Garth Training Courses for Pig Stockpeople
All businesses - not just pig businesses, invest in training to improve efficiency or levels of service. Efficiency may result from increased output, reduced production cost, less power or labour usage/unit of output - or simple better retention rates of more motivated staff. Pig production is now a globally competitive business, and UK production on average is some way behind that of our EU competitors.
Training has been shown to result in improvement in terms of on-farm performance, for example:
Sow productivity - increased by 1.5 - 2.9 pigs reared/sow/year
Post weaning mortality - reduced by 1 - 1.6%
Growth rate from weaning to 30kg - improved by 13-16% (65g/day)
The above improvements are substantial in terms of increased profitability - giving a good return on time and money invested in training; but clearly it is as much about what people learn on the courses as it is about an employer's encouragement of staff once they return back to the farm.
Garth training courses aim to educate, motivate and train staff in all of the main areas of pig production with the aim of providing them with the ability to improve their efficiency on-farm, and also attain National Proficiency Test Certification should they wish to take the appropriate tests.
Garth training courses will involve group instruction, discussion and participation together with some on-farm back-up instruction.
The courses will be production biased with the following topics:
1. Gilt production, selection and management through to first farrowing.
2. Management of the sow (and boar) from weaning, mating - to farrowing.
3. Farrowing house management of the sow and litter through to weaning.
4. Weaner/grower pig management and housing.
5. Grower/finisher pig management and selection of pigs pre-slaughter.
6. The correct use of veterinary medicines and vaccines on the pig unit.
The use of interpretation of production records together with pig nutrition and apsects of environmental control will also be covered, where appropriate, in each of the above sections.
For further details please contact Christine Watts or Rachel Wilkinson on 01262 488323.
There is only one thing worse than training a person and then having them leave your business - and that is not training them and having them stay!