UK: New environmental health check for piggeries
A new ‘MOT’ service for buildings to help pig farmers run their controlled-environment houses more efficiently is being introduced by Staffordshire-based national buildings company, ARM Buildings.
The company is offering an annual routine checking regime in response to requests from farmers who want to know that their piggeries — particularly finishing houses — are performing to optimum levels.
When a new building is commissioned, the controls are set up and checked by ARM. The farmer is shown how to operate the system, then left with written instructions. Now, a yearly service is being recommended.
Tim Miller, ARM’s environment specialist, will spend a day checking ventilation systems, settings and their controls, re-calibrating where necessary and physically inspecting equipment. “If equipment needs changing I can explain what needs doing and then the farmer can arrange for his own electrician to carry out the work,” he said.
“Farmers have been saying that they do not know how to check that a building is performing correctly. They can look at a building but not know if anything is wrong. Sometimes it is only when vices appear that they realise the system needs looking at. But performance can suffer before this. For instance, over time cables controlling air inlets can stretch leading to incorrect ventilation,” he added. He points out that tractors and cars need regular servicing — so why not piggeries? After, all a typical finishing house, fully stocked, could represent an investment of more than one-quarter of a million pounds.
Achieving an improvement in feed conversion of just 0.1 by improving the environment is worth around £1.25 per pig or over £5,400 annually in a 1,000-place finishing house.
The charge for the service is a flat £300.00 per day and covers all ARM houses on the farm, together with specialist individual advice.
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