Pig industry looks for good from controversy

25-05-2009 | Hugh Stringleman

Increased consumer awareness of the challenges faced by pig farmers is one good thing to come from last week's pig welfare controversy, according to NZ Pork chief executive Sam McIvor.

With reports coming in of falling pork and bacon sales, it would be hard to think of any other positives for pig farmers from an ambush television presentation of intensive housing conditions.

It was claimed these were typical of the whole industry and sales of pork, bacon and ham have plummeted, affecting all 300 New Zealand producers, those with free-range and confinement facilities.

Former pork ambassador Mike King said he was surprised and appalled to find out about sow stalls and farrowing crates during a night-time break-in by animal activists to one of pig industry leader Colin Kay's piggeries, near Levin.

Kay's piggery was subsequently cleared by MAF officials and a pig veterinarian of any welfare code breaches or cruelty to pigs.

But McIvor and board chairman Chris Trengrove, from Canterbury, were firmly the back foot, defending the treatment of animals in the pig industry.

They were repeatedly asked to condemn close confinement of sows but responded that free-range pork products would be dearer and that NZ farmers are exposed to imported pork competition from countries with lower cost of production and less-stringent welfare codes.

Nor would the board's promotional activities be amended to identify products which came from free-range farms - that is a matter for private enterprise, McIvor said.

NZ is ahead of most other countries with improvements to pig welfare, although Britain got rid of sow stalls and has lost 50% of its market to imported products from countries with lower standards.

Agriculture Minister David Carter was also unaware of the intensive conditions and has requested that a review of the pig welfare code be given top priority.

The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is scheduled to review the 2005 pig welfare code this year anyway and chairman Peter O'Hara said the procedure is a lengthy one.

He would not pre-empt the committee's discussion and said any changes to the code would have to be publicly notified, submissions sought and considered before a recommendation to Minister Carter.

The animal activists have ruled out making submissions to NAWAC, saying the code itself contravenes the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and that the review will be dominated by the industry.

Kay said his preference was not to use sow crates. The Levin farm is the only one of four he owns which has them and they would not be installed on a $25 million farm to be built near Foxton this year.

The Levin property will close down in about two years. It had been regularly broken into by activists and he is now considering laying a complaint with the police.

However, he would not call for the complete banning of sow crates, because good scientific evidence showed they prevented abortions during the first 28 days of pregnancy.

Kay said the sow behaviour shown on television was not normal and so they must have been "agitated".

NZ Pork commissioned an independent review of worldwide studies of sow stalls last year. McIvor said a variety of pig housing methods were reviewed and that "none offered any net advantage over others".

Further trial work will begin this year on non-stall systems, conducted on a commercial pig farm, to provide information for the welfare code review.

NZ Pork said about 40% of breeding sows are outdoors, with the remainder housed indoors in a variety of pen systems and sheds. The industry is already committed by a 2005 undertaking to phase out the use of sow stalls by 2015, except for 28 days after mating.

During that time sows are hormonal and aggressive, leading to bullying and fighting which can cause abortions and under-feeding.

Canada and the US are not committed to phasing out sows stalls, where most of their production comes from sows in stalls for their full pregnancies. Along with Australia, those exporting countries use hormones and antibiotics liberally to boost production and the NZ industry does not use growth hormones.

Meat industry people spoken to this week said that the Mike King episode on television, which was arranged by Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE), was a nightmare of marketers.

An emotive ambush played to hundreds of thousands of consumers is almost impossible to respond to, they said.

"You are probably better just to keep your head down and wait until it dies down," was one comment.

If high-profile people are used to promote anything, the contracts should contain prohibitions against denigrating the products, certainly during the life of the promotion and if possible, afterwards.

"This has been a wake-up call to the whole food industry on celebrity endorsement," was another comment.

Abattoirs Association chairman Tony Forde said an ill-treated pig would be picked up by NZ Food Safety Authority staff on arrival at the processing facility.

"I think the backlash against pork will be temporary but it could be enough to put NZ producers out of business, leaving only imported products," he said.

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