The Danish government wishes to create a state-of-the-art pig farming industry whereby the expansion of the number of pigs goes hand in hand with environmental and animal welfare issues. To this end it has created the Mánegrisen or Moon Pig project. The latter aims to stimulate future laws and regulations which, on the one hand, should accommodate the challenges posed by environmental concerns, but, on the other, also offering pig farmers sufficient flexibility to be able to expand production. Measurement tools integrated into sheds aim to enable the stringent monitoring of pig farmers’ output as is currently the case in industry, not their input. The project is pretty ambitious because neither the technology nor the legislation have been developed yet.
Dan Jorgensen, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries initiated meetings between the pork industry, retailers, scientists and animal welfare organisations. The resulting declaration of intent comprises the following objectives for which the follow-up was immediately put into action:
- The sector will work to increase the number of surviving piglets by one per litter before 2020.
- The sector aims to have at least 10% of suckling sows not be confined in 2020.
- The sector’s objective will be to stop castrating male piglets in 2018 at the latest.
- The number of tail dockings should decrease dramatically.
- Increased health checks should reduce the number of stomach ulcers.
- The development of shed layouts for Moon Pigs should pay attention to animal welfare.
- Slaughterhouses and the industry should compulsorily provide more information to consumers and a larger array of choices when it comes to products originating from improved animal welfare situations.
At the moment requirements are set for the number of animals, the type of feed and shed layout. In the future there should be limits set for ammonia and nitrogen emissions from farms. Four sub-projects have been started aimed at making this vision a reality. The prototype for a sustainable, animal-friendly and efficient Moon Pig shed is to be finished in 2016. The Danes hope this will help them create a huge export potential as the challenges in pig farming are international.
Source: Berichten Buitenland, September 2014