Agriculture - Livestock

Bedfordia has 1,100 breeding sows, producing 23,000 finished pigs per year in a closed herd. All our finishing pigs are sold on long term contract at about 24 weeks of age and 100kg weight through our marketing agents to Grampian Country Foods who process them for onward sale to Tesco and Sainsbury. The pigs are all bred, grown and reared under very strictly controlled conditions independently audited by and marketed under the Assured British Pigs (ABP) banner. The costs of adhering to this system are considerable and make British pork significantly more welfare friendly than much imported pig meat.

The finishing unit houses up to 4,800 pigs from 35 – 100 kg over 12 weeks. It was completed in Autumn 2005 and was the first in the UK constructed to fully comply with the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) standard which requires the ‘Best Available Techniques’ for welfare and environment to be used. The pigs are liquid fed by computer using waste products from food manufacturers such as whey, brewers yeast and other supplements, and their naturally ventilated environment is also computer regulated.

To reduce the risk of any disease transfer, the herd is closed, meaning that no new breeding stock is introduced to the farm from outside, apart from the use of artificial insemination. Furthermore the farm breeds all its own replacements from its own multiplication herd of 100 sows. These are Landrace sows crossed with large white boars. The female piglets (gilts) from the nucleus herd are then moved into the 1,000 sow commercial herd and are crossed with Hampshire semen to produce our finishing pig.

Slurry from the 4,800 place state of the art pig finishing unit is pumped through to the BIOGEN anaerobic digestion plant where it is combined with food-chain-waste to produce renewable energy and bio-fertiliser.

Diversification

Like most UK farmers, Bedfordia Farms is continually seeking to make the best use of its land and other assets. As a result we let out some of our land for horse pasture and stabling - such as an equestrian centre at Moor End Stables, Radwell; and additional land is let for pony paddocks and cow grazing. There are also a number of farm buildings let out for commercial use in conjunction with our property company, Bedfordia Properties.

Fishing provides another income stream with over 4,840m of river available on the River Great Ouse and on 86.72 acres of lake at Radwell and St Neots. These fisheries are let to the following fishing clubs:

• Vauxhall Angling Club at Moor End, Kempston and Milton Ernest
• Phoenix Angling Club at Oakley Water
• Biggleswade Angling Association at Drift and Gingerbread Lakes
• Woburn Country Foods