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Sustainable Pig Production

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 24964

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wendy Rauw

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Guest Editor

Department of Animal Breeding, National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA), Madrid, Spain
Interests: resource allocation; animal robustness; feed efficiency; genetics

Dr. Sabine Dippel

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Guest Editor

Institute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Celle, Germany
Interests: farm animal welfare; pig husbandry; on-farm research

Dr. Barbara Sturm

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Guest Editor

Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Potsdam, Germany;
Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Interests: resource efficiency; precision livestock farming; digitalization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable pig production is characterized by economic profitability through the improvement of productive output, while maintaining good animal health and welfare, and without compromising environmental resources. Increased levels of meat production are required in order to feed the projected world population of 9 billion people by the year 2050 while producers experience a greater competition of land, water, and energy. As a consequence, international efforts are currently being undertaken to improve the accuracy of feed recording, implement precision feeding techniques, and increase feed efficiency (FE) by genetic selection. However, reducing feed resource inputs per unit of product outputs may potentially negatively affect the metabolic balance and compromise overall animal robustness and welfare.

The sustainability of pig production does not end at the animal or farm production scale. Sustainable agriculture also includes the safeguarding and sustainable use of environmental resources. When intensification of production translates to increasing external inputs or detrimental outputs, this may be regarded as unsustainable in view of risks for the environment. Alternatively, the sustainability of production can be enhanced by improving the efficiency of pigs in transforming local feeds and feedstuff co-products into meat. However, since the quantity and quality of feed resources limits productive output, this may require a different type of pig than those currently selected in intensive high-quality input–high output production systems.

This issue calls for reviews and original research articles related to the development of sustainable, socially acceptable, and economically viable pig production systems, including work related to animal robustness and welfare, resource utilization, emissions and wastes, management approaches and tools, the use of alternative pig breeds, the use of alternative feed resources, the environmental and social impact of pig production, interests of stakeholders, and consumer behavior and public acceptance of the pig production sector.

Dr. Wendy Rauw
Dr. Sabine Dippel
Dr. Barbara Sturm
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

pig production
sustainable production systems
management tools and approaches
pig health
pig welfare
alternative feedstuffs
robustness
resource efficiency
emissions and wastes
social impact
economic impact

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 1228 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrative Sustainability Analysis of European Pig Farms: Development of a Multi-Criteria Assessment Tool

by Antonia Katharina Ruckli, Stefan Josef Hörtenhuber, Paolo Ferrari, Jonathan Guy, Juliane Helmerichs, Robert Hoste, Carmen Hubbard, Nadja Kasperczyk, Christine Leeb, Agata Malak-Rawlikowska, Anna Valros and Sabine Dippel

Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 5988; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14105988 - 15 May 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3034

Abstract

Societal interest in all aspects of sustainability has increased. Therefore, pig farmers need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses in all dimensions of sustainability: economy, environment, social wellbeing, and animal health and welfare. Our aim was to describe and critically discuss the development of a sustainability assessment tool for pig farms and to evaluate its suitability by applying it to 63 European pig farms (13 breeding, 27 breeding-to-finishing, and 23 finishing farms). The multi-criteria assessment tool was developed in several steps (the selection and scaling of indicators and their aggregation and weighting) in order to summarise the indicators into subtheme and theme scores. The indicators contributing the most to the subtheme/theme scores were identified and discussed in order to evaluate the procedure of the development. For example, some indicators, such as Ecological compensation area, Fairness of prices, and Tail docking, for which farms were scored low, were also identified as “real world problems” in other studies. For other sustainability aspects with low performance, the threshold might have been set too ambitiously, e.g., for Number of sows per annual working unit. Furthermore, to analyse the suitability of the tool, we assessed the best and worst median theme scores (good and poor performances) for each dimension, as well as the variability of the performances of the farms within the themes. Some themes were found to be moderate, such as Pig comfort, Biodiversity, or Resilience, whereas others were found to be good, e.g., Water and the Human–animal relationship, as well as several themes of the social wellbeing dimension. Overall, the sustainability tool provides a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability of pig production. Furthermore, this publication contributes to both the theory (development of a robust sustainability tool) and the practice (provision of a tool to assess and benchmark the sustainability on farms). As a next step, a sensitivity analysis should be performed, and the tool should be applied for further development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Pig Production)

