Pig farm changes tipped to hit consumers

A south-west Western Australian pork producer says the costs associated with phasing out the use of sow stalls will be felt by consumers.

Yesterday, the Australian pork industry voted to begin a voluntary move away from using gestation stalls by 2017.

David Locke is chief executive of the Craig Mostyn Group which operates pig farms across WA.

He says the costs associated with the changes will be passed on to consumers and could force some farmers out of the industry altogether.

"The increase in their costs will come through a number of different areas, there will be the capital costs that they need to spend and there will also be productivity decreases. It's likely that inefficient farmers will exit the industry," he said.