JSR has expanded its diverse portfolio to offer consultancy services, following the formation of a joint venture business with Checkfarm, a company that works with pig producers globally to help them improve their herd management and bottom line.

JSR Checkfarm works primarily with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and is designed to offer an unbiased consultancy service to producers who have yet to achieve optimum output. The service can also help them increase the amount of pig meat they sell, as well as provide managers to guide fledgling businesses through the early stages of set up and periods of change.

The formula must be working, as the company currently has managers on five farms in Russia, Georgia and the Ukraine looking after a total of 27,500 sows, and a recent client saw an increase in sales of 18,750 tonnes per year.

Director of JSR Checkfarm Simon Grey explains, "The idea is to provide unbiased business consulting for pig farms. There's often too much emphasis on physical performance whereas I prefer to look at what the business should achieve, where it is today and what needs to be done to reach that target. We can also provide experienced farm managers for new farms during the start-up phase or over periods of change such as destock/repops and the introduction of new production methods."

Currently JSR Checkfarm specialises in working with start-ups that are looking for expert help during the set-up phase. New businesses provide the majority of the work for JSR Checkfarm and are located in parts of the world that are seeing growth, such as CIS countries and more recently, China. The business also works with failing producers who are looking to improve and streamline their operations in order to generate more profit.

Notable JSR Checkfarm clients include Miratorg and Cherkizovo in Russia with 120,000 and 85,000 sows respectively, Ecogenetics and Globino in the Ukraine with 1,200 and 6,500 sows each, and Big Dutchman, which has facilities in Russia, the Ukraine, Brazil, China, Georgia, Bulgaria and South Africa.

As the business develops, Simon would like to see the service grow and improve, and he would also like the flow of information to increase, with the adoption of more sophisticated systems and software, which can help managers and business owners make more informed decisions.

"More software solutions are needed in the areas we operate in order to speed up the flow of information and to improve quality of decisions," he said. "Training is another area that is very important but sadly neglected in many countries wanting to develop their pig production and it's something we can provide on an on-going basis."