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19 pages, 1397 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Pig Farms in Selected European Countries: Combining LCA and Key Performance Indicators for Biodiversity Assessment

by Antonia Katharina Ruckli, Sabine Dippel, Nora Durec, Monika Gebska, Jonathan Guy, Juliane Helmerichs, Christine Leeb, Herman Vermeer and Stefan Hörtenhuber

Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11230; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011230 - 12 Oct 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2975

Abstract

The aim of this study was to combine Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) assessment focusing on biodiversity in order to examine the environmental impacts of different pig farm types (13 breeding, 23 finishing and 27 breeding-to-finishing farms) in seven European countries. In addition, the relationship between environmental impacts and selected farm management characteristics was explored. Fossil energy depletion (FED), global warming (GWP), acidification (AP) as well as marine (MEP) and fresh water (FEP) eutrophication potential were assessed by an attributional LCA and expressed per kilogram body mass net sold (BMNS). In addition, the potential biodiversity performance of all crop-livestock farms within the sample (n = 56) was evaluated with a KPI assessment of biodiversity-related field management characteristics. We found no relationship between LCA results and biodiversity scores (KPI). LCA and biodiversity performance varied more within than across farm types (breeding, finishing, breeding-to-finishing). For example, the GWP expressed per kg BMNS of the breeding unit of breeding-to-finishing farms was on average (median) 2.77 (range: 1.40–4.78) and of breeding farms 2.57 (range: 1.91–3.23) kg CO₂-eq. The average (median) biodiversity theme score for breeding farms was 51% (range: 36–70%), for breeding-to-finishing farms 38% (range: 30–68%) and for finishing farms 43% (range: 28–67%). Several farm management characteristics (e.g., FCR, productivity, proportion of solid manure) correlated with all/some LCA results. Biodiversity performance depended especially on KPIs related to ecological focus areas, fertiliser management and GMO crops. The large range regarding environmental performance in both LCA and KPI assessment across farm types indicates that farm-specific improvement measures should be implemented to enhance overall environmental sustainability on farm. In conclusion, combining LCA with KPI assessment provides a more comprehensive environmental impact assessment of pig farms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Pig Production)

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17 pages, 1991 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Dietary Fiber on the Development of the Gastrointestinal Tract and the Performance of Gilts

by Miriam Priester, Christian Visscher, Michaela Fels and Georg Dusel

Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 4961; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124961 - 18 Jun 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2635

Abstract

Optimal intestinal development in gilts is a prerequisite for a better farrowing and a higher feed intake in lactation, and these are important facets in improving animal welfare for sows in a high-performance situation. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a fiber-rich diet on these topics. Studies with 20 male Topigs castrates and a performance study with 38 female siblings were conducted. Pigs in both of the groups were offered either a control diet (CG) or a high fiber diet (FG) during the second half of the rearing phase (~97 kg BW) until 7 days a.p. At the time of the insemination of the gilts (body weight >170 kg), the castrates were slaughtered and the morphological parameters of the gastrointestinal tract were taken. In the performance study, the feed intake as well as the number and weight of the live and stillborn piglets and the weaning weight of the litters were recorded. The results indicated that the high fiber diet with a greater swelling capacity was beneficial to the development of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach weight CG = 714 g, FG = 812 g, p = 0.007), increased the litter weight (CG =15.9 kg, FG = 20.6 kg, p = 0.045) and resulted in a higher feed intake during lactation overall (CG = 196 kg, FG = 211 kg, p = 0.035). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Pig Production)

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12 pages, 1123 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Feed Efficiency Can Be Sustained in Pigs Fed with Locally Produced Narbon Vetch (Vicia narbonensis L.)

by Emilio Gómez Izquierdo, Luis Gomez-Raya, Eduardo de Mercado de la Peña, Juan José Ciruelos and Wendy M. Rauw

Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 3993; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12103993 - 13 May 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2217

