Susan Rabbich, AHDB Pork’s environment and building project manager, explains that Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR), formerly Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), aim to reduce pollution from industrial activity by controlling emissions.

“This means that indoor pig keepers with more than 2,000 finishing pig places (above 30kg), or 750 sow places (including served gilts), at a site are required to obtain a permit from the Environment Agency (EA),” says Susan.

One company that has taken up the training delivered by Susan and her team is Wayland Farms. Robin Simon, health and safety and environmental manager at Cranswick, organised the training for his team.

“The session covered subjects such as typical permit breaches, site and accident management plans and how to deal with odour complaints. However, it was made clear that no farm situation is the same, and discussion points were tailored to specific units,” he says.

“A couple of our units already have permits but the training was really valuable to help farm managers and workers understand exactly what having an environmental permit means for the business and the wider team,” says Robin.

“The team members who took part in the training have told me that they better understand how day-to-day activities can make a difference to how well the farm is complying with its permit.

“I’d really recommend the training to others as it really helps focus attention in certain areas of the business,” says Robin.