Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 25


     
     1        time would definitely be a maximum of two hours, mostly
     2        under one hour.
     3
     4   Q.   Can I just leap ahead for a moment to get it out of the
     5        way?  You buy in pigs finished by other people as well?
     6        A.  For the factory?
     7
     8   Q.   Yes.
     9        A.  Yes, that is correct, sir.
    10
    11   Q.   What is the maximum distance travelled, what is the maximum
    12        travelling time that any of those pigs have to make, do you
    13        know?
    14        A.  Well, last week or the week before last, Tesco's
    15        announced that eight hours travelling time would be
    16        maximum.  That is very easy for us, very easy.  Our maximum
    17        would be six hours and I am exaggerating a bit, I believe.
    18
    19   Q.   Actually how many journeys of six hours do your suppliers
    20        make?
    21        A.  Very, very few.
    22
    23   Q.   What do you think is the average travelling time for pigs
    24        delivered to you?
    25        A.  Coming into the factory, a maximum of two hours again.
    26
    27   Q.   Do all suppliers have these hydraulically equipped lorries
    28        or not?
    29        A.  Unfortunately not, but I must say it is increasing.  As
    30        the lorries are being changed, everyone is changing to the
    31        rise and fall lifts.
    32
    33   Q.   Going on with your outdoor pigs for the moment, when they
    34        get into the finishing unit they are grown on to, I think,
    35        about 90 kilos before they are slaughtered; is that
    36        correct?
    37        A.  That is correct.
    38
    39   Q.   How far are the finishing units from the slaughterhouse?
    40        A.  Again all under two hours.
    41
    42   Q.   How long does it take to grow a pig on from 40 to 90 kilos?
    43        A.  From 40 to 90 kilos, about 10 or 11 weeks, something of
    44        that nature.
    45
    46   Q.   Ten or eleven weeks?
    47        A.  Yes.
    48
    49   Q.   So, we have gone from 12, so they would be about 23, 24
    50        weeks --- 
    51        A.  22 or 23 weeks. 
    52 
    53   Q.   -- 22 or 23 weeks by the time they are killed?
    54        A.  Yes.
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Plus just, it is a quibble really, but you
    57        have three weeks or so before the 12 weeks plus the 10 or
    58        11, so you have 25 or 26 weeks old, the ones which go
    59        outside when weaned.  Does that sound right or have the
    60        sums gone wrong somewhere?

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