Bayview Farm — and the Bayview Pigs brand — are well-known both on and off-Island for producing top quality pigs and pork.
The farm and business are owned and run by Shaun Dean and his wife Jane, with help from their daughter Lauren and sons Patrick and Louis — plus farmhand Richard Crookall.
Shaun grew up on the Island, and left to gain qualifications at agricultural college in the UK before starting work there in farming. In 2002 he returned to the Island where he grew up, and has farmed at Bayview for the past 15 years.
Today, the farm is home to two pig breeds: Large White and Landrace. There are around 100 breeding females, with a 50/50 split between the two breeds. Shaun’s breeding boars are named after a few of his buddies — so when they meet every Wednesday evening in the local for a pint after a hard day’s work (that’s the buddies, not the boars!) there’s plenty of banter if their namesakes have, er….(how shall we put it politely?)……performed their duties well that week.
Joking apart, breeding pigs is a serious business and the quality livestock reared at Bayview — like all of the 220 Manx farms that supply Isle of Man Meats — is down to farmers like Shaun putting in long hours all year round. Using the knowledge and experience gained from more than 30 years as a pig farmer he makes sure that everything is geared to achieving high standards from farm to fork. An example of how Shaun puts that into practice is that unlike many farms in the UK and further afield, he rejects the routine use of antibiotics in feed and water. In fact, over 99% of livestock he’s bred on the farm have never had antibiotics.
He favours a more natural approach based on allowing pigs to eat a balanced diet which includes barley and wheat grown on Manx farms, and spend as much time as possible outside in the fresh Manx air. The health and wellbeing of his livestock is independently monitored via veterinary inspections every three months, and visitors to the farm are strictly controlled to reduce the risk of infection from outside sources.
All of that hard work results in our network of butchers and other retailers being able to sell top quality pork joints, bacon and sausages — if you haven’t tried it yet, we can promise you that you really will taste the difference.
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