Pig World
  • News
      • Animal Health
      • Breeding
      • Business
      • Environment
      • EU
      • Food Safety
      • Housing
      • Marketing
      • NPA
      • National Pig Awards
      • New Products
      • Nutrition
      • People
      • Pig Fair
      • Politics
      • Training & Education
      • Welfare
  • Features
    • Animal Health
    • Breeding
    • Environment
    • Farm Visits
    • Herd Recording
    • Housing
    • Marketing
    • Nutrition
    • Products
    • Training
  • Comment
    • AHDB Pork
    • Chris Fogden
    • Dennis Bridgeford
    • Peter Crichton
    • Red Robin
    • Veterinary View
    • Zoe Davies, NPA
  • Numbers
  • Pig Prices
  • Magazines
    • July 2025
    • June 2025
    • 2025 Innovation supplement
    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • 2025 Buildings supplement
    • February 2025
    • 2025 Nutrition Supplement
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • 2025 National Pig Awards supplement
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • August 2024
    • 2024 Pig Health supplement
    • July 2024
    • June 2024
    • 2024 Innovation supplement
    • 2024 Pig & Poultry Fair Guide
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • 2024 Buildings Supplement
    • March 2024
    • 2024 Pig Nutrition supplement
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • 2023 National Pig Awards supplement
    • October 2023
    • September 2023
    • Health Supplement
  • Suppliers
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Manage Jobs
  • Classified
  • Events
    • Pigs Tomorrow
    • National Pig Awards
Podcast
Pig WorldPig World
  • News
      • Animal Health
      • Breeding
      • Business
      • Environment
      • EU
      • Food Safety
      • Housing
      • Marketing
      • NPA
      • National Pig Awards
      • New Products
      • Nutrition
      • People
      • Pig Fair
      • Politics
      • Training & Education
      • Welfare
  • Features
    • Animal Health
    • Breeding
    • Environment
    • Farm Visits
    • Herd Recording
    • Housing
    • Marketing
    • Nutrition
    • Products
    • Training
  • Comment
    • AHDB Pork
    • Chris Fogden
    • Dennis Bridgeford
    • Peter Crichton
    • Red Robin
    • Veterinary View
    • Zoe Davies, NPA
  • Numbers
  • Pig Prices
  • Magazines
    1. July 2025
    2. June 2025
    3. 2025 Innovation supplement
    4. May 2025
    5. April 2025
    6. March 2025
    7. 2025 Buildings supplement
    8. February 2025
    9. 2025 Nutrition Supplement
    10. January 2025
    11. December 2024
    12. November 2024
    13. 2025 National Pig Awards supplement
    14. October 2024
    15. September 2024
    16. August 2024
    17. 2024 Pig Health supplement
    18. July 2024
    19. June 2024
    20. 2024 Innovation supplement
    21. 2024 Pig & Poultry Fair Guide
    22. May 2024
    23. April 2024
    24. 2024 Buildings Supplement
    25. March 2024
    26. 2024 Pig Nutrition supplement
    27. February 2024
    28. January 2024
    29. December 2023
    30. November 2023
    31. 2023 National Pig Awards supplement
    32. October 2023
    33. September 2023
    34. Health Supplement
    Featured

    July 2025 issue of Pig World now available

    July 6, 2025
    Recent

    July 2025 issue of Pig World now available

    July 6, 2025

    June 2025 issue of Pig World now available

    June 4, 2025

    2025 Innovation supplement now available

    June 4, 2025
  • Suppliers
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Manage Jobs
  • Classified
  • Events
    • Pigs Tomorrow
    • National Pig Awards
LinkedIn X (Twitter)
Pig World
Chris Fogden

A time for change and new opportunities

PW ReportersBy PW ReportersSeptember 4, 20193 Mins Read
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email

Chris Fogden is a first-generation farmer and Nuffield Scholar, who owns and manages 950 outdoor sows on 40ha of rented land within the rotation of a large Norfolk arable estate

A site move on an outdoor unit gives the opportunity to redesign the way things are done – within the constraints of the land available, of course.

