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Three of the pig industry’s brightest young workers from Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire have been chosen as finalists competing for the 2011 Pfizer Pig Trainee of the Year Award.







This is the tenth year that Pfizer has sponsored a training award for the pig industry, initially with the Agskills group of producers and then as an open award in conjunction with the magazine Pig World for the past five years.

The award recognises enthusiasm and commitment to training in helping pig producers to meet today’s exacting retail standards as well as developing individual careers.

The winner, who will receive a ’2000 training grant, will be announced at the presentation event at the House of Commons on November 1 when Farming Minister, Jim Paice, will make the awards to both the pig and poultry sectors.

The finalists were chosen by a judging panel comprising Richard Longthorp, pig industry training supremo, Gerry Brent, industry consultant, and Dr Dan Tucker, senior lecturer at the University of Cambridge school of Veterinary Medicine.

The finalists are:
Catherine O’Dell has been with JSR Farms for almost two years and has gained experience of an outdoor nucleus herd and indoor production at Southburn, Driffleld, East Yorkshire. She has gained the NPTC Level 2 award of stockmanship and welfare, and is progressing towards Level 2 certificate in pig husbandry as part of the staff development scheme operated by JSR Farms. If successful, she would use the award grant to further her knowledge and experience of pure line production, selection and genetics.

Christopher Rose from Worksop in Nottinghamshire has progressed during three years working on large outdoor units for LKL Farming to become assistant manager on an 850-sow weaner production site. He is working towards completing his certificates of competence at Level 2 in 2012 and is a member of the Pig Industry’s Professional Register, which he plans to use to provide structure to his on-going training. His ambition is to set up his own outdoor pig unit, taking pigs from start to finish.

Emily Ward from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, moved from a city background to work on an outdoor unit run by Packington Pork at Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire. Although she has been with them for only a year, she is already seen as a key member of her unit team. Undertaking an apprenticeship through Rodbaston College, she has completed Level 2 and is starting Level 3. On days when she attends college she starts the days ultra early so her off-site training does not excessively burden her team mates.

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