Abstract

There is an interest in replacing soybean meal with locally produced ingredients in livestock feeds. Narbon vetch is resistant to unfavorable climatic and soil conditions, common pests, and has a favorable nutritional profile. The effect of substitution of soybean meal with 0% (V0), 5% (V5), 10% (V10), and 20% (V20) inclusion of Narbon vetch on growth curve parameters, daily body weight gain (DBWG), daily feed intake (DFI), feed conversion efficiency (FCE), and residual feed intake (RFI) was investigated in 47 Duroc × Iberian barrows in 16 periods (a total of 125 d). DFI and DBWG were reduced (p < 0.05) up to four weeks after introduction of the novel feed in V20 and V10. Small, mostly nonsignificant differences existed between treatments in FCE and RFI. However, because of accumulative small differences in feed efficiency between the four diets, pigs in V0 reached the highest BW, and pigs in V20 reached the lowest BW on a similar feed intake. Economic implications of Narbon vetch inclusion depend on the extra amount of feed required and associated feed costs, and on the costs of additional days on-farm required to reach a given slaughter weight. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Pig Production)

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16 pages, 15606 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using CFD Modelling to Relate Pig Lying Locations to Environmental Variability in Finishing Pens

by Paul Jackson, Abozar Nasirahmadi, Jonathan H. Guy, Steve Bull, Peter J. Avery, Sandra A. Edwards and Barbara Sturm

Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1928; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051928 - 3 Mar 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3134

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine which environmental factors within the pen space differ between the locations where pigs choose to lie and areas they avoid. Data on external weather conditions and the construction parameters for an existing commercial finishing pig building were input into a Dynamic Thermal (DT) model generating heat flow and surface temperature patterns in the structure and these were then input into a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model to generate data on the theoretical spatial patterns of temperature and air velocity within one room of this building on a specified day. The exact location of each pig in six selected pens within this room was taken from images from ceiling-mounted video cameras at four representative time points across the day. Using extracted air velocity and temperature data at the height of 0.64 m above the floor and a grid of approximately 600 mm to create a series of ‘cells’, the effective draught temperature (T_ED) was calculated from the models for each cell. Using a sequential regression model, the extent to which the actual lying locations of the pigs could be reliably predicted from the environmental conditions generated by model outputs and other pen factors was explored. The results showed that air velocity, T_ED and proximity to a solid pen partition (all significant at P < 0.05) had significant predictive value and collectively explained 15.55% of the total explained deviation of 17.13%. When the presence of an adjacent pig was considered, results showed that lying next to an adjacent pig, T_ED, air velocity and temperature accounted for 53.9%, 1.3%, 1.5% and 0.5% of the deviation in lying patterns, respectively (all P < 0.001). Thus, CFD model outputs could potentially provide the industry with a better understanding of which environmental drivers affect pigs’ lying location choice, even before a building is built and stocked. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Pig Production)

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Review

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20 pages, 597 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sustainability of Pork Production with Immunocastration in Europe

by Kevin Kress, Sam Millet, Étienne Labussière, Ulrike Weiler and Volker Stefanski

Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3335; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123335 - 17 Jun 2019

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 7368

Abstract

Immunocastration, a technique to replace surgical castration of piglets, consists of two consecutive vaccinations to induce antibodies which transiently suppress testicular functions and avoid boar taint. It is a method to ensure both a high product quality and a high level of animal welfare. The impact of immunocastration on the three pillars of sustainability has been studied extensively. While all aspects of sustainability have been studied separately, however, a contemporary global overview of different aspects is missing. In immunocastrates, performance results are better than in barrows, but worse than in boars. The environmental impact of pork production with immunocastrates is lower than with barrows, but higher than with boars. The level of aggression is considerably lower in immunocastrates compared to boars. Societal concerns are mainly related to food safety, and are not supported by scientific evidence. After second vaccination, immunocastrates switch from a boar- to a barrow-like status. Therefore, the timing of second vaccination is a fine-tuning tool to balance advantages of boars with environmental and economic benefits against increased risk of welfare problems and boar taint. Nevertheless, both synergic and conflicting relationships between the pillars of sustainability must be communicated along the value chain to produce tailored pork products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Pig Production)

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