Happy Healthy Pigs

Saturday, 08 April 2006

From: New Zealand Lifestyle Block, Issue 23, April 2006
by Jocelyn McIlraith

Havoc Farm is a free-range South Island piggery - it's also the only small farmer-owned pork-processing factory in New Zealand.

Nestled below the Hunter Hills in South Canterbury, in the midst of a grain growing area, is a 24ha property belonging to Ian and Linda McCallum-Jackson.

It's called Havoc Farm and it's where a herd of free-ranging pigs is being reared to provide natural pork for niche markets that Linda and Ian began developing in 2003.

Havoc Farm is also the culmination of a vision by Ian following years of being involved in farming pigs both in Scotland, where he was born, and here in New Zealand. That vision was to produce happy healthy pigs in a sustainable manner, and in turn, leave the land in better condition than when he purchased it.

Ian says he wanted to develop a farming alternative, away from the trend of large intensive factory farming operations where pigs are confined, unable to assert their natural behaviour, and where growth promotants and antibiotics are used as a matter of course to produce pork.

It was 1996 when Ian moved to the farm at Hunter, near Waimate, having bought it because of its stoney ground and good water supply. Being situated in an area with a ready supply of wheat and barley for meal, as well as being close to the local abbatoir, were factors too. Ian's farming philosophy includes being able to transport all pigs to the abbatoir in his own truck so the animals aren't out of his control for more than 24 hours from time of conception to conversion to pork, bacon or sausages.

Although lacking shelter from cold southerlies on the outer boundary when Ian bought the farm, that has now been overcome by Linda and Ian planting Eucalyptus niten and Cordata, ribbonwoods and black matipo. Their long-term goal is to plant inner boundaries with cherry plum trees so the pigs can eat the fallen fruit.

Pork production on Havoc Farm, where each sow is housed in its own hut, is a result of breeding Large White and Landrace crossed with Duroc, chosen to put marbling back into the meat which Ian says provides the natural flavouring in pork.

It is a "closed hered" meaning replacements are bred on the place to build up immunity to diseases, because of their policy of natural treatment rather than use of antibiotics.

The sows produce only two litters annually instead of the usual two-and-a-half (a pig's cycle is three months, three weeks, three days). Weaning takes place at six or seven weeks to encourage lower mortality, rather than practicing the usual industry standard of three to five weeks. The piglets are fattened for a further eight to 10 weeks.

Although daily feed rations aren't weighed, it's not a haphazard procedure because they're devised by a nutritionist, to ensure a balanced diet is being provided, and then milled in a grain crusher and mixed by Ian and farm worker, Jock Howie.

"We add crushed garlic and cider vinegar in liquid form, 10 litres per tonne, to every ration because the cider vinegar acts as a probiotic, meaning it encourages growth of healthy bacteria," Ian says. "Selenium is added too because South Canterbury soils are deficient in it."

Although non-porcine meat and bone meal goes into some mixes too, sow rations contain only linseed oil.

"Suckling sows are fed twice daily and are left to eat as much as they can but Ian watches them carefully for any problems," Linda says. "If they appear unwell, the pigs are given extra water, sometimes with honey or garlic depending on the problem."

Although the McCallum-Jacksons buy grain on contract and some on the open market, it sits in a silo for a while after harvest before being fed to the pigs and it's checked for microtoxins, which can be lethal to pigs. Linda does a simple test on the farm. If it is inconclusive, it is sent to AgResearch, which is a cost but necessary to avoid loss of stock.

Linda is a very important partner in their business with her valuable background in human resources and advertising. She was co-owner of Auckland based business, Mentora, a successful national consultancy business she developed in 1995 with business partner, Valerie Couperthwaite.

It was these skills combined with Ian's vision that eventually motivated the couple to establish their own pork-processing factory in Waimate.

"It all began really when we discussed the issue of consumers not having the choice of knowing where the pork they are purchasing comes from because we don't have mandatory country of origin labelling (CoOL)," Linda says.

"Forty percent of pork sold in this country is imported but it's not differentiated from New Zealand pork."

The Pork Industry Board, to which the McCallum-Jacksons pay a levy of $8.12 per pig does have voluntary labelling to differentiate home-grown pork and those labels are supported by a national television campaign.

But it was the non-compulsory policy that riled the McCallum-Jacksons and motivated them to develop a niche market by expanding sow numbers and establishing what is the only small farmer-owned pork-processing factory in New Zealand.

Initial development involved researching trends in traditional markets overseas in order to get some understanding of consumer demand for natural products before developing a business plan. That was relatively easy, the McCallum-Jacksons say, compared to teh bureaucratic process they had to face to gain resource consent for the farm and then to satisfy regulations for developing a factory in a building, which was originally a butcher's shop. The building suited their brief, as it had an old-fashioned bacon drying room, a purpose built smoke house and a chiller set up to keep products at a constant temperature.

However, having already successfully launched their natural pork products in 2003 at the newly formed Otago Farmers' Market in Dunedin and knowing there was strong consumer support, Linda and Ian didn't let bureaucracy inhibit their vision; in 2006, they completed development of their Waimate factory.

While the factory processes all products for the niche markets, the couple emphasizes the need for innovation to retain market share. That responsibility falls mostly to Linda who enjoys creating new ways with pork, like creating pickled pork cheeks and experimenting with spices and ingredients such as cognac and red wine added to give a unique flavour.

However, although always conscious of the need to differentiate their products, Linda and Ian say they have to keep in mind at all times that whatever pork product is proecessed at their factory, it must have taste and texture - that is what customers demand.