PHOTO: KEES HUIZINGA
PHOTO: KEES HUIZINGA
PHOTO: KEES HUIZINGA
Feed stocks left In mid-March Huizinga said, “There is only enough feed for the next six weeks in the shed. We have plenty of corn so it looks like we have to bend all the rules when it comes to feeding pigs. We will have to feed as much corn as we can and fully understand this will make the pigs too fat, but in these circumstances that is the least of our worries.” For the world market the farm grows corn, wheat, barley and sunflowers that are exported out of the Black Sea ports, but the Russians have closed those ports now. Incidentally, Ukraine is the biggest sunflower exporter in the world and accounts for over 50% of global sunflower production. Huizinga says: “We are also reviewing our fieldwork pro- gramme as we don’t know when we can get out to sow seeds. With the Russians getting closer it’s best the tractors work at night, but then with the lights on they become huge targets for invaders.” Fuel and fertiliser are both in short supply on the farm, too. “We have to work around that. We might stop growing sugar beet this year because of the uncertainty that the mills will be operational. Our farm produces 70,000 to 80,000 tonnes of grains per year but right now the export markets are closed.”
Farm staff off to the front While the area that Huizinga farms in is currently relatively quiet, some of the farm staff have gone to fight the Russians. As they cannot be contacted by phone, he can only hope they will survive. He says, “There are no Russians in our area at the moment and I hope it stays like that. Around 25 of our staff have gone to fight the Russians. Some others are work- ing as local security to keep an eye out for saboteurs. Our farm, like most farms and local villages, is preparing food and sending it to the Ukrainian army and to Kyiv. As we cannot sell the pigs, some are being slaughtered on the farm. Local ladies in the school are processing the pork and then it’s de- livered to the Ukrainian army as well as to staff and villagers.” He adds, “Putin is now targeting supermarkets and food stor- age facilities with bombs. He is using hunger as a weapon. He must be stopped.”
Presence in the Netherlands Huizinga travelled back to Ukraine in April 2022, having had various meetings in the Netherlands to try to get the west to increase the pressure. He says, “Ukraine has done nothing to deserve this. Since the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, we have striven to live in peace and harmony with the wider community of nations. We have tried to develop a civilised democracy. Although we still have a long way to go, we have made great progress. We all need to stand together and get this stopped now. I’m very worried about my staff. They have plenty of food, but we don’t know what can happen.”
Huizinga’s farm staff slaughter some pigs for food for the staff, villagers and the Ukrainian army.
Huizinga keeps his pigs on straw, and the supply is ok for now.
Huizinga and his partners had planned significant investment on the farm this year to modernise the pig barns and expand sow numbers.
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 38, No. 3, 2022
www.pigprogress.net/ worldofpigs
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