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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/powerwashing-pig-muck-breaking-point-secret-life-pig-farmer
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| After a piggy morning, few things are more satisfying than a bacon sandwich | After a piggy morning, few things are more satisfying than a bacon sandwich |
| (7 months later) | |
| Having worked in administration for over 10 years, the decision to pursue a career in farming may perhaps not have seemed the obvious choice for a 28-year-old woman, but four years ago that is exactly what I did. Following a serious health scare, the opportunity to get involved with the family business was something that I didn’t want to pass up. I left a job that I loved and my life in the city and moved 100 miles away to run a 300-acre mixed arable and livestock farm in a rural area. | Having worked in administration for over 10 years, the decision to pursue a career in farming may perhaps not have seemed the obvious choice for a 28-year-old woman, but four years ago that is exactly what I did. Following a serious health scare, the opportunity to get involved with the family business was something that I didn’t want to pass up. I left a job that I loved and my life in the city and moved 100 miles away to run a 300-acre mixed arable and livestock farm in a rural area. |
| I had grown up on the farm, surrounded by animals, and helped out for as long as I could remember. I was eight years old the first time I milked our dairy cows completely alone, while my mother was ill in bed. However, 20 years later the business had changed, and instead we kept a herd of beef suckler cows. I became responsible for their day-to-day care, providing assistance as required during calving season, administering medication and harvesting grass to provide silage for winter feed. | I had grown up on the farm, surrounded by animals, and helped out for as long as I could remember. I was eight years old the first time I milked our dairy cows completely alone, while my mother was ill in bed. However, 20 years later the business had changed, and instead we kept a herd of beef suckler cows. I became responsible for their day-to-day care, providing assistance as required during calving season, administering medication and harvesting grass to provide silage for winter feed. |
| With supermarkets importing so much cheap meat from Europe, the British beef prices regularly fluctuate and it can be hard to run a viable business on a small scale. Though I was trying to expand my herd of 20 cows to a herd of 100, it proved to be challenging, expensive and labour-intensive. | With supermarkets importing so much cheap meat from Europe, the British beef prices regularly fluctuate and it can be hard to run a viable business on a small scale. Though I was trying to expand my herd of 20 cows to a herd of 100, it proved to be challenging, expensive and labour-intensive. |
| When the suggestion was made that we change the focus of the business from cattle to pigs, I was hopeful that we would be able to improve the farm’s income. The pigs are owned and sold by another farmer who provides the feed and medication. For my part, I provide the housing, bedding and day-to-day care and welfare management. Perhaps I was naive to think it would be easier. | When the suggestion was made that we change the focus of the business from cattle to pigs, I was hopeful that we would be able to improve the farm’s income. The pigs are owned and sold by another farmer who provides the feed and medication. For my part, I provide the housing, bedding and day-to-day care and welfare management. Perhaps I was naive to think it would be easier. |
| The feeders are automated, the buildings have been specially designed to take into consideration the specific needs of the animals; many hours were spent researching and planning exactly how to provide the best possible care for the pigs. The system operates on a three-month cycle; the pigs arrive at around 40kg and leave when they reach bacon weight – around 110kg. Then begins a period of intensive cleaning that usually lasts about a week. During this time I have to muck out, steam clean and disinfect all areas of the farm in which pigs have been kept. The days become long – typically around 16 hours spent standing, soaked to the skin and staring at walls as I powerwash pig muck off them. | The feeders are automated, the buildings have been specially designed to take into consideration the specific needs of the animals; many hours were spent researching and planning exactly how to provide the best possible care for the pigs. The system operates on a three-month cycle; the pigs arrive at around 40kg and leave when they reach bacon weight – around 110kg. Then begins a period of intensive cleaning that usually lasts about a week. During this time I have to muck out, steam clean and disinfect all areas of the farm in which pigs have been kept. The days become long – typically around 16 hours spent standing, soaked to the skin and staring at walls as I powerwash pig muck off them. |
