Page 5 of articles about sow in Swine news

In 2010 the number of breeding pigs increased by 1.4% to 427 thousand. The number of fattening pigs decreased by 2% to 3.2 million leading to an overall reduction of 1.6% in the total number of pigs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is proposing to amend the livestock exportation regulations to eliminate pre-export tuberculosis and brucellosis testing for goats and breeding swine if the receiving country does not require such testing.

The Government of Canada is investing in an innovative project that will benefit Canadian swine producers and consumers. Coop fédérée will receive up to $80,000 to study and develop feeding recommendations to maximize sow milk production through gestation, ensuring optimal growth of suckling piglets.

Australia's pork industry will consider scrapping the use of sow stalls as long as it gets support from governments and retailers.

The Minister for Primary Industries Bryan Green announced that Tasmania will lead the nation by moving to ban the use of dry sow stalls in piggeries.

In a letter responding to Eurogroup’s request for a clarification of the EU’s current position, the director of the Commission’s animal welfare department informs Eurogroup that the Commission “has no intention” to delay the entry into force of the ban on sow stalls in 2012, which was introduced in 2001 and is included in Directive 2008/120/EC on the protection of pigs.

A state government committee is pushing for a major overhaul of Tasmania's pig farming regulations. The Animal Welfare Advisory Committee is urging the government to ban the use of sow stalls, or cages, due to concerns about animal welfare.

Swine stocks were recorded on the reference date of 1 December 2009 and yielded a total figure of 3 137 000 animals. This corresponds to a 0.5% decrease in stocks compared to the date of the last census in June 2009.