Meet our new Farmer Focus writer: Kate Morgan

We asked our new writers to answer a few quick-fire questions to give you a taster of what they’ll be talking about before they put pen to paper.

Name and location.

Kate Morgan, Driffield, East Yorkshire

What type of farm do you run?

We are a family farm. My mum and dad bought the farm in 1996 and so my sisters and I are second-generation pig farmers. We have 1,700 breeding sows indoors at Pockthorpe and 1,200 outdoor breeding sows near Malton, North Yorkshire. We take all their progeny through to slaughter on third party farms. We produce all our own bulk feed for our pigs at our feed mill based near Scarborough, North Yorkshire. We have a small amount of arable land but we contract it out. On different properties we have wind turbines and solar panels.

Describe yourself in four words.

Driven, loyal, loud and passionate.

See also: Read Kate’s first Farmer Focus article

What hobbies do you have off the farm?

I’m a very active person and keen to give everything a try. I play hockey for our local team – Driffield. I’ve run the London Marathon. However I can no longer run due to hip problems, so I’ve just bought a bike. I have evented horses to advanced level, but again my hips are stopping me from competing at the moment.

If you could change one thing about the agricultural industry what would it be and why?

I would change the relationships farmers have with the consumer and also retailers. I would love to have more time to get into schools and give children from all over the country a chance to see what living and working on a farm is like. I would hope that over time this would allow people to understand the effort we all put into producing food and the difference between systems, so that they can make an informed decision as to what to buy at the counter. We have big expectations of consumers to buy British and the higher welfare products, yet we do not offer the explanations needed.

Tell us about the funniest moment you have had on the farm.

This has to be last winter. I had just come off crutches after a hip operation and was meant to be taking it easy. However a few piglets got out and were running around a newly ploughed field, so my dad and I were trying to capture them. I had rung mum for back-up and she flew herself in true rugby tackle-style at this final piglet and did this amazing summersault so the piglet took no weight at all.

Dad and I were dripping in sweat and mum so calmly had caught this last piglet that we’d been tactfully trying to grab. I at least had an excuse for my poor efforts – I’m not so sure about dad, who is the rugby player of the family.

Name one gadget you couldn’t be without and tell us why.

Sadly, this is my mobile phone. Sometimes I hate it when it’s ringing nonstop but it has my “sheets” app. We record feed and water usage, deaths on each unit and general information – it’s great for knowing what’s happening on different units with a touch of a button.

If you could farm in any other country where would it be and why?

I don’t think you can get better than the UK for places to farm livestock as we offer the highest standards. However, if I had to say a country I would say Brazil, as the opportunities out there are massive, and although they are a poor country they are forward thinking and would be very much open to new ideas. Plus the cost of building new sheds is so low, with fantastic weather, so who needs all this insulation.

What are your aspirations for the future?

Obviously, along with my sisters, I’d like to successfully take over the family business and continue to move it forward.