Life Beyond the Military – Securing Careers in Pig Farming
HighGround is a charity that helps service leavers and veterans find jobs after their careers in the military end. They offer careers and vocational opportunities in the land-based sector. We had the pleasure of working with them and one of their members to help him secure a job in the Pig Industry.
Here’s Will Lamb’s Story
Will Lamb was looking for a new career in agriculture and was given Roadhogs details. Our Director, Liz Barker, spoke to Timothy Lever, Rural Employment Manager at HighGround, for a reference and had this to say about Will.
“William did a course at Bicton College via our charity. The course highlighted the options of different aspects of land-based work, allowing them to see what is available.
It was a residential course, and William made an excellent impression. He absolutely got it and dived into the week with great enthusiasm. Came up with very good, well-thought-out questions and was especially interested in Pig Farming.”
As a result, we employed Will to work on a pig unit in Dorset as a Relief Pig Stockperson. He worked in the dry sow section.
Will reflects on his time in Dorset, “I was employed as a pig stockperson on an indoor unit in Dorset. My role was with the dry sows, AI and serving. I worked in a two-person team and covered all aspects of the area’s day-to-day running. I also covered the weaning in the farrowing house twice a week, weaning the sows and sizing the piglets, around 600 plus piglets on a Monday a 400 plus on a Thursday.”
Will looked after the gilt barn, MSU, preg-check, serving house and the big house stocking over 2000 gilts and sows. He was scraping out daily and re-strawing every other day, keeping the housekeeping up to scratch. Will serves both gilts and sows in the serving houses, a mix of whites, duroc and landrace breeds. He also completed his fire safety course and manual handling.
Will continues, “I am new to this industry but have adapted to it and love the role. I am willing to learn more skills in the pig industry and other aspects in other areas, not just dry sows.”
At Roadhogs, we have been impressed with Will’s level of skills, hard work and all that he has achieved in just five months. He has now been assigned a new project on a farm in Cumbria on a 750-sow indoor, to further strengthen his experience.
Click on the relevant links if you’d like to more know about Roadhogs Recruitment, our Relief Service, Training Program in Lincolnshire, One-the-Job Training scheme, or HighGround.