The levy board Chair told the Conference that even after planning permission has been granted for new livestock housing development, the Environment Agency and Natural England are obstructing progress by adopting a precautionary stance. He reported how PPC (Pollution Prevention and Control) permits are being denied on the potential grounds of odour affecting local residents and possible impact of ammonia gas emissions.

Mr Godfrey said: “Pig farmers are trying to do the right thing, both for their businesses and the environment, by investing in new buildings for their pigs.

“While refurbishing existing buildings is fairly straightforward, the better long-term solution will often be to put up new facilities, which delivers a far better environmental footprint – including a significant reduction in odour and ammonia emissions – than old buildings.

“How can the industry help deliver the Government’s food security agenda and climate change targets if we’re blocked from doing so?“

Mr Godfrey went on to highlight a current AHDB project to assess all the evidence on odour and ammonia emissions to attempt to bring some scientific rigour to the process and ensure correct application.

The AHDB Chair also picked out the likely shortfall in supply to result from the January 2013 implementation of a stalls ban in Europe, plus the increased potential from new export markets - especially for fifth quarter products - as two key opportunities for the UK pig industry.