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Call for GM food to save Scottish pig industry |
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
Scottish pig farmers have called for more genetically modified varieties of soya to be approved for use in the EU to avert a crisis in animal feed supplies.
The National Farmers Union in Scotland has warned that not only are prices of feed for pigs increasing to an unsustainable point, supplies of protein sources like soya are becoming increasingly difficult to source.
Robin Traquair, NFU Scotland’s Pigs Working Group Chairman, said:
“I feed my pigs on soya as part of their diet and at the moment I am really struggling to find it as supplies have fallen to such a low level. Last week I did eventually manage to source some but it cost me an extra £150 per tonne and I’ve already been told that supplies for April and May will be extremely tight. My pigs consume around 30 tonnes per month so the increase in price represents a massive increase in overheads for me. My soya bill alone is costing me almost £5000 a month more than 12 months ago.
“There just isn’t the availability of feed and there are only limited quantities of even more expensive alternatives. My fear is that Scottish pig producers will have to reduce pig numbers due to lack of feed. We need the EU to move at a faster pace to authorise new GM varieties for feed use. The price I get paid for my pigs hasn’t risen anywhere near enough to cover the costs I am facing. I would need at least an extra 30 pence per kilo in order just to break even and that’s not happening.”
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