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National awards success for University's Pig Unit team

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The Herd Producitivity trophy was one of three º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø secured at this year's Pig Awards - picture credit: Jamie Hodgskin

The Pig Unit team on the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Future Farm are celebrating an enviable run of success at the National Pig Awards.

At this year’s awards, the team took home the trophies for both Herd Productivity and Indoor Producer of the Year – while Sector Manager Matt Swaine was named Unit Manager of the Year.  The latest wins cap more than five years of awards for the team at the event.

Matt said: “To win the awards is a great honour - winning Herd productivity for the third time in four years is a credit to the Pig Unit team and now to receive Indoor Producer of the year in the same year - everyone should be very proud of what we do and the results the team have all achieved!

“It’s down to their dedication and commitment to get the best from the animals and is a massive boost to staff morale, recognising the high level of dedication of the team.

“I am enormously proud of them for all their hard work, which makes the unit thrive and succeed to the high level of performance they are achieving. Our success is down to the dedication of the team and the common goal we share - to make the unit the best we can.

“Our sow performance is remarkable and the team’s refusal to settle for ‘good enough’ means we push to get the best results.

“Everyone is highly trained and motivated - which equals enhanced job satisfaction.”

The Pig Unit hosts 230 sows and is run as a commercial production facility on the Harper Adams  – operating in the top 10 per cent of national producers.

It is also used to demonstrate nest-practice for both º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø students and for the wider industry – as well as supporting high-quality applied research.

The Pig Unit team also took last year’s National Pig Awards Herd Productivity trophy, took the same award in 2022, and were named both Indoor Producer and overall Producer of the Year in 2019.

Matt was also named Stockperson of the Year in 2021 before going on to be named Unit Manager of the Year at this year’s awards.

He added: “To be recognised for the work that goes into the running of the unit is fantastic, after being in the pig industry for over 30 years to receive a national award like this - I am truly humbled and grateful.

“This isn’t just an award for me as unit manager - the success of any manager comes from the team they have working alongside them.”

_{Pictures used with kind permission of magazine - credit: Jamie Hodgskin}