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Author Topic: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!  (Read 12461 times)

PigManDan

  • Joined Dec 2012
Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« on: December 30, 2012, 06:01:09 am »
Hello all,

New to the forum, although I have been reading here and there for years

I've finally decided to make a change. I currently like and work in Victoria, Australia. I have been here for 3 years with my wife and 2 children. I have always been invloved with pigs. We had a 250 sow PIC breeder unit in Burford, Oxfordshire when I was a kid and we also had a 250 sow indoor farrow to finish unit in Middlesbrough in the family up until about 6 years ago.

I am currently the production manager for a 3000 sow farrow to finish unit using PIC C29's to produce very large quantities of supermarket outdoor bred pork.

I've got it in my head that I want to run a herd of Tamworth pigs, selling my own meat on hopfully a large scale. My wife is even looking into becoming a butcher so she can handle all our meat after slaughter. No need to say I fear my wife at the best of times, but her being trained with a knife really does make me want to sleep with both eyes open! I think the pork produced from the Tamworth is fantastic, and should be avalible to everyone! Some people know what they are missing out on but just do not have the space or time to produce them for personal consumption. I want to be able to fill this void.

So my search for land started about 6 months ago, and I cant find any anywhere! I really want to be in southern England, but have no problem in farming up in my native north east.

I want to start out with 2 boars 10 sows, 10 gilts and a batch of weaners (10 - 15) with the view of selecting at least 5 of these for future breeders.

I'm so excited about this and really cannot hide my passion for pigs and producing high quality meat.

What are your thoughts on my idea and is there anyone out there who would consider pointing me in the direction of some land!

Thanks

Dan


mojocafa

  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Angus
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2012, 06:13:12 am »
Hi, dan

Don't know anything about pigs and live in chilly, wet and windy Scotland so of no use whatsoever to you, just saying welcome and good morning

 Mojo
 
pygmy goats, gsd, border collie, scots dumpys, cochins, araucanas, shetland ducks and geese,  marrans, and pea fowl in a pear tree.

PigManDan

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2012, 06:23:05 am »
Scotland could be a possibility, the Tamworth does well in Canada and im damn sure its gets colder there than up in wee Scotland!

Thanks for the welcome

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2012, 08:50:09 am »
If you go for Scotland you might want drier (normally!) eastern side than west - cos altho Canada gets colder, it is a kinder dry cold than the wetter parts of Scotland which is the wet cold combination animals dont like - in the eastern side it is more the dryer colder type which they find easier (and easier on the ground too).

PigManDan

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2012, 09:19:32 am »
Thanks for that, never been up to Scotland, even though when I was in Middlesbrough I was no more than 2 hours away!

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2012, 09:46:02 am »
My farm is up for sale as we want to expand our rare breeds!  Includes an ex small-scale commercial pig unit of 6 large sties with run, water and power  + 10-stall farrowing shed.  PM me for further details

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2012, 11:35:05 am »
Best of luck with your plan, Dan  :thumbsup:

I have loved pigs since I first worked with them on an intensive unit in the 80s.  Finally achieved my goal of having free range pigs of my own three years ago - and can confirm that the wet cold weather in these parts (I'm far NW of England, north of Hadrian's Wall and about 20 miles south of the Scottish Border) is not nice for pigs.  You need good winter accommodation for them, especially any youngstock.  To my surprise, my Saddleback x weaners wintered indoors very very happily last winter - they had a large pen with a big round bale of hay to burrow into (not planned, it just happened that way and they loved it so much we left it there for them - they had just about used it all up by the end of the winter  ;D)  The pen was at the entrance to the cattle shed, so there were people coming and going a lot; they enjoyed the interaction and always seemed completely content.  This year I don't have homebred youngstock, and my two bought-in Large Blacks do not like being indoors - get bored and fiesty - but get cold if it's too wet and cold outside, even with a good shelter and lots of dry straw.   So I have had to juggle giving them outside time but bringing them in before they get too cold.  Their outside pen has been a swamp for a good week now, so yesterday I gave them the run of an old hen run, currently unused, for a few hours.  Happy sleepy pigs last night when they came back in - but there's not enough grass in there to keep them going for very long.  If the ground doesn't dry up a bit I shall have to resort to taking them for daily walks! 

I've had to open up another part of the field for the adult pigs - it's no fun plodging up to your belly in mud, Meg-pig tells me, especially when there are wee stones buried in the mud that go up between your cleats and hurt your feet when you walk.  Bless 'em, they set off to 'work' in the far end of the field each morning after breakfast, returning tired and happy at tea-time. :D 

My pigs are just a hobby and for food for us and family and friends - no way could I do real free range properly here without a lot of thought and a huge amount of ground to allow for rotation.

Tammies would be very hardy, probably even more so than my OSB Meg-pig, but I would certainly be looking towards the drier parts of the country for a free range setup.

Best of luck! :thumbsup:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

hughesy

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Anglesey
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2012, 04:02:02 pm »
I'd be thinking about where I was going to sell all that meat to first. Could get very expensive with that many pigs and you'd ultimately need a big buyer to take the bulk of your production. Then you'd be getting into the supermarket vs the loss making pig farmer arena which doesn't sound like much fun to me.

