The biggest cost for third-generation pig farmer Andrew Haag as he starts an outdoor unit for 750 sows at Caistor St Edmund, near Norwich in eastern England, is piping water to the sows.
Online local business publication EDP 24 says the 80-acre farm draws a lot of attention because it is within sight of a highway overpass and thousands of motorists. Haag already finishes 170 pigs a week at another farm and sells the pork to the Morrisons grocery chain.
He’s hoping the high visibility of his operation will be good for local business because consumers like to see pigs outdoors. He plans to sell finished hogs to local butchers. An advantage from a biosecurity point of view is that there are no other pig herds nearby.