North Yorkshire farmer Alex Guthe has turned to growing miscanthus for use in bedding his pigs, as the harvested crop is highly absorbent and more woody than cereal straw, which means his larger pigs thrive on it.

Mr Guthe contract-rears pigs on his 144ha arable farm at Baker Farmyard, Nether Silton, just north of Thirsk, and finds the miscanthus fits in well with other arable crops on the farm, such as wheat, barley, oats and beans.

Miscanthus was first sown in 2019, and in 2023 the farm will be growing nearly 17ha.

See also: Miscanthus fuels Norfolk grower’s desire to improve soil

“Our miscanthus second cut yielded 3.5t/acre [8.75t/ha], which we used for bedding for all our pigs – and we have a lot of them.

“Our 2,500 bacon pigs are contract-reared inside and go to the Malton Bacon Factory in Malton, North Yorkshire. All of our miscanthus is used to provide their bedding,” he says.

Mr Guthe is growing a new rhizome-based variety named Athena, which is said to produce high yields in year two of the crop’s 20-year life cycle, and an average mature yield double that of the original Miscanthus giganteus variety.

Lincolnshire-based biomass firm Terravesta launched the variety for spring 2020 planting, saying that it offers growers quicker and higher returns. The group works with more than 300 UK growers, who grow the crop largely on marginal land.

Athena is generally first harvested in year two and reaches maturity faster than Miscanthus giganteus.

Mr Guthe is hosting a breakfast farm walk on Thursday 29 September from 9.30-11.30am to showcase the innovative way he is using the crop. The event is organised by  Terravesta, at will be held at Baker Farmyard, Nether Silton, Thirsk YO7 2LF.

Those interested can book online.