In Malton on Wednesday, 100 pig industry representatives were not
too bothered.

Stewart Houston, chairman of both the trade's National Pig Association and the Government's British Pig Executive, thought the public had been through so much propaganda the market was "more or less bomb-proofed".

Also, like the Jamie Oliver programme before it, the TV programme made by the Marchioness of Worcester called Pig Business ended with the message – "Buy British, because it is at least better than buying from American factories in Poland".

All the Malton gathering had to do was reassure us that nothing like that happens here.

But one vet did say he had recently seen a Yorkshire farm which was a shocker. The farmer was ancient, the stockman was "a bit slow" and the place was a tip.

He said: "You will find two or three in every hundred like that, everywhere. The activists head straight for them when they want pictures of dead pigs. And if they are out of luck, they can always tip over a bin."

His point was that the images do not always tell the story. And the experts at Malton – half of them farmers – wholeheartedly agreed with that.

But they were pleased somebody had pointed out why pork without a clear stamp of origin might be cheap. They have all heard stories from Poland and, lately, Romania, where, allegedly, the big new farms need more armed guards than labourers, to stop the pigs disappearing.

However, even Holland and Denmark and Germany pip the British pig industry on costs per kilo.

The point of the meeting in Malton was to find a way to make up the difference, by tackling problems which put an average of £8 a pig
on the farmer's costs... Swine Dysentery, Mange, PRSS (a kind of flu), PMWS (porcine multi-systemic wasting syndrome) and Enzootic Pneumonia. Probably four pig farmers out of five have to deal with one of these problems once in a year.

A Norfolk vet told them about a dysentery outbreak in East Anglia which
started with infected pigs from Scotland in summer 2006.

The movements of all the pigs involved were traced. But in December 2007 there was another case. And then another and another. The virus had found nine different ways to spread – with the help of starlings, seagulls, rats, labourers, managers, lorries, abattoirs... and at least one factor still unknown.

The case helped to prompt the Yorkshire effort to organise co-operative effort against common problems.

We probably have more pigs than any other region – East Anglia being the only other contender. The flags around which discussion groups were organised on Wednesday gave an indication of the spread: Thirsk, Barnsley, Pontefract, Pocklington, Patrington, Hull, York, Malton, Driffield, Scarborough, Harrogate, Goole and North Lincs.

There are probably 800 professional pig farms in the region and nobody knows how many "hobbyists" there are, breeding a few for show or pocket money. The hobbyists had to be mapped, it was agreed.

It was also agreed there had to be incentives for honesty. A premium for "clean" pigs at abattoirs was one suggestion.

A special "dirty" area, for isolating and dealing with infected animals, was another.

"But where would it be?" asked one of the debate
co-ordinators.

"East Anglia," a farmer suggested.

The day ended with agreement to set up a series of cluster groups which will recruit further support. Details will be posted at www.yhh.org.uk.