Christmas ham gets smoked

The humble Christmas ham may disappear as a result of rising prices and pig farmers giving up.

An estimated 40% of pig farmers have left the industry, forced away due to rising grain costs and meat imported from overseas.

Paul Patterson, chief executive of Australia’s largest big producer QAF, shed 16,000 pigs from the group’s 55,000 – a big part of the shortage.

“There just aren’t enough pigs,” Australian Pork chief Andrew Spencer told news.com.au. “I’m worried about prices on the shelf rising to the point where consumers start to think twice.”