Comment: Scholar keen to learn lessons in pigs

Hugh Shedden is a pig farmer from Easingwold near York and has been chosen as the Yorkshire Agricultural Society's Nuffield Scholar for 2017 which will enable him to look at pig production in other countries as well as closer to home. His interest is precision technology and its potential impact on UK pig farming.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Jan 2017, 07:00 BST
Updated 16th Jan 2017, 08:36 BST
Hugh Shedden, right, pictured alongside Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.Hugh Shedden, right, pictured alongside Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Hugh Shedden, right, pictured alongside Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

After being awarded a Nuffield scholarship you quickly become aware of the calibre of people who have gone before you. Some of the most forward-thinking people involved in agriculture have also had the amazing opportunity to pursue their passion and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to follow in their footsteps.

Working in and around farming since finishing university, I had been aware of Nuffield scholarships for a long time but never thought it was for me. However after some lean times on the farm I thought that there has to be a better way of doing things. The pig industry has undergone many changes over the past 10 to 15 years and the pace of change is not slowing down. For my scholarship I want to look at what that change could be, what the impact is going to be for us in the UK and how we can adapt and thrive in the future.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

To do this I am going to travel to countries where the pig industry has already undergone some of the changes we are facing. With Brexit looming around the corner we are going to have to reduce our cost of production to be able to compete with potential imports into this country. My journey starts in Brazil next March where the Nuffield scholars from around the world meet up for the Contemporary Scholars Conference. This is a great opportunity to meet like-minded people from similar walks of life from different countries and continents.

Hugh Shedden, right, pictured alongside Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.Hugh Shedden, right, pictured alongside Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Hugh Shedden, right, pictured alongside Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

Brazil is a good place to start my studies as it has one of the largest and most efficient pig industries in the world. From there I hope to travel to the USA and Canada to see how they are implementing precision technology to improve their businesses. In a post-Brexit world these are likely to be three of the biggest potential importers of pork into the UK. Some of the best research and development work into precision pig farming is being done in Europe so hopefully I will be able to see what strides are being made.

None of this would be possible without the generous and ongoing support of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. Without organisations such as the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the Nuffield Scholarship would not exist as it does today. They play a fundamental role in enabling people like myself to step away from the day to day running of agricultural businesses and hopefully answer some of the questions of what the future holds.

Related topics:Yorkshire Agricultural SocietyYorkBrazil