Farmers Weekly Awards 2022: Farmer of the Year
David Fulton © Steffan Hill Pig farmer, David Fulton of Carricknakielt Farm, Londonderry, is Farmers Weekly’s Farmer of the Year 2022.
What David does not know about his business is probably not worth knowing – and, frankly, there is not much that he does not know.
This is due to his meticulous approach to benchmarking, using multiple data sets, which is helping him achieve and maintain enviable physical and financial figures, despite an incredibly challenging time for the pig sector.
See also: Farmers Weekly Awards 2022: Pig Farmer of the Year finalists
He ranks top in his retailer-producer steering group.
5 things that make David Fulton 2022’s Farmer of the Year
- Excellent use of benchmarking to monitor, measure and manage all aspects of his business
- Clear focus on maximising efficiencies across the farm to make even marginal gains
- Close relationship with his supply chain
- Uses learnings from his beef and sheep enterprises to improve the pig business and vice versa
- An active participant in knowledge exchange groups and host to farm visitors. Off farm, he is a volunteer at the Boys’ Brigade
Despite the resulting high performance this attention to detail brings, David says he is always looking to do more to increase the efficiency of his business.
For example, he has started fully cleaning out his slurry store every year to avoid a build-up of sediment, after calculating how much storage space this could cost him over time.
David is particularly proud that he was able to remove all zinc from diets last spring, well ahead of the anticipated imminent ban on its use.
He did this with minimal disruption to the health of his piglets, which have continued to thrive without it, thanks to the high management standards across the whole system.
He is an enthusiastic adopter of technology and has used it to improve animal welfare and mitigate the impact of labour challenges.
When he installed a computerised feeding system, he was recognised as a Technology Demonstration farmer for the sector by the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise.
Weaners are weighed weekly, and David carries out his own trials on different feeds – which he mills himself to perfect diets to optimise daily liveweight gain.
All sow information, including water and feed intake, is recorded on an app, and this is used to manage and prioritise workload.
David also has an open-book approach to sharing his performance details and is a keen member of three farmer-led development groups.
He believes these groups are essential learning opportunities that subsequently improve his business.
The Technology Demonstration farm status has enabled him to welcome groups of farmers to his unit to discuss how technology can improve efficiencies.
Farmers Weekly Awards 2022 Farmer of the Year is sponsored by Agrovista
“David displays in abundance all the key credentials of a fantastic farmer. He strategically manages risk and his aim to always improve his business is inspiring. His vision for the future is clear, and he has a well thought out plan as to how he will achieve it.”
Chris Clayton, managing director