“The most important thing I learned is that there is no one golden rule. With big farms, even the smallest details may decide your performance. And it is extremely important to take care of details and strive for constant development.”
Marta Bubrzyk
Veterinarian, Group 3
Inspiring each other across borders
Over a period of a few months in late 2022 and early 2023, three separate groups of participants from our partner Agri Plus came to Denmark for a week of On-farm Training.
All three groups consisted of knowledgeable professionals with experience working in pig production. Still, the participants came from different types of farms and with different work experiences. The one thing they had in common was that they all believed they could benefit from training in Denmark with DanBred Academy.
Preparations before the On-farm Training begins
Before coming to Denmark for the training, DanBred Academy asked all participants to clarify their work experience as well as their goals and expectations for coming on the training. This ensures that each training is tailormade for that group of people and their needs – and that all participants come home with the new knowledge they expect.
The participants had also been in contact with DanBred’s In-Farm Solutions Manager, Evgen Trokoz. He stayed with the groups throughout the training to make sure everyone felt safe and to support with any language barriers.
“All details of the training were clearly explained during a Teams meeting prior to the visit.”
– Marta Bubrzyk, Veterinarian, Group 3
Hopes before coming on training
The participants had different reasons for joining the training: some wanted to learn more about the technology used, some wanted to learn specific techniques, and some wanted to learn new management procedures and routines in general.
Overall, they wanted to compare the Danish farms to what they knew from their own farms and hoped to take home practical knowledge that could be applied directly to their everyday work tasks.
“I just wanted to learn as much as possible about DanBred genetics, pig breeding and farming. I expected to learn something I could introduce on my farm.”
– Adrian Ciechanowski, Farm Manager, Group 1
“I really wanted to see Danish farms, standards, buildings, and management to compare with ours.”
– Marta Bubrzyk, Veterinarian, Group 3
This affected how the training was structured.
Training in a foreign language
Many of the participants were a little worried about the language barriers. As they were all native Polish speakers coming to training in Denmark, they worried they would not gain the optimal output form the training, if they could not understand everything that was said.
“I was worried about the language barrier, however, it turned out that it was all right!”
– Marta Bubrzyk, Veterinarian, Group 3
Once the training began, they all realised it was not an issue at all. They could easily communicate with the employees at the farm, who are used to pig professionals from all over the world coming on training. As an added bonus, some even said they improved their English skills as a result of the training.
Helpful experts in charge of training
The experts at DanBred’s training facilities always go out of their way to make sure you feel welcome and taken care of. The groups from Agri Plus appreciated that the staff were so patient and good at explaining how they carry out the different tasks – and why their routines are structured as they are.
“One of the best things was that the managers and farm employees were really open and willing to answer the questions. Thanks to which, we could compare our farms with the Danish ones and notice the differences.”
– Mateusz Szacfajer, Production Manager and Veterinarian, Group 1
By now, the farm staff at DanBred Academy’s training facilities have great experience with On-farm Training, and they enjoy the interesting questions and professional discussions. These groups all appreciated exchanging experiences with DanBred’s experts.
“The best thing about doing On-farm Training was visiting the farms, getting the possibility to observe the entire production from ‘the inside’, talks with managers and owners, and the possibility to exchange experiences.”
– Marta Bubrzyk, Veterinarian, Group 3
“The greatest thing about the training was the possibility of exchanging experiences with practitioners, they willingly shared their knowledge and solutions with us.”
– Daria Pajkert, Production Manager, Group 1
Practical learnings
DanBred On-farm Training is a very practical way of learning about pig management. The three training-weeks were tailored to the three different groups, their past experiences, and what they desired to learn.
All three groups got to follow along with management and routines in a breeding farm as well as a production farm to learn about the differences between the two farm types.
“I received the confirmation that genetic farms should be treated completely different than the commercial ones and should not be compared to one another.”
– Adrian Ciechanowski, Farm Manager, Group 1
“I had the opportunity to learn about rules for running a nucleus farm.”
– Arkadiusz Kaczmarek, Production Manager, Group 2
And all participants said they learned new techniques from the On-farm Training, such as management in the farrowing unit (e.g., split suckling), biosecurity, how to treat shoulder injuries, measuring back fat (and the importance of this!), gilt and sow management, boar management, getting piglets ready for weaning, feeding, selection of pigs for export etc.
“I really liked the bandages used for injuries on shoulders as well as mixture of powders made for pigs entering nurseries.”
– Mateusz Szacfajer, Production Manager and Veterinarian, Group 1
“I had the chance to see what biosecurity measures are used in an ASF-free country.”
– Arkadiusz Kaczmarek, Production Manager, Group 2
New routines when returning home
The training is about knowledge sharing. These groups all enjoyed exchanging experiences with pig professionals from another country. And they returned home with new knowledge and inspiration that they could implement directly in their work at the farms in Poland.
“I changed my approach towards diarrhoea in the piglets – from treatment to prevention. It was interesting to see that sometimes yoghurt is given to pigs on the first days of life.”
– Arkadiusz Kaczmarek, Production Manager, Group 2
“We’ve started to measure backfat more often, just like it is done in Denmark, to have a better overview on the condition of our sows at breeding, gestation, and before they farrow.
– Mateusz Szacfajer, Production Manager and Veterinarian, Group 1
“I’ve started regular measurement of the backfat of sows and gilts before they farrow and after weaning. I’ve also improved feed doses for gilts. I’ve increased the light level too by adding an extra source of light in the gilt pens. Following these changes, I’ve seen that the gilt conditions have improved, and I’ve noticed an increase in the liveborn piglets in second litters.”
– Adrian Ciechanowski, Farm Manager, Group 1
The groups from AgriPlus would recommend On-farm Training to others:
Certainly. The entire trip was really interesting, people were very friendly. Everyone can find something interesting at this training.
- Mateusz Szacfajer Production Manager & Veterinarian, Group 1
Yes. It is a good experience for every manager who works with DanBred pigs.
- Adrian Ciechanowski Farm Manager, Group 1
Definitely yes! Primarily for people working with purebred animals. From each training, one can see new solutions to problems and later implement them.
- Daria Pajkert Production Manager, Group 1
Learn the best practice procedures
We have a lot of knowledgeable experts internally in DanBred and within our partners all around the world. However, our success is only as good as our ability to transfer that knowledge to you.
DanBred Academy’s On-farm Training programme is your tool to learn the best practice procedures, so you can utilise the full potential of our genetics – and it is the perfect balance between technical knowledge and practical tasks.
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