Pannage pigs
What happens to all the acorns
Quite a lot goes on in the New Forest that is unique or almost so to this rather special, ancient hunting ground.
Back in the days after the Norman conquest the New Forest was reserved as the King’s hunting estate. However it needed management to keep large areas open for the chase and places for game to feed and lie out in the sun. The grazing was allowed as rights to locals, the ‘commoners’ who had tiny farms and benefitted from being allowed to graze stock out on the open Forest. Of course the commoners weren’t allowed take advantage of the game that surrounded them, there were severe penalties for those that did.
One of the ‘rights’ in the Forest was that of ‘Pannage’. Derived from pastio (pasionis), meaning "a pasturing" or "grazing," which stems from the classical Latin verb pascere, meaning "to feed," "to pasture," or "to graze." Pannage season is for domestic pigs. It is variable because it is planned to coincide with the falling of the acorns and the length of the period of pannage depends on the heaviness of the crop. 2025 was a ‘mast’ year, acorns (and beech mast) were very abundant, pannage went on into 2026 and the pigs did very well. Pannage pork was readily available locally.
It isn’t just the pigs who benefit from pannage. The pigs hoover up the acorns and that reduces the amount that the Forest ponies are tempted to eat. A good thing as acorns can cause serious digestive upset to equines, it’s a win-win.
There are no wild boar in the New Forest, if there were there might be no need for pannage. I have a suspicion that any boar that do find their way here get dealt with by the keepers - I hope I’m wrong and that one day wild boar will once again take up their rightful place as habitat builders in this ancient place.
My property opens directly onto the open Forest and I have the pleasure in Autumn of seeing the pigs snuffling their way through the Oak woods and visibly getting fat as the weeks go by.
Folks like us who have borders with the Forest have to keep the pigs out, they can do a lot of damage very quickly in a veg plot!
The 2026 New Forest pannage season officially starts on Monday, 14th September 2026, running for a standard minimum of 60 to 77 days. If you want to see the pigs you may have to drive around a bit as they are not to be found everywhere in the Forest.
I have a lot more to share about the New Forest ... so much to write and so little time.