THE UK pig industry is fragmented and unco-ordinated, according to North Yorkshire industry award winner Tom Danter.

He told a conference this week that the only way producers would get a greater share of the retail pigmeat price was if they got involved and become more co-operative minded.

Mr Danter, commercial director of Provimi of Thirsk is the first recipient of the annual RAC/NatWest Bank Pig Fellowship award.

He told the audience at the Royal Agricultural College this week that primary producers must seek ways to get a fair share of the cake. "This will only come from more marketing muscle, strong branding and product differentiation," he said.

"Despite disease problems and unfavourable exchange rates over the past three years, there are opportunities out there. Pork consumption is set to rise globally by 5pc a year so there will be more demand and there are opportunities in the domestic market. We need to improve consumer information and promote the strengths of the British product such as welfare, food safety and product quality."

He cited several successful initiatives in the pigmeat market including East Yorkshire Country Pork and LinkPork.

"Producers are working together to increase their strength in the market place and they are offering a reliable and quality product," said Mr Danter. "If we could increase consumption of pigmeat in the UK from 30.5kg/head to the EU average of 45kg/head we would need an extra 700,000 sows or a 130pc increase in the national pig herd."

This was a big challenge when the Government offered little support. "They have shackled the industry with welfare legislation that has contributed to higher production costs than our competitors," he said. Also, they still have major issues to address such as the disposal of feed that would have been used for swill feeding before its ban and the control of imports of illegal bush meat.

"Our industry is also saddled with a BSE tax of £5.26 a pig, levied on an industry where there is not a shred of scientific evidence to support a link between pigmeat and CJD.

"We want common sense to be driven into the people responsible for our agricultural policies and we need them to appreciate the need for Britain to have a sustainable farming industry."