Continuing rising input costs for pig farmers in the UK is causing their cost of production to continue to climb.

The AHDB's quarterly cost of production and margin estimations for 2022 Q1 were published at the beginning of May but both feed, energy and fuel prices have significantly increased since then.

AHDB's lead analyst, Jean Davies, calculated the cost of production at £2.30/kg at the start of May. She said: “May compound feed prices have increased further but forward prices, feed ingredient and future grain prices are all indicating that we just might have reached a feed price peak, although this is at an elevated level and this opinion cannot be guaranteed. There is still a long way to go for UK and global planting results and harvest outcomes.”

With May feed prices increasing and energy and fuel increases beginning to bite, the full economic cost of production is currently estimated to have reached 240p/kg deadweight in May, assuming the same technical performance as for the 12 months ending March 31, 2022.

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AHDB’s estimates of the GB cost of pig production are based on a methodology agreed by InterPIG, a group of economists from major pig producing countries across the world. The calculations provide an estimate of the cost of producing a kg of pig meat.

This means that as well as being influenced by the price of inputs, they are also affected by how efficiently the inputs are used and how productive the industry is. There are a wide range of systems and individual physical and financial performance within the industry.

The estimates are designed to provide an indicative average GB cost of pig production reflecting the ratio of indoor sow and outdoor sow commercial breeding systems (60% indoor, 40% outdoor) and, since 2018, finishing on slats for indoor-bred piglets and finishing on straw for outdoor-bred piglets.