| I take a lot from my job on the good days. I enjoy feeling physically exhausted; being outdoors and watching the seasons change; keeping the mortality rates below average. Those are the days I feel that I’m succeeding. Conversely, mental exhaustion, extreme weather and disease outbreaks completely drain me. I struggle to find motivation, become despondent and have to fight just to keep going. The cleaning period alone has twice pushed me to breaking point, needing antidepressants and counselling just to keep me going. Differentiating between home and work is impossible for me. Unless I’m off the farm, I’m essentially at work. From my house I can hear the pigs squealing; the alarms on the sheds sounding; the feeders running. On Christmas Day we couldn’t sit down to lunch as the pig feeder failed to run and I had to feed the animals first. The noise and the smell, though intrusive and offensive at first, fade into the background and become unnoticeable after a while. | I take a lot from my job on the good days. I enjoy feeling physically exhausted; being outdoors and watching the seasons change; keeping the mortality rates below average. Those are the days I feel that I’m succeeding. Conversely, mental exhaustion, extreme weather and disease outbreaks completely drain me. I struggle to find motivation, become despondent and have to fight just to keep going. The cleaning period alone has twice pushed me to breaking point, needing antidepressants and counselling just to keep me going. Differentiating between home and work is impossible for me. Unless I’m off the farm, I’m essentially at work. From my house I can hear the pigs squealing; the alarms on the sheds sounding; the feeders running. On Christmas Day we couldn’t sit down to lunch as the pig feeder failed to run and I had to feed the animals first. The noise and the smell, though intrusive and offensive at first, fade into the background and become unnoticeable after a while. |
| The pigs themselves are both frustrating and comical. With 1,500 on site at the current maximum capacity, you’d think it would be difficult to tell one animal from the next, but that’s not always the case. When pigs become sick, I put them into an intensive care shed and it is here that I find myself getting to know their personalities and their quirks. En masse, pigs can be brutal. There’s a definite mob mentality and every day I get bitten and crushed. But one to one, they are intelligent and affectionate. Foolishly, I can’t help but name and develop bonds with them, but the end is inevitable - they’re not my pigs after all, and I do find it hard to say goodbye. There have been times I’ve watched the wagon leave with tears in my eyes, having said farewell to a pig I’ve come to consider as more of a pet than a pay cheque, but it’s a hard fact of life that sentimentality doesn’t pay the bills. | The pigs themselves are both frustrating and comical. With 1,500 on site at the current maximum capacity, you’d think it would be difficult to tell one animal from the next, but that’s not always the case. When pigs become sick, I put them into an intensive care shed and it is here that I find myself getting to know their personalities and their quirks. En masse, pigs can be brutal. There’s a definite mob mentality and every day I get bitten and crushed. But one to one, they are intelligent and affectionate. Foolishly, I can’t help but name and develop bonds with them, but the end is inevitable - they’re not my pigs after all, and I do find it hard to say goodbye. There have been times I’ve watched the wagon leave with tears in my eyes, having said farewell to a pig I’ve come to consider as more of a pet than a pay cheque, but it’s a hard fact of life that sentimentality doesn’t pay the bills. |
| After managing the first six months alone, my parents finally employed a member of staff to help me. Just to have someone else there to talk to and share the daily struggles with was a relief. By the fourth cycle, I made the decision to step back from the business for a few months. We employed another member of staff and I took a part-time job as a shop assistant in our nearest town just to get me away from the farm. It was during this period that I managed to negotiate better working terms; a five-day week being the most significant change. | After managing the first six months alone, my parents finally employed a member of staff to help me. Just to have someone else there to talk to and share the daily struggles with was a relief. By the fourth cycle, I made the decision to step back from the business for a few months. We employed another member of staff and I took a part-time job as a shop assistant in our nearest town just to get me away from the farm. It was during this period that I managed to negotiate better working terms; a five-day week being the most significant change. |
| I very rarely feel that I’m compensated fairly with my pay; for the injuries I sustain; for the damage that the dusty atmosphere is doing to my already asthmatic lungs; and for the 4am starts on the days we have to send pigs to slaughter, but I know that with three staff on the books, a business this small struggles to pay more. However, as a friend of mine recently pointed out, irrespective of how tough I occasionally find my job, at least I’ve yet to go outside and find David Cameron brushing one of my pigs’ teeth, so it’s all relative. | I very rarely feel that I’m compensated fairly with my pay; for the injuries I sustain; for the damage that the dusty atmosphere is doing to my already asthmatic lungs; and for the 4am starts on the days we have to send pigs to slaughter, but I know that with three staff on the books, a business this small struggles to pay more. However, as a friend of mine recently pointed out, irrespective of how tough I occasionally find my job, at least I’ve yet to go outside and find David Cameron brushing one of my pigs’ teeth, so it’s all relative. |
| The job is not without its perks, of course. There are few things more satisfying after a morning of particularly difficult piggy business than eating a bacon sandwich. And, of course, the bacon is British. | The job is not without its perks, of course. There are few things more satisfying after a morning of particularly difficult piggy business than eating a bacon sandwich. And, of course, the bacon is British. |
| • Are you a forensic scientist, a civil servant or a bus driver? Whatever you do we want to hear your candid accounts of what the world of work is really like. Find full details on submitting your story anonymously here | • Are you a forensic scientist, a civil servant or a bus driver? Whatever you do we want to hear your candid accounts of what the world of work is really like. Find full details on submitting your story anonymously here |
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