The task also can become all- consuming, as it is a major job on top of the existing, day-to-day tasks. With this year’s biennial move there are two major changes that we are making, just to add to the excitement and workload.

Firstly, we are backtracking from our policy of ‘flipping’ the farrowing paddocks every six months. This was a lot of work and necessitated the farrowing paddocks being too small. The legacy will be a wonderful self- sown ‘cover crop’ of fat hen, which I am told will provide wonderful food for yellowhammers, greenfinches and linnets, as long as my landlord doesn’t succumb to tidy farmer syndrome and spray it off too soon.

It looks just like a nearby, very expensive, bought wild bird mix. So that’s yet another idea to be filed away as a ‘been there, done that’. The second change is more major for us – our Luddite ways are ending, and we are returning to AI.

We did use AI in a batch farrowing system prior to our restock over 10 years ago. My reason for going to a natural, dynamic serving system then was that the gilt serving for the restock was done by a neighbour, who was also restocking – they were doing it naturally, so I had to buy a lot of boars for my gilts and the system had been working very well for them.

The many reasons for my change in policy now include the fact that our breeding herd performance isn’t consistently good and we have seen good results from the few animals that are AI-ed for homebred gilt production.

The technique has become a lot easier with recent developments such as stall serving pods and the use of plant support ‘yoyos’, while getting the correct sows out of the dynamic groups every week is very time consuming and involves a lot of walking.

The site move presented the opportunity to redesign the system and there was also the fact that I was definitely a rarity, which might have been OK if there was a marketing premium for such a product – which there isn’t.

One change that I would very much like to make is a move on to established grass. This is partly offset by some feelings of unease over the nose ringing that would be necessary. Also, currently, the crop rotation on the very light land that we get to use doesn’t give much opportunity to establish grass.

Fortunately, the straw harvest was completed relatively easily and, as the farrowing paddocks are going onto winter barley stubble and the dry sows onto June harvested carrots, we are able to crack on.

However, the old site will take a long time to wind down, so it is just as well the next crop is sugar beet.

Share. LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Email
Previous Article“Our time is coming…” – NPA predicts market upturn
Next Article Record pig prices in China point to further import demand
PW Reporters

Read Similar Stories

Comment: British pork reimagined: Data-led marketing for a changing consumer

July 9, 2025

Comment: Market recovery, export growth and on-farm innovation

July 7, 2025

Comment: Encouraging signs as big pig issues discussed in parliament

July 4, 2025
Latest News

New government food strategy a welcome step, but must be backed by pragmatic policy – NFU

July 18, 2025

AHDB to explore retail trends and consumer perceptions of farming at October conference

July 17, 2025

GB pig prices for week ending July 12, 2025 – SPP continues to inch up

July 16, 2025
Sponsored Content

THE GATEKEEPER OF RESPIRATORY HEALTH – MYCOPLASMA HYOPNEUMONIAE (M.HYO)

April 30, 2024

Tackle the root cause of PWD with free diagnostic tests

March 1, 2024
Current Pig Industry jobs
  • Pig Stockperson – Ref 1763 Scotland

    • Scotland
    • Roadhogs Recruitment Ltd.
    • Full Time
  • Senior Piggery Stockpersons – Ref 1762 Western Australia

    • Western Australia
    • Roadhogs Recruitment Ltd.
    • Full Time
  • Assistant Pig Farm Manager – Ref 1761 Leicestershire

    • Leicestershire
    • Roadhogs Recruitment Ltd.
    • Full Time
GETTING IN TOUCH
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Meet The Editors
  • About Us
  • Email Newsletters
  • Subscribe
  • Reuse permissions
OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
PARTNER EVENTS
RELATED SITES
  • Farmers Weekly
  • Agronomist & Arable Farmer
  • Farm Contractor
  • National Pig Awards
  • Pigs Tomorrow
  • Poultry News
  • Weekly Tribune
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2024 MA Agriculture Ltd, a Mark Allen Group company

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.