Maldon (United Kingdom) (AFP)

In the idyllic landscape of the English countryside of Essex, with vast fields dotted with small villages, the energy crisis could seem far away.

But at Wicks Manor Farm, the threat is indeed there.

"We have real concerns" with "frightening consequences for the industry across the UK and for our business here," Fergus Howie, 46-year-old pig farmer, struggles to make his voice heard. among the growls of his beasts.

The farm, located 80 kilometers north-east of London, houses thousands of pigs, slaughtered and sold on site, in supermarket chains, restaurants or for export.

She also cultivates wheat and barley on nearly 1,800 hectares, in particular to feed the animals.

It is particularly exposed to the shortage of fertilizer for cereals and carbon dioxide for slaughter, on which the local manufacture of sausages, bacon and ham depends.

A pig in Wicks Manor Farm, in Maldon, England, September 22, 2021 DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AFP

"There are a lot of problems of all kinds happening at the same time," laments the farmer, noting that the situation has created "real concerns" for the food supply.

The UK is among the countries most affected by the crisis caused by rising gas prices, which has spilled over into many sectors of the economy.

Supply difficulties and rising wholesale prices led two fertilizer factories - which run on natural gas and account for 60% of UK supply - to shut down last week.

Direct consequence: a risk on food supplies, including livestock, which uses CO2 for packaging but also stunning animals before slaughter.

- "Only two factories" -

The British government announced on Tuesday an agreement with the American group CF Fertilisers, which operates the two sites, to restart the production of carbon dioxide at one of them.

Procelets suckle their mothers at Wicks Manor Farm in Maldon, England on September 22, 2021 DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AFP

But the deal, which will cost the government itself perhaps tens of millions of pounds, is only for three weeks and will only produce some of the gas needed.

"It's not exactly going to match the weight," said Howie, whose grandfather started almost a century ago.

The importance of these two factories for the sector and for the food supply was a "real surprise", he continues: "it's crazy to see that there are only two factories and that they are both under foreign capital ".

Manor Wick, which opened in its current form in 1967, is home to up to 3,000 pigs, including 250 sows that give birth all year round.

About 110 animals are slaughtered there every Friday, making room for new piglets.

This Wednesday, 20 pens sheltering little pigs are full.

In five weeks, they'll move to the bigger ones ... if there's room.

- Animal wellbeing -

"Pigs have to go," he explains, "the welfare issues for the animals are going to become quite significant if the slaughterhouses say they are stopping production because these two factories have shut down" theirs.

Pork sausages are packaged at Wicks Manor Farm, Maldon, England, September 22, 2021 DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AFP

Before the CO2 crisis, Howie was already sending 25% fewer pigs to slaughter due to chronic understaffing due to the 'double whammy' of Brexit and the coronavirus.

The UK has long depended too heavily on labor from Eastern Europe which is now disappearing, he notes.

The farmer expects a stable supply of fertilizer and CO2 from the government in the short term before he tackles long term problems.

"We have to start looking at why we have a fragile food supply in the UK," said the 46-year-old, calling for "investing in more factories and different technologies so as not to depend on natural gas" and imports.

For lack of a lasting solution, this father of three fears for the future.

"When you run a family business that dates back three generations, there is a lot of passion, a lot of involvement," he says.

"We have to make sure that we have something that we can pass on to the next generation, we don't want to be the ones who stumble."

© 2021 AFP