By Jack Bosworth, Director, FJ Bosworth & Sons. Published 15 May 2022.

I hope everyone is well.

It was great to get off the farm last week and catch up with so many people at the Pig & Poultry Fair in Stoneleigh. Thanks to the sponsors, organisers and exhibitors for putting on such a strong event. It demonstrated real commitment, support and togetherness within our industry, despite its precarious position.

I would normally describe myself as a fairly optimistic person. The take-home messages from the fair have certainly put a dent in that. My current level of optimism, I would say, is a bit like the SPP. It is there, but there are too many factors keeping it lower than it should be.

The good news first: light at the end of the backlog tunnel

Let me start with the good news. There finally seems to be a light at the end of the backlog tunnel.

Hopefully, and I say hopefully, within the next month or two most of us should be seeing our contingency plan overflow accommodation empty again. That would take real weight off producers’ shoulders.

Genuine thanks to the processors who have stepped up their output to get pig numbers on farm back toward normal. The cost of feeding overweight pigs, especially since cereals moved to unprecedented prices, has been catastrophic for many farming businesses. For some, it has been fatal.

The bad news: cereal prices and where they sit against the pig price

That mention of cereal prices brings me to the bad news. The genuinely scary thing is, who honestly knows what heights they will hit?

AHDB’s weekly data showing feed wheat price as a percentage of the pig price continues to sit at levels that are completely unsustainable. Something has to give.

My honest view:

  • Cereal prices will not come back down to £200/t or below any time soon.
  • The SPP is not going to get to the £2.50/kg level where, in my view, it needs to be right now.

We are caught between the two, and the gap is only getting bigger.

The case for a different pricing structure

The answer, for me, must be a change in how producers are paid for their pigs.

From an indoor production point of view, I would favour a model built on the quarterly national average cost of production as the bottom line. That would mean:

  • The most efficient producers are rewarded for being efficient.
  • The least efficient have a genuine incentive to invest in improving productivity.
  • Nobody is left to absorb the kind of volatility we are seeing right now.

I appreciate that model would not be for everyone. There are other workable approaches too, including a formal link between wheat price and pig price.

The point is that we need a serious conversation about pricing structure, not another year of letting the spot market do its worst.

What we cannot afford right now

One thing I am sure we all agree on is that, first and foremost, we need a government that genuinely supports British food and farming.

Unfortunately, I think it is more likely we will see them adding problems than offering solutions. The example I have on my mind is the suggestion of revisiting the ban on conventional farrowing crates. I would like to say that placing that kind of demand on producers right now would be unthinkable, but is there any trust left in this government to do the right thing?

Hopefully my optimism can climb as quickly as the wheat price has.

Editor’s note (May 2026)

Jack returned to the farrowing crate question in his next article, published 22 June 2022, in direct response to a parliamentary debate on the use of cages in farming. See “On Farrowing Crates: Show Me the Evidence, the Alternatives and the Funding” on this site.

About the author

Jack Bosworth is a fourth-generation farmer and Director of FJ Bosworth & Sons, an arable and pig farming business at Spains Hall, Willingale, Essex. The farm has been in the family since 1919, and Jack farms alongside his father Stuart Bosworth, who was named Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year in 2011. The business is Red Tractor assured and runs an integrated farm-to-fork model, with home-grown cereals milled on site using solar-generated electricity.

You can follow Jack’s articles on fjbosworth.com, or get in touch via the WhatsApp link on the site.

Written by Jack Bosworth

Fourth-generation farmer at Spains Hall, Willingale. Runs the contracting team and writes most of what appears here.