An international shortage of carbon dioxide gas has resulted in the closure of Scotland's largest pig slaughterhouse in Brechin, and other abattoirs particularly those for poultry, are likely to follow suit if supplies are not resumed soon.

On Tuesday, Quality Pork Ltd, which processes 6000 pigs a week through it's Brechin plant closed its doors as it had run out of CO2 gas which is used to stun pigs prior to slaughter. With no sign of CO2 supplies on the horizon and Brechin slaughterhouse's sister plants at Tulip, in England, facing similar shortages along with other plants, further closures are expected next week.

Welfare issues as a result of overcrowding on pig farms are now fast becoming a problem and there could potentially be a national shortage of pig meat, Andy McGowan, chief executive of Scottish Pig Producers, told The Scottish Farmer.

"We can send some pigs to England, to our sister factories at Tulip. But that is not a long-term solution as they too, are seeing CO2 shortages," he said pointing out that Tulip had sought approval from regulators to enable Scottish pigs processed in its English abattoir could still carry a Quality Meat Scotland kitemark.

Worse still, he said the industry had no idea when CO2 supplies would resume when most of the gas is imported from fertiliser companies in Europe which produce the gas as a by-product.

The big problem is the fact that five of these gas producers in Northern Europe have been offline for maintenance. Add to that seasonal maintenance shutdowns and the UK has been left with just one big CO2 producer in action.

It's not just the pig industry that is being affected either, as while no poultry abattoirs have had to shut their doors yet, several are fast running short of CO2 gas which is not only used in the stunning process but is also in the packaging of fresh meat.

"It is pretty much a day to day case of hand to mouth for many," said the British Poultry Council's Shraddha Kaull, who pointed out that there could be some closures next week if no guarantees of new supplies coming into the UK emerge.

"Some plants are very close to running out and some are switching their CO2 supplies from packing to stunning, which also causes problems as the shelf life of the meat is reduced by at least a day, but it does keep production going."

With carbon dioxide gas widely used in the food and drinks industry, calls have been made to reserve such gas supplies and direct them to the meat plants most in need.

NFU Scotland’s Pigs and Poultry, and Animal Health and Welfare Policy Manager Penny Middleton, said: “The shortage of CO2 is having a critical impact on the slaughter of pigs and poultry, where gas stunning is the preferred method of slaughter for welfare reasons.

“The processing plant at Brechin has already announced that it will not be able to take any more pigs – a decision that will impact heavily on pig units reliant on being able to get pigs away. Any disruption to that flow can result in welfare issues and overcrowding.

“Given the expectation of animal welfare problems on pig and poultry units NFUS feels that it is vital that CO2 supplies are reserved and directed to those plants in need.”