Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 11

     
     1
     2   Q.   Are some of them really quite small?
     3        A.  Yes, we still have traditional farmers who send us
     4        probably 10 or 15 pigs a fortnight.  Then we can have a
     5        another farmer who will send us 1200 a week.
     6
     7   MR. MORRIS:  So, if you take one from Yorkshire, you could have
     8        got the ones from Yorkshire from East Anglia, if you wanted
     9        to?
    10        A.  Sorry, I do not understand what you mean.
    11
    12   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Why do you suggest that?
    13
    14   MR. MORRIS:  You could have obtained them from East Anglia if
    15        you had wanted to?
    16        A.  Not necessarily, because we have specifications to meet
    17        for our customers and one is not always able to find the
    18        required pigs in East Anglia.
    19
    20   Q.   So the customer specifications would overrule welfare
         considerations?
    22        A.  No, it would not interfere.  It is the size of the pig,
    23        because you will have sometimes when pigs will not grow in
    24        some areas as well as they will in others.  We have outdoor
    25        pigs at this moment that are growing much slower because
    26        they have pig flu, and so we are having to draw a few extra
    27        pigs in from Yorkshire to meet our needs which will meet
    28        the specifications of our customers.
    29
    30   Q.   So within East Anglia, as far as pigs that fit your
    31        specifications, you are taking from all the farmers that
    32        are available ---
    33        A.  No.
    34
    35   Q.   -- in East Anglia?
    36        A.  No, there are other farms who are contracted to other
    37        meat factories.  If a farmer is contracted to supplying
    38        another meat factory he honours that.  If I go and offer
    39        him double the price he might be tempted but, if he is
    40        honourable, he will not sell to me.
    41
    42   Q.   So, Within East Anglia, you are talking from all the farms
    43        that you are able to take from and that fit your
    44        specification?
    45        A.  Basically so, yes.  We are advancing that all the
    46        while.
    47
    48   MS. STEEL:   You said that you have two finishing units.  Were
    49        you talking about just specifically on your farm?
    50        A.  Yes, or farms -- not on one farm. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Farms? 
    53        A.  Because we have them separated on each individual farm,
    54        so it is a more healthy way of keeping the pigs so you do
    55        not have too many on the farm.
    56
    57   Q.   So there are two on each farm you are saying?
    58        A.  No, no, our finishing units are always separate to our
    59        breeding units.
    60