states including Denmark, Spain, Italy and Germany.
For more information on the topic, consult pigprogress.net