Organic EprintsDevelopment of organic pig production systemsJohn E.HermansenauthorVivi Aa.LarsenauthorBent H.AndersenauthorThere has been a tremendous growth in numbers of organic farms, including livestock farms, in EU over the latest years. Livestock products were within the top five organic products in 14 out of 16 European countries. Pork, however, only plays a minor role in this respect although, at present, there is a considerable development of the sector in some countries. The proportion of organically produced pigs is estimated from 'not detectable' in most countries over 0.2-0.3% in a few countries with a large overall pig production (Denmark, France) to approximately 1% in Austria. The EU provides a standard that involves the right to label food as organic. It includes specifications for housing conditions, animal nutrition, and animal breeding as well as animal care, disease prevention, and veterinary treatment. These standards are very different from the way in which conventional, intensive pig production is carried out and doubtless form a major constraint for many farmers wanting to convert to organic pig production. Strategies to cope with acceptable ways of housing, use of roughage and free-range sow production based on recent research results are discussed. It has been concluded that good production results can be obtained in organic pig production. In relation to health, problems concerning control of endoparasites may occur, whereas lung health normally is very good. In relation to feeding of finishers, it is important to be aware of the risk of reduced fat quality if the diet includes more oil seed as protein source because of difficulties in using soybean meal (no GMO, no use of chemical solvents). It is also important to be aware of a reduced tenderness of the meat for finishers fed too restrictively. In relation to housing of finishers, systems established as a combination of a barn and an outdoor run give the possibility of obtaining very good production results and animal welfare. However, since the overall housing area needed for such systems is considerable, the costs of production are high and there seems to be a need for development of less capital-intensive systems. In relation to sows there is a need to establish systems where an effective reproduction can be obtained given the fact that weaning takes place at approximately seven weeks. In addition, there is a need to develop new grazing systems where the risk of environmental problems has been reduced. Production systems Farming Systems Pigs2002Conference paper, poster, etc.

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