We are pleased to announce that the food miles for meat for the farm have been reduced. This is because we are now able to use a local abattoir (3 miles away) for slaughter of pigs and lambs whic has now been inspected and added onto our licence for organic slaughter and due to our new butchery and poultry slaughter facilities.

"Reducing the food miles and footprint of your food."

"Swillington Organic Farm are realising the benefits of their newly expanded on-farm poultry slaughter, processing and butchering facilities which were completed last year. This now means the chicken, pork, beef and lamb produced on the farm can be butchered to customers requirements and an increasing range of home made sausages and dry cured bacon can be produced.

Lack of organic poultry and meat processing facilities in Yorkshire had meant travelling over 500 miles a week in order to slaughter the poultry and livestock which is sold through the farm shop and local farmers markets. The new set up has greatly reduced the time and fuel spent, lowering food miles and the carbon footprint of their products. There have also been welfare benefits, the poultry now travel less than 500 yards to the farm abattoir, and the pigs and lambs are now slaughtered at a local abattoir less than three miles away.

This has benefited the farmer Jo Cartwright as well as her livestock; "I was spending hours transporting the animals but my new facilities now mean i can actually farm and spend time with my stock rather than the M62. This has resulted in much more flexibility and control of production from birth to slaughter". The extra time on farm has meant that additional poultry can now be produced; the farm hopes to try guinea fowl for the first time this year and ducks and turkeys have already been successfully reared."