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Pig welfare in Danish housing units is set for even further improvements. A new strategy from the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, Pig Production, is all about future-proofing production in Denmark and maintaining its good reputation abroad.
Drawing on new initiatives, the sector wishes to raise the bar and continue to develop pig welfare in housing units. The sector, for example, will use the insight that has been gained from farms during audit visits to a much greater extent: all with the aim of improving animal welfare.
More than 3,000 audits are carried out under the auspices of the DANISH scheme every year; the Danish pig producers’ own quality programme. "We need to disseminate ’best practice’ so that all producers ensure that their animals are treated in the right way. The vast majority are doing well and are drawing on the latest knowledge, adopting new initiatives and new technology to ensure the best conditions. We now need to make sure that this is the case with all our producers,” says Erik Larsen, Chairman, Danish Agriculture and Food Council Pig Production.
Top priority welfare objectives
The ambition is for these four animal welfare objectives to be achieved in the long term and to become part of the production concept for Danish standard pigs:
- Farrowing pens for loose-housed nursing sows
- Intact tails
- An end to castration
- A higher rate of piglet survival
February 2019/ Landbrug & Fodevarer/ Denmark.
https://agricultureandfood.co.uk
