A crisis summit has been held to solve the growing backlog of 170,000 pigs on the nation's farms - equivalent to a week's worth of meat processing.

Post-Brexit labour shortages in meat factories, complicated by Covid absences, have left thousands of pigs growing overweight on East Anglia's farms.

Tens of thousands of healthy pigs have been culled as increasingly desperate farmers run out of space to keep them.

Some farmers have quit the industry amid mounting financial losses.

In response to industry appeals, Defra farming minister Victoria Prentis agreed to host an emergency summit with farmers, processors and retailers.

At the meeting, the National Pig Association (NPA) and National Farmers' Union (NFU) set out a series of "key asks", including:

  • For the government to provide financial support for the most badly-affected producers, and to simplify the "skilled worker" immigration visa route to make it easier for processors to recruit much-needed butchers.
  • For processors to set out a plan for getting rid of the backlog of contracted pigs, prioritising the most badly-affected producers, and reducing price penalties for overweight pigs.
  • For retailers to move more product lines from EU pork to British pork, and to agree to mass promotion of homegrown meat, with key joints and cuts to be specified by processors.

NPA chairman Rob Mutimer, who farms in Norfolk at Swannington, near Reepham, said the meeting was a "very positive first step" to resolving "a crisis unfolding in front of our eyes".

"We at least got everyone in the supply chain in a room, and had a two-way conversation about what could possibly be done," he said. "But the issues are very complicated and there is no 'lightning bolt' solution.

"The over-riding issue is labour, and we hope there will be some movement very soon to address these most serious issues.

"Everyone agrees the backlog is around 170,000 pigs - that is a week's kill we have got to make up somehow.

"Our objective is to make up that week's worth of processing in the next eight weeks. Some of the processors think that's too ambitious, but we hope to get a long way towards it, and to give the producers some hope.

"This meeting is a step forward towards that goal, and we are really grateful to Victoria Prentis for committing time to this."

After the meeting, the minister announced a review of "supply chain fairness" in the pig sector, following a "constructive conversation" with the industry.

"We will continue to work with the sector on the immediate challenges they are facing," she added.