Pork industry urges Kiwis to buy local to help avoid oversupply

https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/126341022/pork-industry-urges-kiwis-to-buy-local-to-help-avoid-
oversupply
Chris Tobin12:12, Sep 12 2021

With major Covid-19 disruptions and many restaurants closed or operating on a reduced scale, the pork industry
is concerned a surplus of pigs could become an animal welfare issue.
“It’s one that is slowly building, and the longer we’ve got a quarter of New Zealand’s population at level 4 the
risk is more of a reality,” South Canterbury pig farmer and NZ Pork director Helen Andrews said.
“Unlike other sectors with continuous production, we don’t have an extra paddock to open up on the farm, we’ve
got to keep the production cycle doing. When butchers and others are not operating as usual it compounds the
problem.
“We can see the problem looming on the horizon, maybe not next week, but it could happen quite quickly if there
is not enough production through the supermarkets. What is happening in the Auckland area makes it particularly
difficult.”
As an essential service, pig farming has continued through the latest Covid-19 lockdown.
“On our farm we’ve had a few hiccups that are not solvable at this stage.”
NZ Pork chief executive David Baines said they were closely monitoring the pig supply situation to avert a
possible animal welfare crisis. “Commercial piggeries typically supply pigs to market on a weekly basis with
much of their produce going to independent butchers.
“With butcher shops unable to fully serve retail customers and restaurants closed during alert level 4 in Auckland,
and the hospitality sector in the rest of the country operating under alert level 2 restrictions, pig farmers are
concerned about potential animal welfare issues. “Overcrowding of pigs in pens constitutes a significant welfare
issue under the animal welfare code.”
Baines said reduced production capacity, due to Covid-19 requirements, had also presented processing challenges.
“Wholesalers do not have the blast freezer and storage capacity to freeze the surplus volume.” She said the pork
industry was urging the New Zealand public to buy the locally produced product to help the industry through a
difficult time.