Farmer Focus: Pig units ‘best ever’ but butchery plans stall
Jack Bosworth © MAG/Colin Miller It’s great to have had some sunshine and warmer weather here in Essex.
The dry weather has allowed us to get first nitrogen on all our winter crops.
Contract spreading of slurry has also kicked off with our new 24m dribble bar getting its first outing.
See also: How pig data management can lead to small but crucial gains
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We got this part-funded through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, albeit the payment terms have changed from “within 30 days of submission” to an unknown date – most helpful for planning cashflow.
Health and performance on the pigs has been going well, with huge praise for health and growth given at our most recent quarterly vet visit. Well done to all our team for their hard work, which continues to impress.
Our vet, Joe, said both units looked the best they ever had since he took them on, which is quite a statement.
Next up for us on the feeding herd is likely to be investment in time – and equipment – for routine batch-weighing of pigs, from weaning to finish, to give us more real-time information.
This will involve extra work for Jack and Simon, but they are both committed to doing this to give us the ability to have live targets that will be reviewed regularly, as we do with the breeding herd.
It is great to have these guys wanting to work with the data more and perhaps challenging the stereotype of what a stockperson should be.
That side of things is really important, and it’s crucial that we back them with the tools they need which, in turn, will motivate them to keep improving.
Elsewhere on the farm, our planning appeal for the butchery has been rejected, despite the new National Planning Policy Framework giving us more strength on the case.
The economic benefit this would bring, the income it would generate (to replace disappearing subsidy), as well as giving local people access to local food, were not considered good enough when set against the impact of the development on the local area.
It’s very frustrating for all of us who have been involved in what is a logical next step for a business wanting to add value to the products it is producing.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated on Plan B.