Red Tractor, the UK farm assurance scheme, will issue a consultation in November on proposed changes to its pig standards. The changes reflect lessons from this summer's heat stress, the sector's growing biosecurity needs and the industry's move towards flexible farrowing, in which sows are not confined to a crate.
Stewart Houston, chair of Red Tractor's Pigs Sector Board, said the scheme had committed last year to review standards in every farming sector. Since then the Pigs Technical Advisory Committee, chaired by Grace O'Gorman and made up of experts from the National Pig Association, the Pig Veterinary Society, farmers and processors, has gone through every standard line by line.
Its proposals aim to cut the audit burden and protect the industry's reputation. They include biosecurity improvements in the face of the rising risk of African swine fever and other diseases, and a comprehensive new standard for flexi-farrowing systems. "We know good pen design is critical to the success of the system," Houston said, adding that farm vets and specialist manufacturers had helped to shape the standard.
Houston said the sector's work together had already brought significant cuts in veterinary medicine use, and that the aim now was tangible improvements in biosecurity that would in turn improve pig health. Red Tractor is also looking at how assessments are carried out and whether technology could make them more efficient.
He acknowledged the financial strain on pig farmers this autumn and said the changes would not take effect until late next year. "As usual, it will be an honest consultation, with your views given serious consideration," he said. The report was written by Pig World editor Alistair Driver.
Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: Pig World
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