BPEX has announced that the sale of its former pig development unit at Stotfold, Bedfordshire, has been completed.
The 5ha site was sold with planning permission for mixed use development, including a limited amount of housing.
The original pig testing station at Stotfold came into operation in 1957. It was the second of five built, by the Pig Industry Development Authority in that period as part of an intensive effort by the British pig industry to improve productivity and carcase quality.
It became a boar testing unit, but when that ended, in the early 1980s, building work got underway on turning the site into a 300-sow pig development unit.
The last work carried out at Stotfold was the Sustainable Systems for Weaner Pigs programme, which was established before the ban on antibiotic growth promoters in January 2006. The unit finally closed in June 2007.
This asset has remained part of the BPEX reserves within the AHDB accounts.
The derelict Stotfold site has apparently become a magnet for photographers in recent year. Selections of pictures of the site can be found at:
http://nellyurbex.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-pig-research-centre-stotfold.html and
