Holderness is a part of East Yorkshire famed for the quality of its farming and where it’s nearer, as the crow flies, to get to Grimsby than it is to get to Hull. The farms are all large and the rich clay soil is ideal for growing bumper crops of winter wheat. Back in the 1970s Holderness was noted for its pig production, with the wheat being “walked off the farm.”

Owners of a Holderness feed mill, called Feedex, were trying to boost feed sales and set up integrated operations between the feed mill and farmers which has been copied all over the world. Sadly Feedex is no longer with us but that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the form of the Kirkwood family who are well known in Holderness farming pigs and arable. Peter Kirkwood started his pig unit back in 1965, buying two in-pig gilts from Beverley market. Later on Peter’s daughter Angela became involved with the pig unit having her own gilts. The business now comprises a 950 sow farrow – finish pig unit, arable land, renewable energy, farm shop and market stalls. The pig unit has a staff of five, ranging in age from 20 to 70 years of age. The average age is 51 years and the team as a whole has a grand total of 252 years of experience which is a statistic the Kirkwood’s are very proud of. Following employment with local pig breeders JSR Genetics and Marks & Spencer, Angela came back home in 2009 to work on the pig unit and she was made a partner in the business in 2015. Not just content with her pigs, Angela has been chair of the local NFU and is currently vice chair of the York East NFU. A fresh pair of eyes can be very useful and Angela has made several changes which have benefitted the business, to the extent that the sow herd has been reduced from 1000 sows to 950 whilst still increasing output. Weak points were identified, changes made and regular production meetings now feature on a regular basis. Internal bench marking has been introduced and JSR has been enlisted to help with staff training. Angela cited the example of the staff member who was collecting semen, but who had empathy problems. The person in question was transferred to another role on the pig unit and a more empathetic team member took on the role of semen collector. Gilts are served at 135kg and farrow at 180kg. Sows and gilts farrow down on chopped newspaper, not straw, on a weekly basis. Eye teeth are not removed and piglet injections are given using a needless gun. The unit experienced a pneumonia problem hence piglets get vaccinated at 21 days. Pre-weaning feed is given initially as mash and then in crumb form. Weaning takes place at 27 days, each Tuesday, with piglets averaging 9kg. Sows are condition scored at this time with the score recorded on the sow card. Sows and gilts are inseminated twice, using Hampshire semen. Pigs are housed in flat decks post weaning in groups of 120 and are given acid via the drinking water, which helps against digestive upsets. From 35 -100kg pigs are housed in groups of 17, with enrichment being provided by suspended lengths of redundant chain and flights, taken from old sow feeders, and at 100kg are shipped to a Lincolnshire slaughterhouse supplying Morrison’s supermarkets.

The Kirkwood’s have been home mill & mixers for many years with all feed being pelleted. Pellets naturally cost more than a meal but pellets are less dusty, which is a bonus for both unit staff and for pigs in terms of better DLWG & FCR. The farm grows wheat and barley for the pig rations, with soya being bought in. An Omega 3 supplement is added to the sow feeds on the advice of South Yorkshire based Faye Murch who runs her own nutrition business. Slurry is carted six miles (9.6km) from the farm to a large lagoon, located on the farm’s arable land, by means of a 23,500 litre Joskin tanker. A Yucca extract is added to the pig feed which then reduces odours from the slurry produced, with the slurry being applied in the spring using an umbilical cord system. Electricity is a major cost on all pig farms and the Kirkwood’s have installed solar panels to cut energy costs. In addition a 500kwa wind turbine was erected in 2014 and this is proving financially viable.

Pig producers have over recent years been encouraged to shorten the chain, from farm to fork and Peter felt that he should be seeing a better return for his pigs. Consequently in 2000 Peter set up his own farm shop, East Riding Country Pork, which is 3 miles from the farm. The local market town of Beverley has a large bustling market, held every Saturday and Peter has rented a stall there since the turn of the new Millennium , personally manned by Peter selling his pork products come rain , hail or snow and very rarely shine! The farm shop’s business has grown over the years and now has a staff of 15 part time employees.

The farm shop naturally has its own website www.eastridingcountrypork.co.uk And to keep up with the times has its own Facebook page. The farm shop has a throughput of 6-10 pigs per week, gilts only, which are slaughtered in York. As well as selling pork and traditionally dry cured bacon, the shop also sells over 13 different hand-linked varieties of pork sausages, made from pork shoulder. In addition, customers can purchase 28 day matured locally reared beef, along with lamb, poultry, game and venison, with the average spend being £28 (about $49 Cdn) per person. A special feature is “The Pork Sausage Experience.”

This is a 1.5 hour guided tour of the farm shop and butchery, when participants learn about butchery, watch a carcass being cut up and get a chance to link their own sausages, followed by coffee, tea and biscuits. Customers are reminded that this is a family business, using its own pork direct from the farm. We use Hampshires as the terminal sire and this gives exceptional flavour to our pork “enthused Angela.” We also publicise the national Red Tractor Farm Assurance scheme, which ensures full traceability. Most customers have seen the logo on food in supermarkets but are not really sure what it stands for, so it’s a great opportunity to publicise the scheme.”

So-called animal “welfare” groups are getting larger in the UK, as in many other countries and getting more brazen in their activities. They think nothing of breaking into barns, which of course is trespassing and videoing what they claim to be shots of pigs exhibiting unnatural behaviours, following which the groups then threaten to pass the videos on to the tabloid Press. The Kirkwood pig farm was ‘treated’ to one such unwelcome ‘visit’ commented Angela. “Video footage did in fact end up on a tabloid website and we were subjected to offensive phone calls and received hate mail from as far afield as Switzerland and even Australia. We were advised not to talk to the media, instead told that all communication should be in writing”. Since this unfortunate incident “No Entry” signs have been posted at the farm entrances and several CCTV cameras have also been installed all around the farm.

The author has known the Kirkwood family for many years and it’s great to see the business grow and flourish. Long may that continue. • — Norman Crabtree