Lauren
Houska may be young, but she knows plenty about agriculture and hog production
in Iowa—and now she has insights about pig farming in Europe also. She grew up on a swine farm where she raised and showed pigs through 4-H and FFA. The
Iowa State University junior studies agriculture, life sciences, ag communications,
and international ag—and she works as a student administrative assistant at the
Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. During May she toured ag
facilities in several Scandinavian countries—and her first person report is below.
The ISU group above, and Lauren at right--in her biosecurity pig huggin' outfit.
From May
12 to 24, 2014, I trekked across three Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden,
and Finland) with a group of 20 other students from Iowa State University’s
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, to study their agricultural
industries, pork production specifically. Though many aspects of pork production
were similar to the techniques used in the United States, there were distinct
differences. Some farmers in the United States may think they are being
regulated out of business, but when I learned of the agricultural regulations
in these countries, especially Denmark, I was blown away. Some observations:
** Pig Care: There is a regulation from
the European Union requiring all pigs, from sow to piglet, to have access to manipulation activities. Denmark requires “rooting and enrichment material”
such as straw, sawdust, or rope, and plastic or metal chains. They must be able
to manipulate the materials in a “natural fashion” and there must be a
“sufficient amount,” though that is not as tightly regulated. There must also
be isolated hospital pens available for sick individuals, equipped with heating
and cooling capabilities and comfortable bedding.
** Farrowing Requirements: Farrowing stalls are still used, but
individuals in the Danish Food and Agriculture Council predict that they will
also be regulated out of existence. Lactating sows will be required to be
loose-housed in facilities built after 2021.The average weaning age is 28 days,
and weaning is not allowed before 21 days.
** Piglet Management: The
first thing I noticed was that they did not dock tails, as the rooting and
enrichment materials are supposed to take care of tail biting problems. Teeth
clipping is not allowed but grinding is, and anesthetics are required for
castration. Milk replacer is allowed in
the farrowing stalls to aid piglet growth, but smaller piglets cannot be taken
from their mothers and put in a pen with only milk replacer. Cross-fostering is
allowed and encouraged, since the piglets range so much in size.
** Finishing: Floor
construction must be half solid and half drained for weaners, and finishers
must have at least one third solid floor. Though it is not regulated, producers
have found that partially open walls between pens encourage consistent dunging
patterns, so pigs dung on the drained portion of the floors rather than the
solid floors.
As you can see, European pig
production is highly regulated, and even more so in Denmark. What surprised me,
however, was the fact that the producers didn’t complain about or praise the
regulations. Our group asked many questions about how these laws have affected
their production, and most just gave a shrug and a smile, stating that it is
just something they have to do to stay in business. Could this be where the
United States is headed, with every aspect of production regulated, or will our
producers maintain some of their freedom to choose the type of production that
they see scientifically and financially fit?
by Lauren Houska (photos from L. Houska)
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