The warning comes amid predictions of a global pork shortage and news of a drop in New Zealand production of up to 30,000 pigs. Some suppliers have already raised prices by up to 30 cents a kilo and the retail price is predicted to rise even more in the New Year.
oh well. its dare enough already so if thats the case people probably wont buy them. i'd rather have chicken anyway
wicked_garden,
Nov 18, 5:09am
Hopefully it means that there will be less imported rubbish coming in, and more people buying New Zealand farmed ham. It would be even better if that price rise was recieved by the actual farmers and not the suppliers and supermarkets!
gabbysnana,
Nov 18, 5:16am
where does this crap come from every supermarket i have visitedthis week is bursting with xmas hams.next it will be strawberries, then lamb, then cream, every year same propandga to induce panic buying.
wicked_garden,
Nov 18, 5:23am
It's simple supply and demand. Livestock feed prices have skyrocketed and are unsustainable overseas (and over here to an extent), so farmers in the US and EU killed all of their pigs (which flooded the market and made pork cheap), and some major producers went out of business. This means less pork is available for export. Half of the pork on the shelves in NZ is imported therefore it makes sense that we could be affected.
kay141,
Nov 18, 6:32am
Probably from the same reporters who can make a story out of 2 words overheard in a crowded bar. I think the qualification required today for a media job is a vivid imagination and a blatant disregard for the truth. Facts can be so boring so why bother!
kuaka,
Nov 18, 7:37am
I would have to agree there - wasn't long ago that I read in the Herald that a kiwi living in New York reckoned that cyclone which was about to devastate was just "media hype".I was surprised the Herald printed it, when it was obvious that the report was far from the truth.
When did I stop believing everything I read in the papers.Probably when I was about 10 years old and my gran had a reporter boarding at her place.He would make a story out of nothing!
And at the end of the day, if hams are short, so what.They will be more expensive.If we can afford them, we'll have them.If not, we'll eat something else.The world won't end.We'll survive Christmas and live to see the New Year, we just won't have ham.I really don't see a problem.
uli,
Nov 18, 8:23am
In addition there is now no possibility to have "organic stock food" available in NZ any more.
The last big importer has now given notice to organic producers that he cannot anymore guarantee that soy nor maize is GE free.
.
porka1,
Nov 18, 5:36pm
Their hasnt been any GE free soy or corn for at least 25 years.The best that is being offered is 99% GE free.
porka1,
Nov 18, 5:42pm
The main loss of NZ production has been free range producers, but ithas been a tough year for all producers this year. dont know why they are labelled free range anyway.The sows are bred outside and rear their piglets for the first four weeks and then the weaners are transferred to fattening barns just like the majority of pigs that are sold as pork and pork products.
uli,
Nov 19, 11:59pm
". In the United States and Europe, pig producers were downsizing herds and production because of rising grain prices - an international trend flowing from droughts and price speculation.
Domestically, pig numbers were reducing as people moved out of the industry, Symmans said.
This was a result of stricter animal welfare standards coming in, pig farmers retiring and the flow-on effects of higher global grain prices.
"As an industry, we are committed to meeting the new animal welfare standards but some people have decided, with the changes, it's time for them to move on."
Pig farmer numbers in New Zealand had dropped about 10 per cent recently from the combined factors, with another 5 per cent decline predicted by NZ Pork over the next 12 months.
NZ Pork is also encouraging Kiwis to buy New Zealand ham, rather than imported.
"Most New Zealand consumers would prefer to eat New Zealand ham. We encourage people to look at the label," Symmans said.
"Many people just assume the ham in their local supermarket or retail outlet is New Zealand-grown, but 45 per cent of pork products - including ham and bacon - come from imported products." ."
I'll live - if we can't get ham we'll find something else - it isn't traditional for us anyway
samanya,
Nov 20, 7:53am
Oh dear, uli. I'm devastated, but pleased that you will be OK to get your ham .don't you just wander up your hill & stick a pig!
nauru,
Nov 20, 8:11am
I agree
nauru,
Nov 20, 8:11am
I agree, and if there is a shortage, it doesn't worry me anyway as Christmas Ham is not traditional in our house either.If it was, like a lot of other people,I'd just buy something else anyway.
elliehen,
Nov 20, 8:30am
Sounds like another to add to the list of "First World Problems" - likehaving an eyelash in your eye and being unable to get it out because your false fingernails are too long.
nfh1,
Nov 20, 8:32am
I am sure if I really try, I could find some of last year.s still in the freezer!
marblicious,
Nov 20, 8:34am
There will be no shortage this year.If there was it would be reflected in the retail price.
katalin2,
Nov 20, 9:21am
Countdown, P & S, Mad Butcher my local butcher Peter Timbs seem to have plenty of hams in stock- panic over!
kuaka,
Nov 20, 9:39am
Don't forget it's only November at the moment, most people don't buy their Christmas ham until much closer to Christmas.They may or may not be in short supply by then.
sarahb5,
Nov 20, 8:07pm
A cynical person might say that that would be the perfect time for OP to produce free range, organic, humanely bred and slaughtered Christmas hams with their own provenance right down to what they've been eating since birth as well as a photographic journal to prove parentage, etc.
kay141,
Nov 20, 8:45pm
But would we want them andbe able to afford them! Then would we want to eat them or adopt them as part of the family!
bedazzledjewels,
Nov 20, 9:35pm
I've already ordered and paid for my ham from Havoc Farm - free-range = happy pigs!
soundsie1,
Nov 20, 9:41pm
got ours sorted too. x 3.been in a club draw all year and got the guaranteed one plus won two.so far.and three chooks.xmas lunch.yyummm!
elliehen,
Nov 20, 11:19pm
Do you really think a dead pig is a happy pig!
That's a step too far!
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