He said: “Teagasc compiles monthly compound and home milled feed prices and, in light of the most recent figures released, it is clear that feed prices must immediately drop to address the price differential between the two figures”.

“As feed makes up over 70 per cent of the cost of producing a pig, farmers are very sensitive to movements in feed prices. According to the Teagasc figures, a tonne of compound feed could be milled (ex-port) for €222/tonne in September, while farmers are being forced to pay up to €270/tonne for an equivalent compound ration. Even when transport costs are factored in, the gap is enormous and completely unjustified.

“A saving of €50/tonne would make a massive difference to a pig farmer’s bank balance. A lower feed cost would make it more feasible to move the feed credit amount into a term loan which is more sustainable for both farmers and the mills, and this is the direction in which IFA would like to see farmers moving.”

Mr O’Flaherty continued: “Pig producers in Ireland are still behind their EU counterparts in terms of pig prices but we are always more expensive in terms of feed prices which hampers our competitiveness”.

“IFA has requested meetings with all the millers as at this this stage decreases in feed prices are long overdue,” Mr O’Flaherty concluded.