It is said that nothing is certain in this world except death and taxes. Well, I think it’s time we added a third certainty to that list: the Great British weather finding a new way to make farming even harder.
Back in May, despite the obvious market challenges, I was feeling surprisingly optimistic about the months ahead. The pigs were performing well, the crops were filling out nicely and, perhaps most importantly, the team were in good spirits.
Performance nosedive
Then June and July arrived, bringing three heatwaves in quick succession that pushed harvest forward by almost three weeks and sent pig performance into a real nosedive.
There won’t be a pig farm in the country that hasn’t been affected by the recent weather. From sows overheating in the farrowing house and refusing to stand at service, to finishing pigs eating less and producing lighter carcases, the effects have been felt across the whole production system.
Add the challenge of keeping staff motivated and comfortable, and it has been a testing couple of months.
Extreme weather is now another risk that pig farmers have to manage. The frustration is that managing it almost always requires investment. Better ventilation, cooling systems, insulation and automation all come at a cost, and deciding how far to go when margins are already wafer thin is a dilemma every producer faces.
I still ran an outdoor breeding herd when temperatures reached 40°C a few years ago, and it re-
inforced my decision to move indoors. Despite plenty of shade and wallows, some sows still chose to lie in the afternoon sunshine.
Those sunburned sows were often the first to go off their food, abort litters or struggle afterwards. Frustratingly, they were often some of our youngest and most valuable breeding stock.
Practical changes
Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic solution when temperatures climb, but there are a few practical changes we have adopted that have made a noticeable difference.
The most obvious has been altering feeding times. During previous heatwaves, it wasn’t unusual to walk into the farrowing house at lunchtime and find perfectly good feed untouched, with sows lying panting beside it.
In my experience, once the farrowing house gets much above 24°C, encouraging a sow to eat becomes virtually impossible. Daytime feeding simply leaves feed sitting in troughs, attracting flies and reducing appetite further.
As temperatures increase, we change our routine. The first feed goes out at about 6:30am while temperatures are still relatively cool. The second isn’t offered until between 9pm and midnight, when the sheds have finally begun to cool down.
Despite the exceptional temperatures, our reduction in feed intake has been limited to less than 10%, largely because we adapted our routine, rather than expecting the pigs to adapt to ours.
We have also learned that when temperatures rise, our working day needs to change, too. Much like the old saying that nothing good happens after 2am on a night out, I have become convinced that very little good happens after 2pm on a hot day.
Staff become tired, jobs get rushed and mistakes happen. Stock become stressed, people become stressed and the whole atmosphere deteriorates.
Where possible, we start earlier, finish the essential jobs before the hottest part of the day and, if practical, send people home afterwards. Accepting that not every non-essential task needs doing immediately is sometimes the best management decision.
Other measures
Other simple measures also help. Keeping lights off where possible reduces unnecessary heat and keeps pigs calm. Clean air inlets and well-maintained fans should be routine, but it’s amazing how much difference they make when every degree counts.
Our farrowing and weaner accommodation use forced ventilation. During heatwaves we install sprinklers at the air inlets to cool incoming air through evaporation. On the hottest days we’ve reduced shed temperatures by two or three degrees. It may not sound like much, but those few degrees make a real difference.
One of our finisher units has installed misting systems to good effect. We haven’t introduced them across the breeding unit yet because those sheds are due to be replaced. Instead, we’ve gone for soaking shed roofs. Cooling the roof reduces heat transfer into the building and can lower shed temperatures by a couple of degrees.
Finally, don’t underestimate the value of good shed design. Proper insulation, well-maintained ventilation and buildings designed with airflow in mind are no longer luxuries – they are becoming essential if we’re going to cope with increasingly frequent periods of extreme weather.
Our industry has always adapted. We have dealt with volatile markets, disease outbreaks, labour shortages and ever-changing regulations. Climate is simply the latest challenge on that growing list.
But I wouldn’t mind if next summer gave us a little less opportunity to practise.