The enthusiasm for their work and long-term pig industry careers was inspiring, as they spoke about their experience at a celebratory barbeque this week.

Trainees highlighted how much they enjoyed a tour of Vion’s abattoir at Malton and everyone described how they had made improvements to the way they work back on the farm. The Stockman Development course is designed to both boost practical pig husbandry skills and give trainees a wider knowledge of the supply chain.

Mark White of Shedden Farms was presented with a special student of the year award by BPEX’s Lis Ravn. He was thrilled and said how much he enjoys working with pigs, having only moved into the industry 18 months ago from the building trade. “I’ve loved every minute of the course and learned loads. We’re going to try starting creep feeding a few days earlier and it would be good to weigh each pig at weaning and watch their progress more closely.“

Pig producer and skills and training champion Richard Longthorp congratulated all the trainees and said he wished we could find a way to capture the energy, motivation and enthusiasm in the room and share it with all pig producers throughout the industry.

Contact Lis Ravn for information on future courses: 07891 656784 or [email protected]

The Stockman North trainees 2012 were:

• Sam Ziki Agriculture college student
• Paul Bannerman Shedden Farms
• Mark White Shedden Farms
• Liam Barlow TA Stephenson
• Jack Sheridan Martyn Sanderson
• Richard Riley JSR
• Charlotte Buckton DA & CA Buckton
• John S Burton J H & M Burton
• Catherine O'Dell JSR

The presentations were made at Sandburn Hall near York.