I farm: “Currently, 850 sows killing about 400 a week at an average liveweight of 107kg. It’s a full AI operation with about 42 sows served a week.”

Breeding: “We’re running a breeding programme on farm, which has a certain amount of maternal sires used and then the rest is terminal. About 10% of the sows are purebred and we are breeding replacements off these. We were running a three-way cross programme but are in the middle changing this to a two-way cross at the moment.”

Price: “We were getting about €1.85/kg this time last year but, by the end of the year, it had dropped to €1.40/kg. A long-term breakeven point is €1.60/kg; we are roughly at that now with around €1.50/kg to €160/kg being achieved.”

Sustainability: “The biggest cost on any farm is the feed bill. To make any money we need to be achieving 50c over feed. We are currently €50/t more expensive then mainland Europe for pig feed.”

Industry: “The factories here require us to produce what is considered a premium carcase but, still, we are only paid a normal price. This, and feed prices, are the two main issues the industry needs to overcome. We, as an industry, need to be more united to deal with these problems in a much quicker and more efficient way.”

Health: “I take over presidency of the Irish Pig Health Society this year. We are in a great position to use the sea to our advantage in terms of a biosecurity point of view. Biosecurity is a major priority for all pig producers.”

EPP: “I’m also part of the European Pig Producers Committee, which next year hosts it annual congress here in Ireland. This will allow other European countries a great insight into Irish pig production.”

Family: “I have two brothers, Gareth and Jonathan, and three sisters, Shona, Clodagh and Nicole. My two brothers also run their own pig farms.”

Quotable quote: “I believe the way forward is not to compete with European products’ cost of production, but to produce to a higher standard and differentiate from others.”