AHDB forced to drop plans for cull and render service

Plans an on-farm cull and render service as a backstop to help producers reduce the backlog of pigs on-farm have been dropped. 

The service, announced by AHDB in October, was going to be based in a plant with capacity for between 2,000 and 3,000 mature pigs per week. AHDB was going to cover the £20,000 set up cost and any idle time staff costs during its operation, while producers would have paid the plant a charge per pig culled and rendered for the service.

However, legal restrictions and requirements around two separate elements of a licensed meat business and those of a knackery operating in the same building have put paid to the scheme. It is understood that one of the concerns was how it could be guaranteed that animals culled at the plant would not enter the food chain.

AHDB divisional director of engagement Will Jackson said: “The off-farm cull and render option we were exploring to help mitigate the impact of the challenging situation our pork levy payers are experiencing, is unfortunately not able to proceed.

“AHDB is now exploring other potential off-farm culling options with Defra and the industry and will continue to look for solutions for our levy payers during an extremely challenging time for the sector.

“As part of a series of measures AHDB is helping to deliver alongside government and industry, AHDB identified an opportunity to work with an established abattoir to offer producers a way to dispose of unsold heavy pigs as a last resort.

“However, the legal restrictions and requirements around two separate elements of a licensed meat business and those of a knackery operating in the same building, has resulted in all parties agreeing that a successful conclusion to the approved process was unlikely.”