AN IDEA from a neighbour has turned into a full-time business for Murray Stewart and Julie Johnson, who own and run Murray and Julie’s Free Range Piggery at “Redpath”, Mt Russell, in northern NSW.
Their venture into pork production began eight years ago when a neighbour had pigs.
“I was working for them and it seemed like a good idea but I thought we could do it better – our neighbour has closed down now and we’re still going,” Mr Stewart said.
The couple turned the idea into a full-time business after two years of research.
They run 20 breeding sows on 32 hectares at Mt Russell, near Inverell, selling their pork to city based restaurants.
“We have large white boars and old English black sows, which gives us a blue merle, which is mainly for the instincts in our sows,” Ms Johnson said.
“Then we join the blue merle sows to a white boar, which gives us the good hams.”
They’ve slowly bred up over the years, changing boars every few years to introduce new genetics.
“We’ve found that you’re better off breeding your own, especially if you’ve got a free-range system, because it’s harder for pigs from an intensive production to adjust,” Ms Johnson said.
“With pigs, mud is their sunscreen and repellent, but often pigs from an intensive production won’t know how to wallow so they’re not suited to being outdoors.”
The boars run with sows year round, allowing the couple to have pigs ready for their market at any time during the year.
The pigs are allowed to roam, but are also fed a cracked barley ration.
“In an ideal world, pigs on free range should farrow twice a year,” Ms Johnson said.
“The sows are in pig for 115 days, then the piglets are weaned by the time they’re eight weeks old, and that’s when the sows go back with the boar.
“We usually get 10 to 12 piglets in a litter.”
The piglets are sold as sucklings, reaching about 14 kilograms liveweight when they’re processed.
“They’re sold straight off their mums,” Ms Johnson said.
“At eight weeks they’re usually about 25kg, so sometimes we’ll have to send them at six weeks.”
Ms Johnson said there was plenty of demand for pork, especially free-range pork.
“Our market will buy what we’ve got when we’ve got it,” she said.
“If we miss the market this week, they’ll still take those bigger pigs for the following week.
“There’s very good demand for our pork because people want free-range, fresh, Australian pork.”
Among the biggest job is monitoring farrowing, with foxes a major pest.
“They’ll take full litters in a night,” Ms Johnson said.
“We’ve had to put doors on our hutches so we can lock them in where the foxes can’t get to them, but we’ll have the odd sow who will farrow in the paddock, so we’ve spent nights with our pigs to protect them.”
EIGHT THINGS PIG OWNERS MUST DO
PIG owners are required to meet standards monitored by state governments and industry authorities.
- Register your property and have a property identification code (PIC). Your PIC is needed when completing travel documents (National Vendor Declarations, NVDs) that accompany your pigs when you sell them and/or have them processed at an abattoir.
- Identify your individual pigs if you sell them or have them processed at an abattoir. Weaner pigs must be identified with an ear tag when sold in some states. Larger pigs have a body tattoo/brand.
- Register on the PigPass database. You need an NVD when you sell your pigs or have them processed at abattoirs. Visit www.pigpass.com.au or phone 1800 001 458.
- Ensure all pigs that move off-farm are accompanied by a travel document (NVDs).
- Be welfare-compliant. The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals (Pigs) – Revised 2007 outlines welfare standards and “best practice” guidelines for pig owners. Visit http://australianpork.com.au/, under “industry information - welfare”.
- Get training in pig husbandry. It is a legal requirement that anyone who cares for pigs is suitably qualified or works under the supervision of a suitably qualified person. The qualifications required to care for pigs differs among states, but may include having a Certificate III in Agriculture (Pigs) or being assessed as “competent” by a registered training organisation. Visit http://australianpork.com.au/
- Keep your pigs healthy. Have and adhere to a Herd Health Program. Do not feed restricted feedstuffs (swill). Report unusual/notifiable diseases (e.g. foot and mouth disease). Only use restricted (Schedule 4) veterinary medicines prescribed by a veterinarian. Adhere to all label instructions on non-veterinary, and have an approved chemical farm list. Visit www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/agriculture/livestock/pigs.
- Start a quality assurance program. The Australian Pig Industry Quality Assurance Program (APIQ) includes food safety, welfare, bio-security and traceability standards. Visit www.apl.au.com, under “industry information - product integrity”.
- Source: NSW Department of Primary Industries