A LANREATH farmer and her approach to the high-welfare, ethical raising of her Berkshire pigs has featured in a film made for the charity Farms Not Factories.

At Trefrawl Farm, the pigs have a woodland ‘paradise’ where they can express their natural behaviour. The livestock on the 300-acre farm, which also includes pedigree cattle for breeding and fattening, are fed what is grown on the land. The Hoopers aim to be as self-sustaining with as few inputs as possible. Focussing on soil health and carbon sequestration, they’re on a mission to reduce chemical inputs and maintain soil health and biology.

Nicola and her family also believe in nose to tail eating with zero waste: they deliver pork in quarter and half-carcass boxes.

Nicola says that the current lockdown situation has had a positive business impact with new customers reaching out to them.

“There has been little change to our day to day operations, but it is a little bit frustrating that there has not been enough supply to meet demand”, she said.

From a successful career in business management, Nicola quit her job at the end of last year and post honeymoon, to start her new life in farming alongside her husband Edward and his family.

She says it has been an ‘emotional rollercoaster’.

“I’m not going to lie, at times there have been tears and self doubt,” she said.

“The odd ’what am I doing’ moments – usually when I’m tired, cold, wet, covered in shit and frustrated by my lack of ability or knowledge to do something.

“But I’ve stuck with it through the hardest time of all – winter! And am pleased to say that I’m finally feeling like I’m settling into it and things are falling into place.”

The video made at Trefrawl Farm uses the farm’s approach to encourage ethical living conditions for livestock, and is available to view on farmsnotfactories.org as well as social media.

Farms Not Factories campaigns to highlight the damage caused by factory pig farming to animals and human health, to the environment, and to rural economies. It uses video to urge consumers to only buy local, high welfare and ethically produced pork.

During the COVID pandemic, the organisation has asked small scale pig farmers to film themselves explaining how their businesses are faring, and how they have adapted their sales strategies. Thankfully, says Farms Not Factories, most are doing well, as the lockdown has meant that more people are shopping locally from farmers they trust.