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British pig farm (archive image): "We simply have no more space"
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PHIL NOBLE / REUTERS
There is a lack of slaughter personnel in Great Britain.
That's why tens of thousands of pigs have been culled in Britain, according to the meat industry.
According to the National Pig Association, which attended an emergency meeting at the UK Department of Agriculture on Thursday, at least 35,000 healthy animals are said to have been killed because a huge backlog at slaughterhouses prevented them from being slaughtered and processed as planned.
It is estimated that the backlog could grow to more than 200,000 hogs by the end of spring.
According to the National Pig Association, around 40 independent meat processing companies have already left the industry.
Pig farmers from across the UK gathered in the city of York on Thursday to draw attention to their situation.
Farmer Kate Morgan, from East Yorkshire, told the PA news agency: 'We just don't have the space.
Financially, emotionally and mentally, we are in the worst possible state in the industry.
That destroys livelihoods.«
The shortage of staff in the meat industry had already caused problems last year.
After the end of freedom of movement, it is difficult and expensive for EU citizens to get a work permit in Great Britain.
The National Pig Association is calling on the UK government to make it easier for qualified overseas workers to enter the industry, such as lowering English language requirements.
The sector is also hoping for financial support for companies that are particularly badly affected.
Allegedly only 100 interested parties for 800 temporary visas
According to the Daily Mail newspaper, last October the government offered to issue 800 work visas limited to six months for foreign seasonal workers in the meat industry.
Only about 100 people came.
Already during the truck crisis, when numerous truck drivers from abroad were missing on the island, the government had tried to counteract this with the help of 5,000 temporary work visas.
Interest in it was reportedly extremely low.
Sol/Reuters
