A well-trained workforce is vital to the future of the British pig industry and major steps are being taken to make sure that people working in the English and Welsh Pig Industries can get top quality training and develop fulfilling careers.

A strategy document outlining what needed to be done and how has been given unqualified support by the whole industry and steps are now being taken to put it into practice.

The three key actions to take the Strategy forward are:

• Secure the necessary funds for all the strands of the strategy from both the industry and dedicated funding bodies
• Establish pilot schemes
• Progress the concept and practice of continuous professional development in the pig industry

Putting the strategy into action has also started with the first meeting of the implementation group chaired by Yorkshire Producer Richard Longthorp Richard said: "Both anecdotal and hard survey evidence points to a current skills gap and an age profile that shows by 2015 more than half those working with pigs will be over 40 years of age.

"But the really exciting aspect of all this is that producers themselves have recognised the situation and it is they who are now clamouring for industry leaders to do something about it.

"Furthermore there are currently a whole raft of initiatives being undertaken by the industry under the "Road to Recovery" that fundamentally rely upon an effective people resource on farm for their delivery.

"The main aims are to develop skills and promote careers. Because of the time it takes to train somebody fully we need to start now.

"To do this we need to make sure that effective frameworks are in place to provide the qualifications, the training and the funding and that all of this is demand led.

"We recognise that the availability of time to train can be a significant barrier to uptake and so the value of on-farm training will be fully recognised.

"This strategy brings all those threads together and we are now working at putting it all into practice."

"However, while excited at its potential and indeed confident in its ultimate delivery, I fully recognise the seriousness of the challenge.

"I would ask those who can so dramatically influence levels of confidence in the industry so fundamental to the Strategy's success such as Government, funding agencies, retailers and agencies that impact on the day-to-day running of pig units, to recognise the responsibility that they carry.

"The industry has an almost unique window of opportunity to pick up this particular ball and run like hell with it now.

"If we do not seize the opportunity now, when the next downturn comes I fear that, without a strong skills base to sustain the industry through that downturn, there will not be a second chance."

When the proposals went out for industry consultation the comments were extremely supportive;
"Skilled, motivated and clearly tasked people are the key to success"

"The proposal ............ should be held up as a blueprint for other parts of the agricultural industry not just the production sector."

"I am certain that pig producers and others are ready to take this opportunity and turn it into a model success."

The organisations behind the strategy are BPEX, NPA, Defra, LANTRA NPTC, EEDA and Agskills.

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