National pig development centre

National Pig Association THE VOICE OF THE UK PIG INDUSTRY NPA is active on members' behalf in Brussels & Whitehall, and with processors, supermarkets & caterers - fighting for the growth and pros-perity of the UK pig industry.

The centre, which was formally opened last week, will major on pig research and development, and information sharing. It includes BPEX’s recently appointed team of information sharers - Kayt Johnson, Angela Cliff, Helen Thody, Richard Bull, Lisbeth Ravn (and one other to be announced shortly).

The BPEX team will work with the researchers to disseminate information to the industry and to liaise with farmers to identify issues where research is needed.

Key to the project is the link, through BPEX, with pig producers to ensure that research findings can be quickly translated into good practice on the farm and that problems on the farm can quickly be addressed through research, says BPEX director of pig industry development Mark Wilson.

Areas already identified by the centre for research include analysing the benefits of new sire-lines, assessing how to manage variations in meat quality without affecting customer demand, ways to reduce the seasonal effects on production for the 25 percent of pigs produced outdoors in the United Kingdom and looking at the best ways to refurbish buildings to improve pig health and performance.

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