Wales Farmer 12 FEATURE May 2013


Investment wouldhelp producers bring home the bacon


■ Pig shortage could see prices rise in next three years, but illegally reared imports must be stopped


QUALITY PRODUCE: Christine and John Jones’ pigs have an 80% killing out percentage and are sold for bacon.


AN EXPECTED shortage of pig meat in the next three years could mark a turning point for one Welsh fattening enter- prise.


Christine Jones,county chair-


man of NFU Cymru’sAnglesey branch, runs an indoor rearing system on Anglesey with her husband, John, and son, Paul. The familyhas just secured a


20-year tenancy on the county council-owned farmand this marks aturning point forthe business. The current fattening shed is


30 years old and replacing it would cost in the region of £400,000. But the newfacility would allowfor an expansion in pig numbers and improvethe feed conversion rate.The Joneses would also fatten pigs to the maximum weight of 95kg, instead of the current 70kg. Although the returns from pig


production have been very poor, Christine is hopeful thatbetter times maylie ahead. “In the next three years there


is going to be ashortage of pig meat. The head buyerfor Tesco has alreadybeen to the farm,” said Christine. Competition among buyers


could push up the price and this would facilitate the investment the Joneses areseeking to make. The decision on whether to con- tinue with the pig enterprise rests with Paul, whoisapartner in the business. The Joneses took on the ten-


ancy of Llwyn yr Arth at Llanbabo 30 years ago. At that time the farmwas just 50 acres with acollection of near derelict buildings. “Wecame herewith 20 sows,


aboar,acar and atrailer,” Christine recalled. The introduction of quotas


By Debbie James


made it unviablefor them to consider producing milk at the farm, so they set about develop- ing apig and sheep enterprise. They nowrun aherdof250


Landrace-cross Large White sows and aflock of 1,200 Texel- cross eweson300 acres,half of which is owned. All the breeding stock is


sourced from JSR at between four and six months old. The gilts areserved at eight months using synchronized AI, with each sowproducing an average of six litters forslaughtering at 22 weeks.Around 6,000 pigs are fattened every year. The pigs arehoused in acli-


mate-controlled environment, some on straw,but mainlyon slats.


“Slats cut down on labour


and pigs tend to eattheir straw bedding, which reduces the feed conversion


rate,” John


explained. “Wedon’t produce anystraw


on the farmsoitwould cost us to transport it here. At the end of the dayweare acommercial farm.” The pig manureiscurrently


spread on the fields,but Anglesey County Council is encouraging the Joneses to establish abiodigester plant on the farm. Although the family would payfor the capital cost, the council would deal with the paperworkand


planning


process.Itwould makethe farm self-sufficient in energy and therewould also be an excess to export. “It would get rid of alot of


muck and would provide peatto spread on the fields,” Christine explained. The commercial realities of


pig production have been partic- ularly tough in recent years with


TIME TO TAKE ACTION: Christine Jones says more must be done to tackle imports of illegally-produced pigmeat. PICTURE: Debbie James.


the feed price increasing by from £98 atonne five years agotoits current £300. In contrast the pig price has increased by just 30%. “Wemanage because it is all


familylabour.Ifthe supermar- kets had to farmthemselves they wouldn’t makeany money.We arecheaplabour forthem,”said Christine. The pigs have an 80% killing


out percentage and aresold for bacon. The Joneses areincom- petition with foreign producers whoare flouting newEuropean welfarelegislation outlawing the prolonged confinement of sows in individual cages,known as ‘stalls’. This failuretocomply means they can produce meat


morecheaplythan their British counterparts.Christine said the situation needed to be urgently addressed. “Weneed to educate the cus-


tomer thatthe foreign meatthey arebuying is being produced illegally,”she said. “You need amicroscope to


see the redtractor on the pack- aging of British products,there needs to be aflagorabigger tractor symbol so thatthe shop- per can then makeaninformed choice. “Weare Farm Assured, the


vetcomes hereevery three months.But when other coun- tries aren’t following the same rules youhavetoquestion what


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk lessons


for, why? It is time thatour gov- ernment put its foot down.” She is also keen to see cookery reintroduced


into


schools to educate children on food and its origins. “Some children don’t even


knowhow to cook bacon, we need to start children learning to cook again.” The pigs produced at Llwyn


yr Arth aresold through MeadowQuality and the lambs aresold to other buyers includ- ing the Welsh Country Foods plant at Gaerwen. The uncer- tainty over the futureofthis plant is asource of concern for the Jones family. “If the site closes we will have


less buyers to sell too.The lambs will have to go to England and thatwill mean additional trans- port costs,” said Christine. “Wewant to see Welsh Country Foods back on its feet, thatisone of the biggest worries we have on the island.” Ewes lamb indoors in two


batches –800 in February and a further 400 in April –with lambs sold from the end of May onwards.Lambing is abusy time,but ironicallyitisthe peri- od when Christine takes her annual holidayfromher fulltime job as adistrict nurse. “I work five days aweek off


the farm, it’scalled diversifica- tion!” she laughed.


PICTURE: Debbie James.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28