By Jack Bosworth, Director, FJ Bosworth & Sons. Published 9 February 2022.

I hope everyone is well.

The first six weeks of 2022 have been as busy as ever here on the farm. We have had Covid through the team, oilseed rape written off in one block, and we continue to see a reduction in pig sales. Just to name a few.

Why January was harder than usual

Pig sales typically take a slight dip in January, as consumer spending pulls back after Christmas. This year, that dip has been magnified by the backlog crisis that continues to challenge the overwhelming majority of UK pig farmers.

Weekly numbers sold are running 10 to 15 per cent lower than we need. That means, yet again, we have had to use the alternative accommodation part of our contingency plan.

The shed in question used to house the potato grading line. We converted it around a year ago. It is straw-based and currently has to be hand-fed, which makes it inefficient on labour. It does its job, which is keeping pigs comfortable and the system flowing when sales are restricted. It is not where we want them long-term.

Why I watch the labour line so closely

Labour is one of the biggest costs in pig production, and one I monitor closely. We set targets and keep them under constant review.

A few things complicate the picture, and they matter when reading the numbers:

  • Some labour is split across both the pig and arable enterprises, allocated by workload.
  • The bed-and-breakfast unit in Norfolk assumes that 50 per cent of what we pay the farmer is attributed to labour, with the remaining 50 per cent covering rent, straw, water and the rest.

With those splits applied honestly, our 2021 labour cost per sow came in at £308.96.

To put that figure in context: just three to four years earlier, we were operating at over £420 per sow per year. The change has not come from one big move. It has come from several:

  • Increasing the size of the herd, so the same labour serves more animals.
  • Investing in more slatted accommodation rather than straw-based.
  • Investing in Electronic Sow Feeding (ESF) and sorting technology.
  • A better layout of buildings to cut the time spent moving pigs from A to B.

If we were still at the higher cost per sow today, I am genuinely not sure we would still be operating. That is a scary thought, and a clear message about how important it is to look hard at every cost and act on the analysis.

Spring spreading is under way

Elsewhere on the farm, we recently started the spring spreading season with our new umbilical system, applying digestate for a customer.

The next job for that equipment will be coming back to apply a bit of slurry of our own. With manure returned to the land we grow on, the circle stays closed.

If you have slurry or digestate that you would like applied this spring, please get in touch for an estimate. The umbilical system covers larger acreages quickly and accurately, and like all our contracting operations it runs on RTK guidance so the application is precise.

You can reach me via the WhatsApp link on fjbosworth.com, or by phone or email through the contact page.

Editor’s note (May 2026)

Since this article was written, the contracting side of the business has continued to grow significantly. Umbilical slurry and digestate application is now offered at 12, 18, 20 and 24 metre working widths, alongside tanker application using a 4,100 gallon Storth Tandem Axle Tanker with a Storth 12m ContractorPlus Trailing Shoe. Full details are on the Contracting > Application pages of this site.

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.

You can follow Jack’s articles on fjbosworth.com, or get in touch via the WhatsApp link on the site.

Written by Jack Bosworth

Fourth-generation farmer at Spains Hall, Willingale. Runs the contracting team and writes most of what appears here.