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Pork
21 August 2018
Opportunities for exporting pork to Mexico will be explored when the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) arrives in the country next month.
17 October 2025
Support and advice from farming charities
12 March 2019
Two in five people are intending to increase the number of meals they cook from scratch. What's holding them back?
12 December 2023
Some of the alternative bedding materials mentioned here can be used in conjunction with traditional cereal straw, either to replace it or offset the increased cost and allow straw-bedding supplies to go further
13 August 2018
It is important to keep the cost of producing piglets to a minimum to enable you to maximise profitability at sale. Knowing how your breeding herd performs helps you to identify where and how to concentrate your time, effort and investment to improve performance and reduce the cost of production.
13 August 2018
Improving the number of pigs born alive and piglet survival rate through to weaning has a significant impact on profitability – an increase of 1.7 pigs weaned per litter (the difference between average and top 10% performance) improves net margin by £120 per sow per annum.
13 August 2018
Understanding /meeting the contract specification and increasing the uniformity of finished pigs will help improve financial returns. This factsheet will help you review your contract, taking into account your location, pig production system and current grading.
13 August 2018
Ventilation systems can improve living conditions. An efficient ventilation system draws fresh air in and removes stale air along with microbes, dust, harmful gases and water vapour. Inefficient ventilation is detrimental to pig and staff performance (particularly on hot days) and costs more to run
16 February 2024
Feed makes up ~76% of variable and ~56% of total costs. It may be possible to decrease the cost by switching to a cheaper ration or purchasing in larger quantities, but it can also be achieved through simple, practical actions to minimise feed wastage and to improve the efficiency of utilisation
13 August 2018
Piglets need warmth after birth as energy reserves to produce body heat are limited. They are also born with no immunity so need colostrum soon after birth a min 100ml per kg of birthweight within 16 hours is crucial to provide the energy, nutrients and antibodies to survive
13 August 2018
Killing-out percentage (KO%) determines how much saleable carcase weight is obtained from the live pig. The most valuable part of the pig is the meat ontained in the carcase. Producers are paid on the weight of the carcase and an assessment of its leanness, rather than the weight of the live animal.
13 August 2018
Large roundworms (Ascaris suum) are endoparasites which cause milk spot liver and are the most prevalent of worms affecting pig productivity