Growing urbanization of the British countryside is threatening national food production, according to the National Pig Association. It is particularly concerned that even planning applications for traditional part-time pig units are now meeting with opposition.
Britain imports around 60 percent of its pork and pork products and this figure is expected to rise unless farmers invest in more efficient and environmentally friendly buildings.
The National Pig Association has stated that they identified a growing trend for vegan groups and other single-interest lobby groups to become involved in planning applications, using misinformation to frighten local residents into opposing new and replacement pig farms.
"In the past, pig farmers who wanted to build a new pig unit, usually to replace inefficient old buildings, could work constructively with local residents to address any concerns they might have," said Dr. Zoe Davies, the association's general manager.
"But now they are being targeted by aggressive single-issue organizations with no local connections. We have even heard of pig farmers who have received threatening phone calls and emails from the other side of the world, accusing them of being 'factory farmers,' which they most certainly are not."
One of the problems, according to the association, is that since the attempt to build a U.S.-style "super dairy" at Nocton in Lincolnshire three years ago, vegan groups have pounced on all proposed livestock housing developments, describing them as "mega farms" and "factory farms."
There are no "mega" pig farms in Britain and no applications to build any, says the National Pig Associations. Most pig applications are for modest-sized pig units which will be part of a traditional mixed farm, where the pigs eat the grain grown on the farm and provide organic manure for the crops, in place of chemical fertilizers, according to the group.
Even applications for larger pig units which will operate as stand-alone businesses bear no comparison to the large pig units being constructed in the U.S., says the association. The group says, Britain has a very small pig population, so the problem of local pig density does not arise.
The National Pig Association intends to produce a leaflet for planning authorities and local residents, putting the size of new developments in perspective.
The association will point out, for example, that a building for 1,500 finisher pigs falls far short of being a "mega farm," being a modest venture that will not provide a living income on its own, but will add a small extra income to a farm business that might otherwise struggle to be sustainable.
In contrast the average commercial finisher unit in the U.S. will have 12 or more such buildings.
In the States, the group points, most pigs are born on breeding units housing 5,000-10,000 sows — more than double even the largest breeding units in Britain and more than ten times the size of an average British breeding unit.
"I would urge all planning authorities to recognize that investment in farming is essential to keep the countryside alive," said association chairman Richard Longthorp.
"And people who live in villages but drive into towns and cities every day to work, should consider the needs of those who work in the rural economy and keep the countryside alive whilst they are away during the day.
"They should remember that pig farms employ a huge number of people indirectly, including haulers, millers, meat plants, electricians, plumbers and builders," Longthorp said.
The association says that for many people, a modern pig unit makes a far better neighbor than, say, a new housing estate. New pig buildings are far more neighbor friendly than the older buildings they replace, being quieter and usually screened. And smell is far less of a problem these days and with sensitive management can be eliminated altogether, said the association.
