Sandra Edwards ended her presentation on new European animal welfare legislation with a dire warning for Canadian hog producers:
“If you want to avoid being in the same state, you should think about these things now,” she told people attending the 24th annual Saskatchewan Hog Symposium held in Saskatoon Nov. 13-15.
Edwards is chair of agriculture at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom. She spoke about changes to European Union pig welfare legislation that have just been ratified by the member states in the last few weeks.
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“We’re going to see significant changes and for many producers costly changes as a result of this legislation,” she said.
The largest adjustment is that all EU producers will be required to group-house sows instead of using stalls between four weeks after being bred and one week before farrowing. Exceptions will be made for sows that are bullied or have been sick.
A ban on individual stall systems was anticipated by the industry, but few expected it to come so soon, said Edwards.
“At the present time in the EU as a whole, I would estimate that something like 90 percent of the sows are in stall systems.”
Some countries like the U.K. and Sweden have already passed laws to do away with the stalls. Others like Holland and Denmark were talking about it. But some hog producing nations were blindsided by the new legislation.
“The industry in Spain over the last few years has grown very fast and it has grown on the basis of large intensive units with stall systems,” said Edwards.
The good news for European hog producers is that there is a long lead time before the ban on stalls takes effect.
Edwards said after Jan. 1, 2003, nobody will be allowed to build new stalls for gestation units. After Jan. 1, 2013, all individual stall systems must be eliminated.
Other revisions to the legislation set out minimum space requirements for sows and gilts. Producers with groups of six to 39 breeding animals in a pen must have 2.25 sq. metres per sow and 1.64 sq. m per gilt.
New provisions also state that feeding systems must ensure that each sow has access to enough food. Edwards said that is easy to accomplish in stall systems, but becomes a more cumbersome task in group housing systems.
All pregnant sows must receive sufficient quantities of bulky or high fibre food, as well as high energy food. They must also have access to material that enables them to forage. Producers who use straw bedding will meet those requirements, but unbedded systems will have to change.
Another major change will require all member states to ensure hog workers are trained on animal welfare issues.
The new legislation also has grey areas. One involves weaning age. The revisions increase minimum weaning age from three weeks to four weeks, but there is a questionable clause that could have the effect of moving the minimum weaning age back to three weeks.
Edwards added that eventually rules about farrowing crates, surgical procedures on piglets, stocking densities and the use of slatted flooring will also be revised.
She expects that countries such as Canada will soon follow suit.
“So be warned. I’ll now wait with interest to see what’s going to happen in Canada down these lines,” she said.
