What I see worldwide is that many pig farmers don’t know any more what pigs are about. “We now know that a pig is not a thing: it is a sentient being with a high level of intelligence, comparable with the intelligence of a child. “Factory farming of pigs in the Netherlands is a dead end,” he says. ‘Pigs are the most hygienic animals we have on the farm,’ says Scheepens, seen here explaining his system for encouraging pigs to separate their urine and poo to reduce ammonia production.

He started his pig project almost a decade ago, aiming to help bring open-air farming back to the muddy Netherlands, and pioneer a new type of barn farming. “Am I rich in money? No, but I’m primarily motivated by emancipating farm animals.” Although he raises them for meat, he is passionate about animal welfare. Scheepens primarily raises a breed he calls the “Duke of Berkshire”, a cross of the hairy Berkshire pig and white sow, named with a nod to his years working in England. Meanwhile, in a forested nature reserve area, 45 Angus cows have just calved. The pigs are fed on produce being thrown away by organic supermarket Ekoplaza: boxes of white cabbages, slightly wilted beans, veggie-balls, 500kg of Canadian lentils, overripe mangoes from Burkina Faso, hundreds of tubs of peach mango soy yoghurt, and boxes of apricots. David and Att are already in heaven but ‘Bro’ is still here.”Īs he walks around feeding and talking a little French to his 28 sows (according to Scheepens, “ neuf”, is their grunt of confirmation, and “ huit, huit” is them asking for more) the place seems idyllic. I had three boars, David, Att and Borough. “I’ve given them a name and when you give a name to a pig, I cannot butcher it any more. “Borough and Oma are here to stay,” he says, squelching to his farthest field, where the two 400kg-plus animals squeeze into their shed. Kees Scheepens feeds pigs with leftovers from the local organic supermarket.

Factory town farming