22 January 2018
Hugh and Katharine Brookes of Penlan Farm, near Cenarth, finish their Mangalitza pigs at around 18 months because the breed is late maturing and take longer to finish than other commercial breeds. Today, thanks to the vision and entrepreneurial skills of the couple and with support from Farming Connect, this speciality product is on the menu at some of London’s top restaurants.
Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, recently visited Penlan Heritage Breeds, which is also a Farming Connect Focus Site, to learn more about the business and how support from Farming Connect has been instrumental in its success.
“Penlan Heritage Breeds is an excellent example of what small-scale producers can achieve by identifying a gap in the marketplace, aiming for the top end of the market and producing a speciality product which sells at a premium price.
“Hugh and Katharine, although relatively new to pig farming, had a clear vision of what they want to achieve and it is fantastic to see how they have brought the experience, skills and fresh ideas gained through their previous careers in IT and PR to their new business.
“There is much that other small-scale producers in Wales can learn from this successful model, and I’m delighted that Farming Connect will be sharing this with the wider industry,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
Through their role within the Farming Connect demonstration network, the couple were able to access advice from an internationally renowned pig nutritionist. He formulated a diet that included by-products they could source locally from well-known suppliers, including whey from Caws Cenarth; brewers’ grains from the Mantle Brewery and locally-grown potatoes that don’t quite make the grade for the market.
“It has proved a very successful diet that matched our system while also enabling us to improve profitability, performance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Hugh.
Hugh recently took his research into pig nutrition a step further with support from Farming Connect’s Management Exchange programme, which provides opportunities for eligible farmers to visit businesses anywhere in Europe where they can see at first hand other systems that may be beneficial within their own enterprises. One of 11 successful applicants in 2017, Hugh visited a leading breeder of Mangalitzas in Austria, Arche De Wiskentale, where he learned about selective breeding, nutrition, rearing and butchery.
“My study visit proved invaluable, and we are already implementing what I learned, by designing and setting up a new paddock system and constructing pig arcs.”
The couple are keen to emphasise that although currently small-scale, they are determined to run a professional farm enterprise, and should not be categorised as hobby farmers. With a herd of 140 pigs, and their pork on the menu at top London restaurants including The Quality Chop House, and orders already placed by award-winning Welsh chef Tomos Parry for his new Shoreditch restaurant ‘Brat’, which opens this spring, he is optimistic that the business faces no shortage of buyers for all the pork produced.
“This business has got to make money and it already shows development potential. The support provided by Farming Connect has been invaluable and by tapping into this, we have benefited in so many different ways.
“Being a Farming Connect focus site, visiting a top pig breeder in Austria and having so much expert guidance has been critical too our success, and we also gain much through attending knowledge transfer events which are very informative and almost like tutorials,” said Katharine.
“Wales is getting behind the pig industry; we are in a sector that the Welsh Government really wants to help, and with that attitude, the future looks bright!”