PIG farmers across North and East Yorkshire are helping to launch a multi-million pound national advertising campaign.

Richard Lister, a Boroughbridge farmer, has joined the home grown campaign to support pig farmers.

Most British pig farmers are making huge losses because of the high cost of pig feed – so they have launched a self-funded publicity drive equating to an advertising campaign to remind shoppers to buy high-welfare British pork, bacon and sausages.

Roadside fields are being used to display 15ft tall banners with slogans such as “Yes! Yes! Yes! to British Pork” and “Made in Britain – perfect British bacon”.

All the banners prominently display British farming’s well-known Red Tractor symbol, which shows food has been produced on British farms to high welfare, environmental and safety standards.

Currently there is a shortage of British pork, bacon and sausages and pig farming is an important industry in North and East Yorkshire. But many farmers say they cannot afford to keep producing pork.

More than 270 banners have gone up around the country and more are being erected every day.

The pig industry will be asking a London media-buying agency to work out the value of the campaign, but already it adds up to many millions of pounds, with banners facing many motorways and busy trunk roads.

Pig farmers are planning to take their campaign to London on March 3 with a Westminster rally to raise awareness among the Government. They will also call on supermarkets to pay them a fair price. The last time farmers took their cause to London, more than 750 attended, attracting worldwide media attention.

Mr Lister said: “Many shoppers are already pretty loyal when it comes to choosing British pork, because they know it is higher quality. The aim of this campaign is to persuade shoppers to make an extra effort to choose British rather than anonymous lower-welfare imported pork.

“We need supermarkets to pay pig farmers enough to cover the cost of producing high-welfare British pork. At the moment, supermarkets and most processors are making large profits – but pig farmers are losing around £20 on every pig they sell.”