Castleisland based farmer Shane McAuliffe recently won an award for Sustainable Farming at the RDS Spring Agriculture and Forestry Awards 2022.
McAuliffe Pig Farms raises pigs at 4 locations around Kerry and are guided by their ‘4 P’s’ of sustainable pig farming. These refer to Pigs, People, Planet and Profit. Their aim is to increase the economic profitability of the farms through improvement of productive output, while maintaining high pig health and welfare, and protecting environmental resources.
Manure Aeration System
Examples of technology implemented over recent years include converting the ventilation systems to EC Blue fans, which have high efficiency and energy saving motors which reduce energy usage by 50%. A manure aeration system was installed in 2021 which injects compressed air into the manure, reducing ammonia emissions by 50% and increasing the nutrient value of the manure when used as natural fertiliser.
By continually improving pig health and welfare, through research and development work with our team of researchers, pigs are more productive, meaning they reach market earlier, reducing emissions and saving on feed costs.
Native Trees and Hedges
Shane has invested a lot of time and expertise in improving biodiversity on the farms over the last numbers of years, by digging out wildlife ponds and wader scrapes, planting thousands of native trees and hedges, and sowing multi species grassland.
In addition, McAuliffe Farms are business supporters of the All Ireland Pollinator Plan and corporate supporters of the Native Woodland Trust.
Shane said; ‘’It’s very rewarding for pig farming to be recognised at such a prestigious awards ceremony but of course it’s not just an award for me or our team on our farms, but an award for the pig industry as a whole.
Good News Story for Pig Farming
Irish pork has the lowest carbon footprint in the European Union and all Irish pig farmers are raising their pigs sustainably as per the Bord Bia Pigmeat Quality Assurance Scheme. It is also nice for a good news story for pig farming in this extremely difficult time for pig farmers all over Ireland as the soaring input costs and low pig prices are pushing many of us out of business. I would ask consumers to please support Irish pig farmers by buying pork and bacon with the Bord Bia Quality Assurance logo on the pack.’’
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