Welfare body wants sow stalls gone

08-03-2010 | Jackie Bedford

The pig industry is under pressure to find practical alternatives to use of sow stalls, with a proposal to limit use after 2012 and eventually phase them out altogether.

Agriculture Minister David Carter released a draft revised welfare code for pigs last week. Carter asked the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) to review "with urgency" the existing code, which was introduced in 2005, after massive news media attention last year on the practice of restricting sow movement with stalls.

"I am aware of the level of concern over the issue of pig welfare and this draft code is an opportunity for any person or organisation to have their say," he said.

About 230 commercial pig farmers run 32,000-34,000 breeding sows, according to pork industry statistics. But something between 10,000 and 20,000 New Zealanders might run a few pigs. Over the past 10 years 700,000-800,000 pigs have been slaughtered each year.

Around 40% of sows are run outdoors and 60% in a range of housing systems. Weaners are run in systems ranging from semi-open ecobarns to climate controlled indoor housing. Free-range outdoors farming accounts for less than 0.5% of commercial production, it is believed.

In the current code, use of sow crates was to be pulled back to four weeks of pregnancy and six weeks over farrowing from 2015, but this is now being brought forward to the end of 2012 and post-farrowing use limited to four weeks too. NAWAC also wants a more definite date for ending stall use.

In a statement accompanying the draft code, the NAWAC chairman John Hellstrom points out that confinement of sows is used to address aggressive behaviour between them.

"Pigs in production systems are quick to establish dominance, which is maintained through aggression to win things like food, water and space. There can be severe injuries from fighting and you also end up with subordinate pigs lower down the social order [that] may suffer from lack of access to food and water. The level of aggression in sows can be particularly severe in early pregnancy.

"The challenge is to manage pig aggression while giving them the opportunity to display more positive behaviour - being social, living in groups, and rooting and chewing for example."

The review has reaffirmed NAWAC's belief that the use of dry sow stalls and farrowing crates should be eventually phased out, but only when other viable options are possible says Dr Hellstrom. "In the case of farrowing crates, no alternative that still provides protection for the piglets while allowing the sow more freedom to move around has yet been found anywhere in the world.

"In the case of dry sow stalls, the situation is less clear-cut. There is no strong scientific evidence for a preference to any other commercial production system, nor is there strong evidence for sow stalls to be preferred over others on welfare grounds. Because of this, NAWAC has taken consideration of societal expectations and analysis of economic impacts in proposing a future ban."

A research project examining management options started last month, with funding from the Sustainable Farming Fund.

Pork Industry Board chief executive Sam McIvor says the oard's sense is that in relation to animal welfare it is dealing with two groups - activists who actually want to stop meat consumption altogether and consumers who enjoy eating pork and want to be assured that pigs are well looked after.

To address this, the pork industry has instituted ongoing audits of commercial operations by an independent organisation, which has already started. This is in addition to existing checks in the form of regular vet visits and inspections of pigs sent for slaughter at abattoirs.

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