Pigs

This is the first question you have to ask yourself when considering raising pigs, says Shane Brody.

Dr Elsje Pieterse of the Department of Animal Sciences at Stellenbosch University offers some advice on good feeding practices.

Number Two Piggeries currently employs 1 000 people, and farms a total of 20 000 breeding sows.

Hard work and tenacity have turned a tiny enterprise into a flourishing commercial operation.

Acorn-fed pigs is a Spanish and Portuguese tradition. Oak Valley Estate in the Elgin Valley is one of just a few commercial, free-range, acorn-fed pig farms in South Africa.

The Doornspruit Community Trust has put land donated to it by the Catholic Church to good use by opening a piggery. The operation has begun doing well, and today supplies baconers weekly to an abattoir.

Smart producers realise that producing within environmentally and socially sustainable limits is an opportunity, says Dr Glen Illing of Topigs. He was speaking at the recent RSA Pork Producers’ Organisation AGM in Durban.

Not having specific skills to diversify should not be a deterrent, according to Thami Zimu.

A strict selection policy, in which only 50% of female piglets born are selected as F1 gilts, has gained the Leanside pig stud a reputation for superior genetics. It has also earned it the 2013 SA Studbook and Vleissentraal Elite Pig Stud award.

Steven Watermeyer is breeding micro pigs to meet the local demand for pet porkies.

Neil Dry focuses on exceptional genetics in the management of his piggery in North West.

Rob and Ian Butt introduced housing pens to improve the welfare of their pigs.