The Test and Training Center for Agriculture (Proef- en Vormingscentrum voor de Landbouw; PVL) in Bocholt is a new experimental farm for pig production. It offers facilities for feeding trials and studies into improved production methods.

The construction of the facility cost €622,000.

The PVL already had facilities for sows, which were used for feeding experiments on sows and piglets.

However, demand for practical research in the pig is growing and there were few suitable facilities so a new experimental farm was needed, says Luc Martens of the PVL.

The researchers will be able to carry out more experiments, focussing especially on how to meet the energy needs of pigs from cereals, oilseeds and biofuel by-products.

The PVL was founded in 1989 with the aim of improving knowledge on feed crops as well as pig and milk production.