By Jack Bosworth, Director, FJ Bosworth & Sons. Published 10 March 2025.
I hope everyone is well.
It is great to have got some recent sunshine and warmer weather here in Essex. The dry weather has allowed us to get first nitrogens on all our winter crops. Contract spreading of slurry has also kicked off, with our new 24 metre dribble bar getting its first outing.
A long time coming for the wider kit
Long-time readers may remember that back in 2022, when I was reflecting on our first season of doing our own slurry spreading, one of my reservations was that we had a 12 metre dribble bar, while our previous contractor had been working with 24 metres. At 12 metres we were travelling in the crop every other row, rather than only in the tramlines.
This year we have closed that gap on our own contracting fleet. The 24 metre dribble bar has now had its first runs out on the contract spreading side. Wider working width, fewer wheelings, faster covering. A genuinely good piece of kit to add to the fleet.
We got the new dribble bar part-funded through the FETF (Farming Equipment and Technology Fund). The payment terms, however, have changed from “within 30 days of submission” to an unknown date. Most helpful for cashflow planning, I am sure you will agree.
Joe’s quarterly visit, and a verdict worth pinning on the wall
Health and performance on the pigs has been going well.
Our most recent quarterly vet visit gave huge praise to health and growth on both units. Well done to all the team for their hard work, which continues to impress.
Our award-winning young vet, Joe, has said both units look the best they ever have since he took them on. That is quite a statement, and the kind of independent verdict that genuinely matters more than any KPI table we can run internally.
Investing in real-time data for the feeding herd
Next up for us on the feeding herd is likely to be investment in both time and equipment for routine batch weighing of pigs from wean to finish.
The goal is more real-time information, so we can:
- Set live targets that are reviewed regularly, the same way we do for the breeding herd.
- Identify issues earlier rather than at the point of sale.
This will involve extra work for Jack and Simon, but they are both committed to wanting more real-time data to work with. It is great to have them wanting to engage with the numbers more and more.
Honestly, I think it quietly challenges the stereotype of what others perceive a stockperson to be. The modern stockperson is, increasingly, someone who works with both an excellent eye and a properly structured dataset. That side of things is really important, and it is crucial that we back them with the tools they need. Get them the data they want, and it motivates them to keep improving.
The butchery appeal: a formal close
Elsewhere on the farm, our appeal for the planning of the butchery has been rejected.
That is despite the new National Planning Policy Framework, which we felt gave our case more strength. The economic benefit the butchery would bring, the income it would generate to replace disappearing subsidy, and the opportunity to give local people access to local food, were not considered good enough against concerns about the development and highways impact on the local area.
That is very frustrating for everyone who has been involved. The on-farm butchery is a logical next step for a business that wants to add value to the products it is producing.
I will be sure to keep you updated on plan B.
Editor’s note (May 2026)
This article marks the formal close of the on-farm butchery story that runs through Jack’s earlier writing. With the appeal rejected, the 2024 acquisition of Procters Sausages stands as our farm-to-fork answer. Pork from the herd is processed into Procters products, the brand carries the value-add to consumer, hospitality and trade customers, and the route from field to finished product is now complete. You can read more on the Our Pork section of this site, or visit procters-sausages.co.uk.
The 24 metre dribble bar Jack mentions here is now part of the agricultural contracting offer. Slurry and digestate umbilical application is available at 12, 18, 20 and 24 metre working widths, all with RTK guidance. Full details on the Contracting > Application page.
About the author
Jack Bosworth is a fourth-generation farmer and Director of FJ Bosworth & Sons, an arable and pig farming business at Spains Hall, Willingale, Essex. The farm has been in the family since 1919, and Jack farms alongside his father Stuart Bosworth, who was named Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year in 2011. The business is Red Tractor assured and runs an integrated farm-to-fork model, with home-grown cereals milled on site using solar-generated electricity. In 2024, the business won the National Pig Awards Sustainable Farming Award.
You can follow Jack’s articles on fjbosworth.com, or get in touch via the WhatsApp link on the site.
Fourth-generation farmer at Spains Hall, Willingale. Runs the contracting team and writes most of what appears here.