Backlog of pigs builds up at farms

Martin Cassidy
Rural Affairs Correspondent

Consumers have been advised not to eat pork in Northern Ireland

With consumers advised not to eat pork, there is already a backlog starting to build up on some farms in Northern Ireland.

NI's biggest pork processing factory will not be slaughtering pigs on Monday.

Grampian Country Pork at Cookstown which employs 630 people has told farmers not to deliver pigs to the factory lairage this morning.

The factory processes almost 20,000 pigs a week and even a few days out of action could put financial pressure on farms and risk overcrowding.

Another of the major processors, Stevenson and Company in Cullybackey, says it is not slaughtering pigs on Monday either and while it hopes to resume processing on Tuesday it is waiting for guidance from the Food Standards Agency. Grants in Londonderry has also said it is not slaughtering on Monday.

The focus now is on farms in Northern Ireland which received contaminated feed. Industry sources suggest just two of the nine farms involved are pig producers.

A high level meeting involving the departments of agriculture and health, and the Food Standards Agency is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Farmers and pork processors will also attend. Further consumer advice is likely to follow later on Monday afternoon.