Name: Rebecca Miles
Farm and location: Lane Farm Country Foods in Brundish near Framlingham
Crop: Pigs
When did you start rearing them and why? My parents started breeding pigs back in 1987 and diversified in 1995 when they started making their own sausages, bacon, ham and salami. I have always been involved on the farm when from a young age I would go and help mum and dad in the pigs. Every weekend was taken up at Farmers Markets which we have been doing for the past 20 years.
Explain how they are reared Our pigs are outdoor bred locally, and come on to our farm at four weeks of age. We finish the pigs in open straw barns and they are fed a cereal based diet that has been specially produced for us. We rear them to the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme standards. When finished we send them to a local abattoir about five miles down the road from us.
Is it an easy or a hard crop/animal to farm? It takes a lot of care and attention to rear our pigs.
What is it used for? All of the pork that we rear at Lane Farm is used in our sausages, bacon, ham and salami
Does it suit your farm/location and if so, why? We are in a rural location close to good transport links and market towns. This has helped the processing side of the business to grow.
What do you like about your produce? I love working with my family, it is not always easy but so rewarding and we all take pride in the products we make.
What bred do you rear and why and how many are there out there? We rear Large white landrace cross Duroc gilts. The number of pigs we have on our farm varies from time to time.
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