Tiva Diva

  • Joined Mar 2011
  • Scottish Borders
    • Thornielee Cottage
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2012, 04:58:24 pm »
I'd look at the Farmers Market/local deli/restaurant/pub trade. There is a market for rare breed pork: we had a call from a Berwickshire man who wanted to buy our free-range, mangalitza pork for his gastro-pubs. Trouble is, he wanted a pig a week and we just aren't scaled for that level of production. Our OSBs and mangalitzas do fine here in southeast Scotland: though none of them like the amount of mud around at the moment they all mooch around outside and chat with passers by. One other factor in choosing your location is the proximity of an abattoir that can handle your proposed volume of private kills. We now have to take our pigs to an abattoir 60 miles away, and the cost of the diesel is considerable  :(
But go for it! Best of luck, and let us know how you get on!

Tudful Tamworths

  • Joined Aug 2009
    • Liz's website
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2012, 12:19:41 am »
Tamworths are an excellent choice - but, then, I'm biased. As someone said earlier, they are incredibly hardy (mine only come in from farrowing time until weaning), but they can be housed over winter if necessary. Good luck with your plans. Liz
www.lizshankland.com www.biggingerpigs.com
Author of the Haynes Pig Manual, Haynes Smallholding Manual, and the Haynes Sheep Manual. Three times winner of the Tamworth Champion of Champions. Teaching smallholding courses at Kate Humble's farm: www.humblebynature.com

Mr Pig

  • Joined Mar 2009
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2012, 09:57:09 am »
You need to think carefully about your location in terms of facilities and potential market. This means considering such things as the location of a good quality smaller abattoir within reasonable distance. You talk about doing your own butchery so I guess you may thinking about on-line sales, farmers markets and even a Farm Shop in which case there's no point in locating yourself somewhere where there's only a small population or one where they are not renowned for paying a premium for quality produce.
 
In those circumstances I would back your plan to locate yourself somewhere in the southern half of the country where you are most likely to succeed in developing a specialist market for Tamworth pork. You obviously have all the know-how on the production side but do spend some time working up a credible business plan for how you are going to sell a niche market product in sufficient volume to make your business viable.

rispainfarm

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • longniddry
    • The Porky Quines
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2012, 04:15:33 pm »
I used to go our with the son of a pig farmer around charlesbury, His surname was Gosling but I think his mother had badger as a surname (yeah don't laught)  they were pig farming in the 80's. have you heard of them as Burford is quite close I think from days at Oxford.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2012, 04:31:50 pm by rispainfarm »
Author of Choosing and Keeping Pigs and Pigs for the Freezer, A Smallholders Guide

www.porkyquines.co.uk
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/linda-mcdonald-brown/23/ab6/4a7/

PigManDan

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #12 on: January 01, 2013, 01:49:18 am »
Thanks Mr Pig, I was thinking of either Oxfordshire (maybe even team up with the argri business we used before when farming) or Ipswich area. Both are within a good distance of London where speciality meats will sell well. Also, Oxford is a great place to sell, and even the small villages like Burford and Eastleach just over the glouc border have scope for sales.

And sorry i've never heard of the Gordons or the Badgers, I was only born in 1986 myself!

rispainfarm

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • longniddry
    • The Porky Quines
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #13 on: January 01, 2013, 09:32:32 am »

And sorry i've never heard of the Gordons or the Badgers, I was only born in 1986 myself!

 :roflanim: oh well you wouldn't know them then  :)  Good luck with your pigs
Author of Choosing and Keeping Pigs and Pigs for the Freezer, A Smallholders Guide

www.porkyquines.co.uk
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/linda-mcdonald-brown/23/ab6/4a7/

goosepimple

  • Joined May 2010
  • nr Lauder, Scottish Borders
Re: Commercial pig farmer wants to go rare breed!
« Reply #14 on: January 01, 2013, 10:14:23 am »
Hi Pigmandan, we live in the scottish borders and kept Tamworths.  I'm going to sound dour here but I wouldn't choose to live in Scotland - it is beautiful, but the weather is dreadful generally - if I had my choice I would be south (or even abroad) somewhere a bit warmer which at least has a summer. 
 
Tamworths are great looking and we loved ours but their killing time is later, at 9 months and although we fed our the best diet they could have (we were given loads of free fresh veg in return for meat) and their diet was controlled, their fat content was enormous compared to other pigs.  Others we have known to keep them said the same thing. 
 
I also like Oxford Sandy and Blacks and would be tempted to keep them, but would find out about their meat quality v fat content first.
 
Good luck with your enterprise - it's important to be excited of course, but control yourself and think financially too or it could all be a costly mistake and could lead to stress for you and your family.
 
all the best.
registered soay, castlemilk moorit  and north ronaldsay sheep, pygmy goats, steinbacher geese, muscovy ducks, various hens, lots of visiting mallards, a naughty border collie, a puss and a couple of guinea pigs

 

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