Ben Lowe
Getting the chance to farm in my own right has always been a dream and something I am very proud of achieving. Being a partner of HB Farms we are an indoor pig and arable unit in the northeast of Scotland while also providing an agronomy service for a small number of businesses locally. I have a real passion for creating a circular business for the long term that will be beneficial to the animals we work with, people that work within the business, our nature, environment and the wider community. I cannot wait to see where the Nuffield journey takes me and who I will meet along the way. I am hugely thankful to Nuffield, my sponsor McDonald’s UK & Ireland and the team back home for giving me a chance which makes this all possible.
1. Closing the loop - Driving a circular farming system in a mixed Pig Farm.
McDonald’s UK & Ireland
Study Overview
Closing the loop – Driving a circular farming system in a mixed pig farm. The big question is, how efficiently can we produce a ‘5 mile pig’ where as many of the resources required to produce pork are grown and created as close as possible? A whole farm approach focused on the 3 main inputs which are Feed 70%, Labour 12% and Energy 10% with the rest being other costs. Can a mixed farm approach allow for one enterprise's waste to become the next enterprise's resource to create a circular business which reduces reliance on imported resources such as soya or energy while improving our food miles and carbon footprint?