A Midlands pig producer has won a prestigious award to develop an innovative new type of farrowing pen.
Martin Barker, of Midland Pig Producers, is the recipient of this year’s Oxford Farming Conference (OFC) and Royal Agricultural Society of England (Rase) Practice with Science Award.
The award was set up in 2010 to recognise applied scientific work that has resulted in valuable benefits to the agricultural industry – it opened up to farm inventions or innovations this year.
Mr Barker will use the £10,000 prize money for the award, which is sponsored by Map of Agriculture, to further develop his 360 degree sow farrowing pen system idea.
The system was invented by Mr Barker to address the high mortality rates with free farrowing in the pig sector.
After doing some research, Mr Barker discovered that the size of pen was crucial to minimising piglet losses.
He found that a bigger pen allowed sows to exhibit their natural behaviour around farrowing and during lactation.
As a result he has designed a pen which allows the sows to turn around. The bars on the pen are effectively sloping walls the sows use to lie down and Mr Barker says the new design allows staff a better view of the animals and closer interaction with the sows.
“The benefits of the system are an increased pig weaning weight, which results in a reduced number of days taken to reach slaughter,” said Mr Barker.
“In addition, sows eat 10% more feed in the pen, which means a good body condition when they return to the boar. This leads to an improved service return rate and an increased subsequent litter number.”
Throughput from each pen averaged 120 pigs per year and the extra production from the system ensured payback of the pen investment in 18 months, he added.
OFC director Tina Barsby, who is chief executive officer of Niab, said: “This progressive farmer has combined multiple innovations in sow management, lighting and temperature, tackling several welfare issues.
“The end product is really impressive, and modifications to the design and materials have resulted in a patented pen design that has reduced and really seems to be adding value to the pig farmers who use it.”