Today was spent sorting 850 pigs in the pouring rain. We took the pigs out of their large mixed sex groups and sorted them by gender before putting them back in smaller groups of 85 pigs, with the girls in the block of pens at the back of the yard, and all the boys in the middle block. Before I went to work this morning I realised that after childcare and tax I would be earning about £5/hour for being out all day on one of the most miserable days of the year. By about 1pm we were saying how much more pleasant it was as the rain had slackened off a little bit and it was much warmer – when I got back into my car it had reached the balmy heights of 5C. I actually quite enjoyed my day, and although I was wet through my waterproofs by the end I had only really got cold once when I had wrongly decided that no gloves were better than wet gloves. I also realise that in terms of people who work with livestock I am one of the lucky ones. I earn more than most and it is unusual for me to be out all day on a day like today. Our farm is big enough that we don’t have to scrimp on welfare and the guys I work with genuinely like the animals they look after, and take a real pride in looking after them well. A day like today does make you appreciate the extrodinary human effort and commitment that goes into rearing meat, and how poorly rewarded the dedication that those looking after livestock show is, both in pay and in recognition.