BPEX Knowledge Transfer Manager and Nuffield Scholar Helen Thoday writes: I attended my first Nuffield pig group event and it was an excellent introduction to the ongoing network of pig scholars that I have become part of.
The group, which was chaired by Chris Fogden and organised by Wendy Houston, attended an excellent day of visits followed by a session of presentations from current Nuffield Scholars Richard Hooper and Andrew Freemantle. Plenty of discussion followed, with Richard Longthorpe and Mike Varley there to add their overviews of the industry.
We met at Woburn Foods with ex Scholar Andrew Davies who had kept pigs and
added value through a successful farm shop and butchery. The retail business
grew and grew. The pigs have since gone and the business is focusing on
expanding its food service business including provision of local food to
restaurants and pubs. The group was very impressed with the passion and interest
the team had in its products, with some fabulous cures on the bacon – some of
which are award-winning.We then went on to Bedfordia Farms Ltd, visiting one of
their breeding herds, the associated finisher site and the successful Biogen
site.
After pinching myself to remind myself I was still in the English countryside
and not in Holland I was very impressed with the level of investment at the
breeding herd. I had been lucky enough to visit Sterskel research centre in
Eindhoven last year with my South West training group and many of the principles
and building styles had been adopted and delivered for Bedfordia by G
E Baker very successfully.This, coupled with the talk from Richard Longthorpe
the next day, provided a great advert for pride in the appearance of pig units
and skills recognition and professionalism in the pig industry.
The final leg of the tour was the Biogen AD energy harness site. What struck
me was the restriction on 30-mile radius for waste. If a site this
size can fuel itself from within only 30 miles radius, the UK has
a great capacity for these sites but why are they not being built and can we
continue with this level of waste in landfill?
Click here to find
out more about Nuffield Scholarships and here to read more
about Helen's travels in her blog on the Pig World website.