Farming

Pig haulage faces major challenges

Published

10 years ago

December 23, 2015

Driver shortage: Affecting livestock farmers

SOME of the country’s leading livestock hauliers say their industry is facing a crisis on a number of fronts. The most significant is the difficulty in finding suitable drivers from home or abroad. The Road Haulage Association has indicated there is a shortage of 45,000 suitably qualified HGV licence holders in the country. This will have a major impact upon livestock hauliers, and comes at a time when the pig industry could do without any further bad news. Other challenges include: Farm Assurance: The efficiency, location and working speed of lorry washes needs to become a much greater part of the overall farm assurance package. In some cases, washes are still treated by processors as the lowest common denominator. They need upgrading with better disinfection systems and the like.

Animal welfare is compromised if long queues build up at abattoirs for whatever reason, and journey times are extended. Lorry washing: Lorry washing at abattoirs to improve biosecurity and reduce the risk of disease transfer is to be encouraged, but in a number of cases, lorry washing facilities at certain abattoirs can best be described as inadequate, with breakdowns also causing a problem, and recently, one large abattoir had to send dirty lorries home to be washed elsewhere because its facilities were not working.

With freezing weather approaching, more problems of this nature are likely to emerge. There is a lack of contingency planning for when washes break down. Some processors have made significant and expensive improvements to their facilities, but this isn’t the case everywhere. Washing costs are, in any event, passed onto producers but could be levied more efficiently on a per head basis, which is now the case with some abattoirs, rather than a flat rate according to lorry size. This also does away with collecting payments or tokens from hauliers. Lairage space: Although abattoirs are to be encouraged for taking extra pigs, especially in the run-up to Christmas, in many cases lairage space is wholly inadequate and pigs are having to spend long periods on ‘ free ‘ mobile lairages which happen to be hauliers’ vehicles, but while they are tied up being used as portable pens they cannot be on the road, moving pigs and earning money. This also affects haulage costs and compromises animal welfare too.

Working time Directive: Livestock hauliers are required to observe WTD rules, which is hard to do when vehicles are held up either by inadequate washing facilities or are being used as lairage space. If long delays persist, some hauliers may have to introduce hourly rates, which will add to producers’ costs. Loading bays on farms: Loading and sending pigs to be marketed is the most important task on any livestock farm and some producers need to give greater thought to designing and installing loading bays and, where bays are already in place, making they are efficient and can facilitate swift loading at all hours of the day and night. This will ultimately cut down on the number of hours lorries kept waiting while straw bales and sheets of tin are moved round various farmyards before loading can even start.

Drivers: Bearing in mind the 45,000 shortage of HGV drivers, the lack of skilled staff is currently the biggest challenge facing the whole livestock haulage industry. Despite high salaries reported, in some cases in excess of £40,000 a year, to key men, more are leaving the industry than joining, attracted by competitive salaries and a generally cleaner environment, with non-livestock industries and none of the stress attached to moving livestock over long distances, early morning loading and washing out with inadequate facilities, as well as having to meet often impossible timetables due to many of the time-limiting factors set out above.

Livestock haulage bosses are warning this is a major crisis and a combination of better working conditions and facilities, higher wages plus more respect from some processors is the only way in which the loss of drivers can be reversed. Haulage rates will inevitably have to rise to meet higher wage bills despite cheaper fuel costs and this will ultimately come out of producers’ pockets, many of whom are already trading at negative margins. But without an improvement in the day-to-day life of a livestock lorry driver, it is difficult to see how this situation can be reversed without a major restructuring of working conditions, processor systems and wage rates. To some extent, livestock hauliers have always been taken for granted but there are clear signs this will not be the case in the future, unless new employees can be encouraged to join this challenging but vital industry.

Farming

Check ewes at weaning to protect next season’s lamb crop

Published

5 days ago

June 15, 2026

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE sheep farmers are being urged to use weaning as a key opportunity to check ewe condition and deal with any problems before tupping.

With many local flocks now moving towards weaning, farmers are being advised to assess body condition score, as well as checking teeth, feet and udders, while there is still time to improve nutrition ahead of the breeding season.

Dr Alison Bond, Technical Services Manager at Rumenco, said close monitoring at this stage can help avoid major changes in ewe condition and improve overall flock productivity.

She said weaning at around 12 weeks was a good target, when lambs should usually be between 25kg and 30kg and taking very little milk from the ewe.

“There will of course be a focus on the lambs’ readiness for market at this stage, but it is equally important to put a hand across the ewes to assess their condition,” she said.

For lowland flocks, ewes with a body condition score below 2.5 at weaning should be given priority, as they may struggle to reach the target score of around 3.5 by tupping.

