Government Funding Pledge for Scottish Pig Sector

However, he has also highlighted the frustration within the sector as the announcement pledging a package of support did not give the go ahead for a number of recent recommendations made by the Pig Sector Task force.

QMS Chairman Donald Biggar said: “This is obviously a welcome boost to our marketing of fresh pork under the Specially Selected Pork brand and means we can effectively double our spend on behalf of the Scottish pig sector when the campaign kicks off next Saturday.

“Our pig industry continues to face an uphill struggle in the wake of rising fuel, fertiliser and feed costs. Sow numbers are currently below 40,000, the lowest they've been for forty years and it's clear that if this sector is to have any kind of sustainable future then the current decline will have to be reversed.

“Understandably there is a degree of frustration within the industry as many of the Pig Sector Task Force recent recommendations to the Scottish Government have not been given the go ahead so far. We look forward to hearing the detail of the future projects that will receive the lion's share of the £1 million pound pledge, as the scope and scale of the work may well be critical to the survival of many Scottish pig businesses.”

Notes to editors: The Pig Sector Task Force, chaired by Gordon McKen, was a short life task force set up by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Richard Lochhead to consider actions to ensure a long-term sustainable future for the pig sector.

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