Richard Longthorp (award sponsor), Hugh Crabtree and Adam Henson (making the presentation)

Hugh Crabtree was the proud recipient of the Pig Industry Service Award for 2009. Hugh picked up his award at the Pig & Poultry Live 09 event at Stoneleigh Park in front of 400 delegates. The award is for the person judged to have "gone the extra mile" for the industry. Hugh Crabtree said it was humbling to be singled out in an industry teeming with good people and characters. He went on to say he was looking forward to a period when the UK industry could take the lead once again in pig production management.

Farmex is 3/4 way through a 2 year development project to introduce wireless connectivity to its control, alarm and monitoring products. The project is being run under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme which is government supported. Bucks New University (BNU) is the academic partner and David Dobson is the project associate. Although David is employed by BNU he works full time at the company's premises.

After 28 years in more or less the same location, Farmex has moved to new premises. The company started in 1979 occupying a converted granary. In 1985 it then moved to Smallmead Farmhouse on the same farm. This was only intended to be for 12 months or so but in fact lasted until 1997. A purpose built office/workshop was constructed just up the lane from Smallmead Farm and this was Farmex's home for another decade. Under constant threat of redevelopment the notice finally came in late 2007. The company was fortunate to find a new build unit on another farm just 5 miles south of its previous home. And so a new era of Farmex's history gets started at Wyvols Court Farm just alongside the old A33 Reading to Basingstoke Road in Swallowfield.