By Matt Donald, pig & poultry producer, north Yorkshire
The upcoming Pig and Poultry fair is always a great event in which to learn, network and explore what is new on the market. Having both pigs and poultry it is usually a busy day or two getting around it for us, I look forward to attending this month. There should hopefully be more optimism there than the previous one with current market conditions for eggs and pork in a much better place.
The ever looming threat of African Swine Fever in the pig industry is a worry as it still spreads across Europe, however for the time being it is nice that pigs are profitable. This is helped by poor supply in Europe and tight UK numbers still due to everyone filling holes in their pockets following the pig crisis, rather than expanding sow herds. On farm, we are also managing some very strong herd performance across both breeding and finishing.
On the poultry side we have taken a few new employees on recently and are all young, keen and showing some promising signs, it is nice to see young people so willing to work, something which hasn’t been easy for us to find until recently. To have a sustainable future we need young people to contribute to the poultry sector.
As I sit through my poultry welfare course for the second time – I’ve already done manual handling at least twice! I started to wonder if we can have a better way of training and encouraging young people into our sector? Ideas welcome!
Surely though, courses such as manual handling, once completed once should be ticked off. I and our team would be best spending time learning more about genetic potential of our birds, how to optimise breeder performance or what other farms or countries do to enhance bird health. Where I learnt most though, was the poultry industry programme ran by the NFU and ABN, applications are open and I encourage you to apply.