Buy it or lose it is message for public

THE message to British consumers from TV presenter and pig farmer Jimmy Doherty was stark and to the point. Referring to home produced pigmeat, he said: "You have to buy it or you will lose it."

Doherty's support for the UK pig industry came as he visited an Angus pig farm yesterday as part of VION Food Group's "Put Pork On Your Fork" campaign.

His support for home-produced pig meat was based on his own evidence of production systems in other countries none of which, he said, matched up to the high animal welfare and assurance schemes operating in this country.

On his visit to Hatton farm near Carnoustie, where brothers Guthrie and Mark Batchelor run a 750-sow enterprise, he heard at first hand the strict quality assurance that underpins Scottish pig production and the high welfare standards in the industry.

Hatton is one of several hundred Scottish pig farms which are now regularly inspected by the Scottish SPCA as part of a ground-breaking welfare initiative led by the Scottish SPCA and Quality Meat Scotland.

Participation in the scheme is voluntary and, since inspections began in September 2009, farms accounting for more than 99 per cent of quality assured Scottish pig herds have been inspected by the Scottish SPCA.

Mike Flynn, chief superintendent at the Scottish SPCA, said that his inspectors did not go on to farms with clipboards and tick lists: "What we want to see is the overall standard of welfare. It is not about new buildings. It is about the stockmanship involved in the business."

Commenting on the scheme, Andy McGowan of Quality Meat Scotland said consumers could have complete confidence in the impartiality and independence of the inspection process as the Scottish SPCA received no income by charging for the inspections.

He added that the latest market research showed that animal welfare was at a top priority for consumers "By welcoming Scottish SPCA inspectors on to their farms, pig producers are allowing them to be the eyes and ears of the public, giving consumers confidence in the high standards of Scottish pig production."