After having had a very eye opening tour around the Roach Foods processing plant at Bodmin several weeks earlier to see the immense investment in technology to comply to the stringent requirements of McDonalds for its cooked bacon and the major multiplies for its value wafer thin, reconstituted ham the Cornish discussion group conveined to discuss the health and quality of the pigs being produced for this market.
The evening began
with the advantages of belonging to the BPHS how it works and what the various
causes for condemnation are. Producers were generally very pro the scheme
however were less receptive to the duplication of information that the Food
Chain Information (FCI) form has caused and that there are frequently IT errors
which result in abattoirs demanding paper copies be sent by fax before the pigs
can be killed.
The discussion was
based around the DVD compiled by BPEX. The visual signs of EP, viral pneumonia,
pleuropneumonia, pyaemia, milk spot, hepatic scarring, pericarditis,
peritonitis, pleurisy, papular dermatitis and tail biting @ post mortem were
depicted on the DVD which are what the MHS see but a producer seldom would. All
producers were surprised at the severity of some of these conditions even in
what appear to be healthy animals at ante-mortem! The costs due to poorer FCR’s
and DLWG along with any medication need to be attributed to the production
costs. Pete Bown from the George Vet Group was present to answer questions on
prevention, and the correct medicines or vaccines to use and the cost of
these.
All producers enjoyed
the evening as there understanding of what the abattoir see had increased. It
was also easier to do this way in comfort, without any risk to bio-security and
without back ground noises.