Sustainable Pig Production

 

 

The EU pork production is facing three major farm-level challenges:

• Increasing rejection of intensive production systems by society at large, due to environmental and animal welfare problems
• The competitiveness of pig production in EU on the world market of bulk meat is decreasing
• There is a threat of loss of diversity and locally adapted production systems due to economic pressure

In Q-PorkChains these challenges are addressed by analyzing and optimizing existing production systems to enhance their reactivity to market and societal demands. It is anticipated that increased diversification and flexibility will enable the design of various production systems better suited to local conditions and the specific market segment.

 

A comprehensive inventory of the sustainability of 84 existing pig production systems was performed in 23 EU countries. The inventory of existing production systems at farm level resulted in the identification of 40 systems having no claim (conventional) and 44 systems having one or several claim(s) for differentiation: welfare (68% of the 44 systems with claims), eating quality (70%), nutritional quality (25%), environment (41%), organic (25%), local (9%) (see table 1).

 

Table 1: 84 production systems in 23 EU countries
40	No claim for differentiation
44 (with at least one claim for differentiation)	Claim	%
	Welfare	68
	Eating Quality	70
	Nutritional Quality	25
	Environment	41
	Organic	25
	Local	9

_{Source: professor Michel Bonneau, INRA}

Nine different dimensions of sustainability were assessed (see more in the presentation from conference in Bonn); animal welfare, human working conditions, environmental impact, economic sustainability, animal health, meat safety, meat quality, genetic resources and societal conformity.

_{Source: professor Michel Bonneau, INRA}

 

From this large inventory, 12 contrasted pork production systems were chosen for assessing strengths and weaknesses of the variety of pork production systems existing in Europe and to derive opportunities and possibilities for future development taking into account all relevant issues of sustainability, namely economy, society and environment. The 12 contrasted production systems are presented below.

_{Source: professor Michel Bonneau, INRA}

 

In each of the 4 participating countries (France, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands), two differentiated systems were evaluated against a conventional system. Further to the 12 systems selected from the inventory, three systems developed by a German farmer organization will be evaluated in connection to Pilot chain 5. The evaluation is based on the nine sustainability dimensions mentioned above. 

 

Read more: Prediction of meat quality Evaluation of the sustainability of 15 contrasted pork production systems

 

If you want to know more contact an expert on sustainability
Overall sustainability:	Michel Bonneau ()
Animal welfare:	Sandra Edwards ()
Human working conditions:	Sandra Edwards ()
Environmental impact:	Jean-Yves Dourmad ()
Economic sustainability:	Estelle Ilari ()
Animal health:	Ulas Cinar () Brigitte Pedersen ()
Meat safety:	Thorsten Klauke ()
Meat quality:	Joel Gonzalez () Emma Fabrega ()
Genetic resources:	Lotta Rhydmer ()
Societal conformity:	Karel de Greef ()