Farmer Focus: Extreme temperature challenge needs a cool head
© Tim Scrivener Making wallows for pigs to lounge around in is as much a part of my summer as the sound of Wimbledon on the telly and the wonderful smell of a barbecue wafting round our village on a warm evening.
There is something strangely reassuring in watching a sow go through her instinctive routine of covering herself in mud and sitting in a pool of water to cool off.
And so it came as no surprise when, a few weeks ago at the start of summer, the Waitrose press department got in touch asking me for a wallowing-related farmer quote and whether it would be possible for a photographer to come up to Norfolk and snap some happy sows pool-side.
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The spectacular photos and accompanying press release resulted in coverage by multiple food and farming journals, as well as some national newspapers.
A BBC radio interview also gave me the opportunity to talk about the efforts we go to on farm to maintain high levels of animal welfare in whatever situation we find ourselves in.
Of course, our comprehensive summer action plan goes further than the attention-grabbing sight of pigs in mud.
One of my reasons for trying to accommodate requests from the wider supply chain (even if it pushes me to the limits of my comfort zone) is because if I don’t take advantage of these publicity opportunities, how else can we get our message across to the general public?
Since the story ran, we have experienced some exceptionally hot weather, with new records for UK maximum temperatures being set.
The extreme heat made the running of the unit challenging for the staff and unpleasant for the animals. And with the odds of similar temperatures occurring again, we have been considering further steps to help us and the animals cope.
One idea is the use of water misters in the artificial insemination (AI) tents and adjacent holding tents.
These areas are only used for short-term stock tasks such as vaccinating, scanning and, of course, AI. But as an enclosed space containing penned adult pigs and stockpeople, the air inside quickly warms up.
I’m going to explore what’s available and devise a cooler system, which I’m sure will be appreciated by all.