In October each year the Danish pig industry shuts down for two days and moves to Herning, where the 2000 delegates learn of the latest industry findings and also enjoy a hearty banquet, naturally featuring pork — Danish of course! Some of the presentations make up this report.

African Swine Fever – The Dane’s Nightmare

The Danish pig industry is hugely important to the Danish economy. Some years ago environmental pressures made slurry spreading very difficult and hence Danish producers shut down their finishing stables and decided instead to export 30kg pigs, which German farmers were delighted to buy and take on to slaughter. Polish farmers are also happy to buy these pigs such that this trade has increased year after year. A smaller quantity of pigs also goes to Italy. Finisher pigs are also exported to Germany for slaughter. Currently these shipments amount in total to 50 truckloads a day.

At the same time African Swine Fever has been gradually spreading south and west from the Baltic countries. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have significant numbers of wild boar, as does Poland. Feral pigs are natural carriers of ASF and of course feral pigs don’t need a passport to cross national borders. The first ASF case found in Poland was in a wild boar in March 2015, and worryingly the first case of ASF on a Polish commercial farm, admittedly only 216 pigs, was identified in June 2016. The ramifications of ASF spreading to Denmark don’t bear thinking about, in terms of its effect on the Danish pig industry.

There are incentives now in Demark to encourage farmers to finish more pigs at home, as the environmental constraints have been eased, but this production won’t increase overnight. Consequently the Danish authorities have invested massively, to the tune of 15-18 million DKr, in huge truck washing and disinfecting plants, located on the Danish border. Trucks are checked rigorously and plants can be checked unannounced as well. In addition to thorough cleaning and disinfection, trucks on returning to Denmark are quarantined. The length of time varies, but in the case of trucks returning from high risk areas – Eastern Poland, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, & Russia (including the Kalingrad area and Moldovia) this can mean a vehicle standing empty for seven days. One Danish expert suggested that an alternative would be to build a transfer station in Germany, close to the Danish border. Trucks would drop pigs off at one side and then return to Denmark, whilst other trucks would shuttle pigs from the transfer station into Poland. Regardless of this, the ASF situation is very serious and it’s to be very much hoped that the measures put in place remain bullet proof, because if ASF got into the Danish pig herd the consequences would be catastrophic.

Hearts For Pigs

Welfare is an increasingly important issue and consumers are more and more concerned about how pigs are reared. Whilst there are several welfare schemes already in existence in Denmark consumers tend to get confused and in response to this the Danish government has recently backed a new welfare logo for pork products, with details being announced at the 2016 Herning Pig Seminar, the annual key event for all connected with Danish pig farming.

The logo is a heart. One heart reflects basic welfare, with three hearts as an indication of more welfare criteria being met. The concept has been well received, with 80 per cent of consumers giving a positive response. Women were more positive than men in terms of their response.

To consumers, the most important aspects of good welfare are that the pig experiences no unnecessary suffering, is able to move freely about, has space to exhibit natural behaviours and is not stressed during transportation.

The Danes are conscious of animal welfare and 70 per cent of them think about it quite often. However price and lack of clarity about animal welfare on packaging are the main reasons that Danes do not buy products reared under high welfare standards. A scheme which simply shows one, two or three hearts on the packaging is an easy and simple way for busy shoppers to recognize which level of welfare they want to pay for.

It’s hoped that an animal welfare label will provide consumers with better information and greater choice with regard to a product’s animal welfare credentials. Furthermore, this should generate stronger demand for welfare products. The principles of the new animal welfare label are as follows: a 3 tier welfare label; a government backed label developed in collaboration with interested parties; an “umbrella label” that can function independently and encompass existing and new brands; and the new label will create transparency in terms of the supply of welfare products.

HEART requirements:

*Basic requirements: no tail docking, loose housed in lactation, straw given daily as a nesting material and pigs are not transported for more than eight hours; *One Heart: Sows can be confined for up to four days into the lactation; *Two Hearts: Lactating sows confined a maximum of two days. Pen size is 30 per cent more with weaning taking place at 28 days of age; *Three hearts: Effectively complete outdoor production with farrowing in arks and pigs move freely outside in fields.

By May 2017, sales will have started and stores will have the option to choose to sell all three categories or just one heart or two heart products. So far all the major Danish retailers have signed up to the scheme which is very encouraging, apart from the Co-op, which is already selling its own branded organic pork.

Danish Producers Faces Up To Problems

Pig farming is like a roller coaster – always up and down. Danish farmers are some of the most efficient in the world but even they can have problems. Pride can be very expensive and can cost a farmer a lot of money. The sensible ones are honest with themselves and get help from their vet/advisers to do something about productivity issues. A fresh pair of eyes can identify problems that are unapparent to staff, who are working on the unit day in day out.

Hans Christian Carstensen farms 700 sows, producing 30kg pigs for Poland plus has 160ha of arable land. He has three – four employees. He realized he had problems, but had the sense to seek help. His farm was one of 30 looking for improvements, identified by SEGES (Danish Pig Research).

All the farms were ranked in terms of productivity and so this encouraged improvements, to get a higher “league” place. With good help over time Carstensen’s farm made 85,000 Euros more profit. So what happened?

Gilts: Hormones (Altrezyn) used to synchronise matings and get correct batch numbers and eliminate weekend services. His gilts were too lean- some had P2 less than 10mm. This was improved to 12-14mm by feeding bakery waste up to service.

Sows – P2: P2 was measured at weaning back in July 2015, with some sows having a P2 of just 8mm. Improved feeding boosted the P2 to 13-16mm by 2016. Boosting feed from weaning to four weeks after service improved P2 from 14mm to 18mm.

Farrowing House Problems

*Too many small piglets *Too many weak piglets *Periods of diarrhea

Staff was taught how to carry out post mortems on dead piglets to identify cause of death — crushing, starvation (empty stomachs). Adding straw in the farrowing pens calmed sows down plus warmed the pens up as well. Extra heat lamps were provided. At farrowing any sows with a temperature of 39.1C or above are given Norodine (a broad spectrum AB) and all sows are given Metacam (an anti-inflammatory).

Boosting Hygiene

*Needles and scalpel are changed after each litter *Boots changed before entering small piglet area *Dry disinfectant used in farrowing rooms *Vacuum used instead of power washer in the farrowing houses *Possibly change to a new iron product *Ideally go to needle – free injection

Next Steps: Hernias are a problem which need reducing and are removed surgically. (Check sow litter records, gilt supplier and boar records. Try different semen — Author comment). Changed Procedures: Now all umbilical cords are clipped with surgical scissors and the cord is dipped in a disinfectant powder. Piglets are given an injection of Amoxicillin.

Stability: Extra farrowing house staff have been employed on a short term basis, but better too many staff than too few. Mr. Carstensen was very honest and admitted that during peak arable times like harvest, the pigs got neglected and that in future this must not happen. (When the problems have calmed down there is a temptation to look to save money by maybe stopping using so much dry disinfection powder. This can be a false economy though –Author comment).

Improved Results

*Live born pigs/ litter went up from 15.2 to 16.1; *Stillborn / litter down from 1.8 to 1.0; *Pre – weaning mortality went from 19.4 per cent to 13.9 per cent. Conclusion: “It’s better to do things properly half the time than at half measures all the time.” •

— By Norman Crabtree