Are consumers naturally suspicious?

The British Pig and Poultry Fair, which took place this month, hosted a debate on encouraging consumers to buy more British produce.
The discussion, which, amongst other things, revealed that some consumers are unaware of the difference between broilers and laying hens, followed a series of organized farm visits, where two groups of shoppers were taken to either a broiler unit or a pig breeding unit.
The high standards of cleanliness and animal husbandry they witnessed came as a considerable surprise to many of them. They are reported to have been "pleasantly" surprised to find chickens not in cages and also by the reality of the farrowing crate. ...Read the full blog on www.animalagnet.com.

British pig breeder ups testing investment

British pig breeding company ACMC has invested more than 100,000 pounds to add 10 Feed Intake Recording Equipment (FIRE) stations, the firm said at this year’s British Pig & Poultry Fair. The increase from 40 to 50 stations enables individual performance testing of breeding animals at nucleus level. The new equipment will allow testing of around 4,000 boars and 1,800 gilts per year.
ACMC technical director Ed Sutcliffe said pig producers can continue to expect large improvements in efficiency from advances in genetics. Progress will be maintained by breeders in improving the key traits including numbers born alive, growth rate and feed conversion efficiency.