Sustainability Issue #4 August 2010

This is printed from sustainability.formas.se, last updated 8/16/2010 11:08:07 AM

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What do pigs want to do?

Two birds with one stone. These pigs can do what they like best – rooting about and browsing. And the forest owner is helped in breaking up the difficult ground.  Photo: Kjell Sjelin

What do pigs want to do?

By Birgitta Johansson

In neither of the organic and traditional production systems is animal health better than in the other. But there is a potential in organic animal husbandry that is today hampered by certain regulations. It is therefore good news that the Swedish Soil Association KRAV is now revising its animal regulations in cooperation with researchers.

This is what Johan Beck-Friis, Swedish Veterinary Association, said at a seminar on organic animal husbandry in Uppsala on 25 May.

What do pigs want to do? This question was put by Anna Wallenbeck, SLU. Yes, they want to be together with other pigs, and they want to root about, browse and eat. Sows also want to build nests and farrow in peace. In organic production it is one of the objectives that pigs should carry out their natural behaviours. But how do "conventional" pigs feel in organic production?

- The breeding material used today is conventional, and conventional pigs are not bred to move about outside, and therefore develop joint complaints. None of the systems is sustainable today, but it is good to have several systems so that different problems can be solved, said Anna Wallenbeck.

Lotta Berg, SLU, reviewed the production of broilers and eggs. There are large similarities regarding free range conventional chickens and organic ones. Management is more important for animal welfare than the system, she said. For organic chickens, fodder may pose problems since it must not contain synthetic amino acids.

Cattle

As regards cattle, organic production has both strong and weak points. Animal welfare is probably a little better in organic production, but there is great variation between herds irrespective of the production system, said Charlotte Sandgren, Swedish Milk. Nils Fall, SLU, said that the differences between production systems are marginal. But the organic movement can play a part in keeping the issues alive, he said.

Helena Röcklingsberg, Lund University, emphasised respect for the individual animal.

- The ideal is that the species-specific needs should be safeguarded, she said. But where is the borderline when we deviate too much from this ideal? We must be able to defend and motivate what we are doing.

A web report from the seminar can be found on the SLU website.

Author :

Birgitta Johansson Formas

Responsible for this page: Birgitta Bruzelius

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