Those poorer condition ewes should be grouped separately, moved onto the best available grazing and given appropriate supplementary feeding where needed.

Dr Bond said waiting until closer to tupping could be less effective and may affect performance.

She added that ewes in good condition at tupping are more likely to scan with more lambs, produce healthier lambs after birth, and rear heavier lambs by eight weeks of age.

“It affects the whole production cycle, and not just one element,” she said.

The advice will be particularly relevant to farms across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, where sheep remain a major part of the rural economy and where grass quality can vary sharply depending on weather, soil type and stocking pressure.

Dr Bond said the aim should be to keep ewes between body condition score 2.5 and 3.5 throughout the cycle, avoiding big dips and peaks.

Routine checks at weaning, she said, give farmers the best chance of correcting problems before the tups go in two to three months later.

Pic: Farmers are being urged to check ewe condition at weaning to protect flock performance ahead of tupping (Pic: Tim Scrivener/Agriphoto).

Farming

Reform calls for urgent review of farming scheme

Published

1 week ago

June 13, 2026

Tom Sinclair

LOW UPTAKE HAS RAISED FRESH QUESTIONS OVER THE FUTURE OF SUPPORT FOR WELSH FARMERS

REFORM WALES has called for an urgent review of the Sustainable Farming Scheme after figures showed only around half of eligible farmers have signed up.

The party said the lower-than-expected uptake showed that serious concerns remained within the farming community over the complexity of the scheme, compliance rules and uncertainty about how it will operate in the long term.

Laura Anne Jones MS, Reform Wales’ Shadow Cabinet Minister for Food, Farming and Rural Affairs, raised the issue during questions to the Welsh Government.

She said: “The figures released by the Welsh Government today confirm what many farmers have been saying for some time: the Sustainable Farming Scheme is too complex, too restrictive and too bureaucratic.

“Farmers need certainty and security, not endless paperwork and rigid requirements that fail to reflect the realities of farming in Wales.

“Reform Wales believes the scheme should be reviewed as a matter of urgency, with a greater focus on flexibility, common sense and practical outcomes.

“Welsh farmers deserve a scheme that works with them, not against them.”

The Sustainable Farming Scheme is due to replace previous systems of agricultural support in Wales and has been one of the most contentious issues facing the rural sector.

Farming unions and campaigners have repeatedly warned that any new system must be practical for family farms and must not add unnecessary red tape at a time when many businesses are already under pressure from rising costs, bovine TB and market uncertainty.

Reform Wales said the Welsh Government must now explain how it intends to respond to the level of take-up and whether changes will be made before the scheme is fully rolled out.

Business

Holiday accommodation conversion of historic farm buildings approved

Published

1 week ago

June 13, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

PLANS to convert historic farm buildings near north Pembrokeshire’s Whitesands beach for use as holiday accommodation have been given the go-ahead, but their use doesn’t have to be restricted to just that purpose.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Matthew James of James Properties, through agent Harries Planning Design Management sought permission for the conversion of two derelict barns to two self-catering holiday accommodation units at Porthmawr Ganol, Whitesands, St Davids.

An officer report said: “The farmstead occupies a prominent position within a landscape characterised by open agricultural fields enclosed predominantly by traditional dry-stone walls, exposed coastal pasture and areas of heathland associated with Carn Llidi.”

It added: “The site lies within the Porthmawr Historic Landscape Character Area, an area recognised for its historic pattern of dispersed settlement, traditional farmsteads, dry-stone wall field boundaries and evidence of medieval and post-medieval agricultural activity.

“The retention and reuse of the existing buildings therefore has the potential to preserve an important element of the area’s historic landscape character whilst securing a viable long-term future for structures that would otherwise continue to deteriorate.”

It said that insufficient evidence had initially been submitted to demonstrate that the buildings were unsuitable for permanent residential conversion and only for self-catering accommodation and therefore an affordable housing contribution should be secured.

Policy would lead to a contribution of £36,400, the report said, but a financial viability assessment by the applicant “demonstrated that the development would not be viable if required to provide the full policy contribution,” the maximum contribution capable of being supported whilst maintaining viability was £12,641.

This reduced figure was accepted, the officer report saying: “Whilst this represents a reduced contribution when compared with the full policy requirement, the submitted viability evidence demonstrates that the development could not reasonably support the full contribution whilst remaining deliverable.

“In these circumstances, securing a reduced contribution is considered preferable to losing the opportunity to secure the restoration and beneficial reuse of the historic buildings.”

It stated that, with the affordable contribution, the scheme would not be limited to self-catering development only.

The application was conditionally approved by Park planners.