THE Australian pork industry is in crisis with local producers driven to the wall by low-priced imports and rising feed costs.
Mainstream pig farmers, tired of losing money because of record volumes of imported processed pork products, such as ham and bacon, are quitting the industry in record numbers.
Australian Pork Ltd chief executive Andrew Spencer said: ``We had record volumes of subsidised imports from Denmark and North America, and that has put an oversupply into the market, and depressed prices. Producers are really suffering.''
Imports increased by 40 per cent in 2007 and accounted for 64 per cent of the processed pork market. The industry was liberalised in 1994 following the Uruguay round of WTO talks but imports initially were negligible.
Research shows that since 2002 imports have risen by 126 per cent, and the rate is accelerating, jeopardising the future of the $2billion industry.
Only boneless, processed pork or ham can be imported. Most of the imports come from Denmark, Canada and the US, countries Mr Spencer said subsidised their pork industries.
With grain prices at record levels, and imports depressing prices, Mr Spencer estimates pork producers are losing up to $50 per pig. By Christmas last year the industry was losing $3.5 million a week.
Not surprisingly, many pig farmers have cut their operations. Last year, the breeding herd of 300,000 sows was reduced by 30,000.
Mr Spencer thinks that with the way the industry is contracting there could be a shortage this year. ``The offspring hit the market 10 or 11 months after mating. You pull a sow out of the industry and supply changes 10 or 11 months later.''
The latest survey conducted by the industry found 27 per cent of pig farmers planned to leave the industry.
But there is one group bucking the trend. Lee and Kevin McCosker, run a herd of organically farmed free-range sows at Melanda Park, near Inverell in northern NSW.
Their four-year-old business is booming with the strengthening demand for ethically farmed and drug-free meat products.
With a herd of 120 sows, they are producing more than 2000 pigs for market per year. Their client base includes some of Sydney's top restaurants and they have received inquiries from customers from as far afield as Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.
It's a far cry from 2004, when Ms McCosker -- with a farm consisting of just six sows -- went to her local butcher in Inverell to ask if he would be interested in buying some free-range pork.
``He just laughed at me and said that I would never be able to sell free-range in an Australian country town,'' she said. ``Now he's my best customer.''The Australian
