The Future of Pork Production in the World: Towards Sustainable, Welfare-Positive Systems

Abstract

Simple SummaryMore pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. Making production systems and practices more sustainable will benefit the animals, the planet and people. A system is presented by which production practices are evaluated using a sustainability matrix. The matrix shows why some practices are more common in some countries and regions and the impediments to more sustainable systems. This method can be used to assess the sustainability of production practices in the future where objective, science-based information is presented alongside ethical and economic information to make the most informed decisions. Finally, this paper points to current pork production practices that are more and less sustainable.AbstractAmong land animals, more pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. The earth holds about one billion pigs who deliver over 100 mmt of pork to people for consumption. Systems of pork production changed from a forest-based to pasture-based to dirt lots and finally into specially-designed buildings. The world pork industry is variable and complex not just in production methods but in economics and cultural value. A systematic analysis of pork industry sustainability was performed. Sustainable production methods are considered at three levels using three examples in this paper: production system, penning system and for a production practice. A sustainability matrix was provided for each example. In a comparison of indoor vs. outdoor systems, the food safety/zoonoses concerns make current outdoor systems unsustainable. The choice of keeping pregnant sows in group pens or individual crates is complex in that the outcome of a sustainability assessment leads to the conclusion that group penning is more sustainable in the EU and certain USA states, but the individual crate is currently more sustainable in other USA states, Asia and Latin America. A comparison of conventional physical castration with immunological castration shows that the less-common immunological castration method is more sustainable (for a number of reasons). This paper provides a method to assess the sustainability of production systems and practices that take into account the best available science, human perception and culture, animal welfare, the environment, food safety, worker health and safety, and economics (including the cost of production and solving world hunger). This tool can be used in countries and regions where the table values of a sustainability matrix change based on local conditions. The sustainability matrix can be used to assess current systems and predict improved systems of the future.

Human values and preferences for cleaner livestock production

“…Animals are bred indoors in flooring stalls, being fed according to market preferences concerning safety and fat quality but with scant attention to environmental aspects. Several surveys have highlighted how this industry is perceived by consumers as unsustainable (Ngapo et al, 2003;McGlone, 2013). At the same time European consumers seem willing to reward more sustainable pork production systems, in a social context where sustainability has widely emerged as a key value (Edwards, 2005).…”

Accuracy of estimating the technological and economic value of pig carcass primal cuts with an optical-needle device

“…Only the automatic AutoFom device, which records a fullbody ultrasound scan, allows for the highly accurate determination of the musculature of all cuts. Accordingly, the demands of the contemporary pork market force increasingly accurate classification and segregation of raw product (Brorsen et al 1998;Lisiak et al 2015;McGlone 2013).…”

Persistence of pathogens in liquid pig manure processed in manure tanks and biodigesters

“…La carne de cerdo es la proteína de origen animal que más se consume en el mundo y su demanda sigue creciendo, su participación en el mercado mundial es del 37.4% lo cual convierte a la porcicultura en una actividad pecuaria de gran importancia en el planeta (1). Según la Asociación Colombiana de Porcicultores (2), en Colombia la oferta de porcinos en el mercado interno alcanzó 3'030.043 de cabezas beneficiadas en el 2013, que representan aproximadamente 254.000 toneladas de carne, indicando un crecimiento de 2.2% en comparación al año 2012, y se espera que siga su crecimiento en los próximos años; el consumo per cápita en Colombia es de 6.7 Kg lo cual muestra una gran oportunidad de negocio a futuro.…”

“…Its share of the world market is 37.4%, which makes pig farming a highly important agricultural activity in the world (1). According to the Colombian Association of Pig Farmers (2), in Colombia the domestic pork market reached 3,030,043 heads slaughtered in 2013, which represents approximately 254,000 tons of meat and indicates a growth of 2.2% compared to 2012.…”