[Justin]

This was our second year raising pigs, and magnificent they have been, now with a freezer full to bursting and a flavour that means we'll never go back to supermarket pork.

As we have room, we've been thinking about growing some forage crops next year to supplement the bought feed. We could have a regular pig run with their arc and have a couple of strips of forage crop to let them root through and eat. This would reduce our reliance on bought in feed and, possibly reduce the cost, though that's not the main reason to do it. They'd have a more 'natural' life of rooting the ground for more than just the paddock grass.

Does this sound a reasonable idea? We've thought about kale and beets as possible forage crops, any other suggestions?

[Jamesh]

To save the grass paddocks over the worst winter months our pigs are moved onto a stubble field (to be sown in the spring) with stubble turnips. The pigs seem to love them and really supplement their diet well

[Marches Farmer]

Might be worth asking around for which root crops do best in your region - swedes, turnips, fodder bet, mangelwurzels ....

[plt102]

This year, we halved each pen and planted with forage rape and stubble turnip in summer. We have been pulling up a bucket full every other day all winter and will let them in to finish it off in a few weeks time then replant. Nice to give them something green over the winter. Bit of a warning, if you don’t strip graze or feed a bit at a time, they will just eat the lot.......