Farmers' plea to save our bacon

Pig farmers across the country are in crisis because huge increases in the price of grain mean they are losing up to £20 for every animal they produce. Experts warn the industry faces catastrophe unless the price of pork and bacon rises, a move so far rejected by supermarkets.

Global wheat prices have doubled in a year to £180 a tonne, owing to soaring demand for grain in India and China. The decision by an increasing number of farmers to switch from wheat to maize to feed the biofuels revolution is also being blamed. As feed comprises 50 per cent of pig farmers' costs, the rise in the price of wheat is proving disastrous for them - even though bacon is the country's most frequently eaten meat, with the average household getting through 50 bacon sandwiches a year.

'The industry is close to meltdown; it has had its share of difficulties in the past but never anything on this scale and this suddenly,' said Jon Bullock, spokesman for the British Pig Executive. Pig farmers are launching a massive campaign to highlight their plight in the hope that it will persuade the public to buy British pork and bacon. They will also hold a rally near Parliament next month.

On Thursday a 'Save Our Bacon' campaign will be launched at Borough Market in London, backed by celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein and Fergus Henderson. Jimmy Doherty, who starred in the BBC2 fly-on-the wall documentary Jimmy's Farm, is another supporter.

But it may be too little too late. Pigs currently sell for 110p a kilo in livestock markets: the British Pig Executive reckons that needs to rise to 140p a kilo for pig farmers to stay in business.

Plunging profits and foot-and-mouth outbreaks have already forced many pig farmers out of business. A decade ago there were 850,000 breeding sows in Britain; today there are only 400,000.

Meat production has also been massively affected. In 1998 Britain produced 1.16 million tonnes of pork and bacon and imported a further 422,000 tonnes. Last year British farmers produced just 808,000 tonnes of pork and bacon and some 751,000 tonnes had to be imported.

Imports could soon exceed domestic production, experts say. New figures about to be published showing the number of culled domestic sows will give a clearer indication of how many pig farmers have decided to call it a day.

An exodus would be bad news for animal welfare, the Pig Executive warns, because British farmers have to meet more stringent guidelines than their overseas rivals. The demise of the British pig farmer would mean that British bacon would become a rarity. Already a quarter of the £1bn worth of bacon eaten in Britain comes from Denmark, although some supermarkets are leading a fightback. Waitrose, for example, has taken to buying 90 per cent of its bacon from British breeders.

Dean Exton, who took over Downhouse Farm in Bridport in Dorset in 1991, moved to organic farming in 2001 because the profit margins were too narrow in the wholesale market.

'Luckily we are at the premium end of selling meat directly to the customer,' Exton said. 'We wouldn't want to be selling directly to wholesale buyers as they dictate the price - our way is a lot more profitable. Feed prices have gone up nationally everywhere and it's really affecting all farmers across the country.'

Exton rears only 20 pigs a year, compared with 180 when he started out, and he has diversified into sheep and cattle.

'Rearing pigs is too risky, the prices go in a cycle,' he said. 'Ten years ago, we were spending £7,000 a month on pig food. God knows what it would have cost us now if we hadn't moved over to sheep and cattle. With pig farming, you need feed all year round. With sheep and cattle, we get the grass come through in April so we can cut back on feed then.'