Shropshire's Matt celebrates win at National Pig Awards

Matt Swaine and the team he works with at Harper Adams  won the Herd Productivity Award at a ceremony in London  hosted by comedian Ben Hanlin and attended by more than 400 people from across the pig industry. 

The 230-sow indoor pig unit, run by Matt, has averaged more than 34 pigs weaned per sow per year, with more than 16 born alive per litter. 

The commercial unit, which is also used as a teaching and research facility, produces robust piglets, averaging 35kg.

The best-known winner on the night was Jeremy Clarkson, who picked up the Innovation of the Year Award for Clarkson’s Ring, his solution to seeing too many piglets crushed during the first litters at the hit Amazon TV series’ Oxfordshire farm. 

Developed by Con-Tented Products, the easy-to-install ring has been proven to protect piglets and significantly reduce piglet mortality at Diddly Squat and in trials undertaken in larger commercial settings. 

The extra space in Con-Tented’s largest arks, due to improved insulation, and the circular shape mean the rings have been far more successful than bars tried in farrowing huts a few decades ago.

The judges believe the innovation has the potential to make a real long-term difference to outdoor pig production. 

The trainee of the year was Toni Bagguley, of BQP. 

Toni grew up on a pig farm in Nottinghamshire and worked for BQP during her placement year at Harper Adams University, before returning to BQP as an Agricultural Trainee in September with a fields team. Over the next 18 months, she will be working on various projects and undertaking a wide range of training.

Unit manager of the year was Fred Allen, of Allen Farms (Coddington)

Fred and his team have achieved excellent results at the Nottinghamshire pig unit he manages, despite the challenges of combining indoor and outdoor production. He works hard to empower and motivate the team, with a big focus on reducing their carbon footprint. 

National Pig Awards head judge, Stewart Houston, said: “This was another excellent year for entries. Congratulations all our winners on the night – and well done to all the finalists for getting this far." 

"These awards are all about highlighting good practice and, hopefully inspiring others to greater things – all our winners have certainly done that!"