http://www.intelligencer.ca/2012/09/25/bacon-shortage-unavoidable-pork-group-cautions
Bacon lovers, beware. A worldwide shortage of pork and bacon could happen next year, a British trade group warns.
Using language sure to spark hysteria among fans of the other white meat, Britain's National Pig Association said a world shortage of pork and bacon "is now unavoidable."
"New data shows the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world," the release says. "Pig farmers have been plunged into loss by high pig-feed costs, caused by the global failure of maize and soya harvests."
The association believes that the number of pigs slaughtered in the second half of next year could fall by as much as 10%.
It's asking British grocers to pay pig farmers "a fair price" and encouraging British consumers to choose British pork and bacon in an attempt to stave off the shortage.
A severe drought in the U.S. has ravaged crops, sending the price of grain soaring and edging hog farmers in North America into losses.
Big Sky Farms, Canada's second-biggest hog farm operation based in Saskatchewan, went into receivership earlier this month, and Puratone, a Manitoba-based major hog farmer, received protection from creditors two weeks ago.
But there is a glimmer of hope for bacon lovers -- not all pork producers are forecasting doom and gloom. Maple Leaf Foods, the second-largest processor of pork in Canada, says that although it, too, expects hog supplies to shrink in 2013, the decrease in numbers should be modest.
"Obviously, the challenge that we currently face is producers are exiting the business," Jason Manness, director of procurement at Maple Leaf Foods, told Reuters this month. "We expect less hogs in 2013, but only marginally lower at this point in time."
-- with files from Reuters
