Michael (left) and Ian Baker, owners of North Farm Livestock, photographed in 2019 when they became Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year in the UK.
All pigs on North Farm Livestock are finished free range.
individual staff restrictions on site entry to avoid any cross contamination. In addition, we have protocols for both visitor and auditor visits,” he says.
Local factors and global perspective The pig production sector has its fair share of key challenges, some influenced by local factors and some occurring at a global level. For Ian the main challenges affecting the busi- ness include maintaining a high herd health status, finding good staff with the appropriate skill set and retaining them and keeping staff training up to date to comply with the lat- est legislation and stakeholder management practices. On top of that he says a number of key challenges face the UK
The farm produces about 2,500 pigs per week.
sector as a whole after it climbs out of current situations such as leaving the European Union. Ian says, “The key challenges for the pig sector, as I see it, include the ever-increasing focus on welfare, with the use of farrowing crates being a current example. Of course then there is the uncertainty of how the UK will cope with trade deals post-Brexit, particularly if these involve the importation of foodstuffs with different or inferior standards.” He adds, “We also need to be mindful of the recession in the UK as we emerge out of this Covid-19 pandemic era and how that will impact on the sector. Then there is also the difficulty of the public understanding of UK standards against others and public buying habits to contend with.”
▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 36, No. 7, 2020
www.pigprogress.net/ worldofpigs
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PHOTO: TIM SCRIVENER
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