Are you interested in working in a diverse industry where you will be working with pigs everyday and involved in the production of high quality food products like pork, ham and bacon? Working in agriculture could give you the opportunity to work in the pig industry.

British pigs enjoy some of the highest welfare standards in the world. Pig farming is a specialised business and the major pig-producing areas in the UK are found in East Anglia, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Pigs are clean, intelligent animals that keep their areas for dunging and sleeping separate. These traits mean that they are well suited to modern farming. By providing a regular supply of food and shelter in the form of modern housing, pigs thrive and are highly productive.

Today's consumer demands lean meat with minimum fat. Farmers have therefore selected the leanest animals for breeding. In this way pigs have become progressively less fat to the extent that pork is now about as lean as chicken.

Some pigs are kept within buildings in indoor systems. Pregnant sows are kept either in groups in yards, which may be environmentally controlled, or most often have open sides and natural ventilation. Individual sow stalls for pregnant sows are banned in the UK. Sows give birth in a maternity unit, which contains individual farrowing crates. This is to protect the baby pigs, which weigh a little over 1 kg at birth, about one 250th of their mother's size. Fresh drinking water is piped to each pen so that the pigs have access to it at all times.

A significant number of UK pigs are kept outdoors in open fields. Since the pigs must withstand extreme conditions, particularly in winter, sturdier, often slightly fatter breeding stock is used. In summer sows must be provided with plenty of water to form wallows in order to keep cool. It is also essential to provide shade so that they do not get sunburnt. Pigs sleep in groups in huts with straw bedding and at farrowing are provided with individual arks for each sow and litter.

There are many ways to enter a career in the pig industry. If you have no formal qualifications but can demonstrate your enthusiasm for working with pigs, there are opportunities for you.

The following websites have more information on the pig industry:

Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) - www.face-online.org.uk

National Farmers Union (NFU) - www.nfu.org.uk

National Pig Association - www.npa-uk.net