New ideas are the lifeblood of the pig industry and to develop them, the British Pig Executive (BPEX) is putting its money where its mouth is.

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A total of seven projects are being funded as part of the demonstration grant programme out of nine applications.

The total cost of the work is £41,000 and there will be another chance for applications in the Spring.

BPEX Director of Pig Industry Development Mark Wilson said: "These projects cover a wide range of ideas, some of them fairly straightforward but all with far-reaching practical implications for the industry.

Projects will last a maximum of one year and once they start to show results, the farm data will be made available so that these demonstration farms can pass on the results to the benefit of all.

"For example, one of the projects is looking at practicalities of water-based medication rather than in feed. In-feed medication adds cost to rations and at a time of high feed prices we need to know whether water-based medication is a real practical alternative?
"This gives an idea of the type of project BPEX is looking for and there is more money in the pot for the next round of applications which opens in the Spring."

Three of the projects are from ideas from the Tulip Supply Group covering:

• The true economics of heavier pig production.
• Practical application of reduced and alternative creep feeding in the first two weeks post weaning
• Testing the feasibility of using water based medication instead of in-feed medication

The others are looking at:

• Norfolk Free Range Ltd - Steve Hart - development of a handling and weighing system, incorporating the Pharmweigh auto drafter to more easily select slaughter weight pigs in an outdoor finishing situation
• MJ & JA Easey the development of an outdoor wet feeding system for individual farrowing paddocks and comparison with existing dry feeding
• W Rigby and son Ltd - To evaluate the use of straw bedding waste as energy source for hot water heating delivering savings on electricity consumption.
• RJ Leach and son - To evaluate the move to co-product liquid feeding on pig performance and feed stuff management

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