Producers who feed, house and raise pigs organically must match breeds to the environment and to the market and then match management to the needs of the animals.
“To fully understand how to raise pigs organically, we need to understand how pigs behave in a natural environment” says Bert Dening, business development officer with Alberta Agriculture.
“Small scale organic pig production based on low-cost grass-based systems will have the greatest chance of success.”
He recommends using older breeds, feeding special local diets and developing unique specialty meats. Using modern breeds and the same diets as the modern pig industry will result in commodity meat and poor prices.
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Modern pig breeds were developed to maximize production in large scale confinement operations. These breeds are less suited to outdoor production than older breeds.
Some of the older breeds were bred for specific purposes, such as grazing apple orchards, so a little research may be needed before selecting an ideal breed.
Although the gene pool in Canada is small, Dening suggested older breeds such as Berkshire, Large Black, Tamworth, Hampshire and Lacombe.
Older breeds can be too fat for consumer preferences, but a solution might be to use older breeds of sows and lean modern breed boars, such as Yorkshire, Landrace or Duroc, to combine desirable traits.
Pigs, unlike cattle, have a single stomach and cannot digest cellulose well. Forages for pigs need to be leafy, with fewer stems and less straw than a cow would enjoy. Older pigs can handle up to 70 percent leafy forages, but young pigs need more of the high quality grain and protein.
Dening recommended rotational grazing on high quality pasture, supplemented with local grain and legumes. In winter, pasture can be replaced with young grass hay or silage.
“You are what you eat” seems to apply in pork production. The flavour of the meat depends on the diet of the animal, which can be the key to niche marketing.
Organic management depends more on prevention of health issues than on cure.
“The key to healthy pigs is fresh air, good feed and rotating the pigs through pastures so disease does not build up,” Dening said.
“Pasture rest and sunlight as a disinfectant is one of the best ways to control disease.”
Starting with healthy, parasite-free animals is also important, as is reducing stress, allowing pigs to wean themselves, not crowding animals and providing lots of bedding, reasonable shelter, clean water and good nutrition.
Rotating pastures quickly reduces the damage that pigs cause to hay land with their rooting. It also keeps fresh forage available and reduces disease.
Pigs respond well to electric fences. A wire at six inches works for young pigs and 12 inches for larger animals. Pigs tend to chew through or dig under other fence types.
In summer, pigs need a mud hole or sprinkler to keep cool. They can’t sweat, so this is good for more than pig morale.
In winter, shelter is required. Tarp covered straw bale shelters with lots of fresh air and dry straw can be ideal.
Pigs can have more than two litters per year, of eight to 12 piglets each. A sow prefers to go off on its own, build a nest and give birth away from the herd. It will need plenty of clean bedding, and in the winter, well insulated structures or heat.
The sow and piglets will return to the herd after a week or two.
Pigs can be prolific. A single sow can produce 20 piglets per year. These can be ready for market at about 250 pounds in seven months. This 5,000 pounds of pig can be converted to nearly 4,000 pounds of pork per year. Alternately, those seven-month-old pigs can be bred to produce their own litters before they are a year old.
With such potential, a sound plan for butchering, processing and marketing is important.
The options for marketing are varied, but best prices are likely to go to producers who develop specialty local products that reflect specialty breeds, diets and processing.
Pigs can be a good fit in an organic operation, but success will depend on avoiding the commodity trap and marketing into niche markets.
Frick is the prairie co-ordinator for the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada located at the University of Saskatchewan. She can be reached at 306-966-4975, at brenda.frick@usask.ca, or www.organicagcentre.ca.
