Ending castration Not a tainted subject! Annechien ten Have-Mellema, LTO Nederland Conference Boars heading for December 1, 2011, Amsterdam

Personal introduction Pig farmer Chairman of Dutch farmers organization LTO Nederland, section pig farming Vice-chairman of Product Board for Livestock and Meat Chairman of steering committee of the Dutch project ‘Ending castration of male piglets’

My farm Breeding farm: 320 sows, production of gilts and fattening pigs Family-operated Group housing sows on straw since 2000 Fattening of non-castrated boars since 1995

Focus of the Dutch pig industry Strong emphasis on farm animal welfare: license to produce, sustainability Anti-castration: high on the agenda Strong support of the Declaration of Brussels: end of castration in EU in 2018 To achieve this, we need to realize: –International market acceptance of meat of non-castrated pigs –No welfare problems on the farm due to fattening boars –Work on solutions for the EU in good cooperation with market parties and ngo’s –Participation and support from supermarkets and food companies

Declaration of Noordwijk (2007) Agreement between Dutch partners in pig sector Initiated by sector partners themselves after growing pressure of ngo’s Farmers, slaughterhouses, and supermarkets agree on goal to end castration in the Netherlands in 2015 Castration under anaesthesia since 2008

Advantages of no castration for the pig farmer Better technical results boars - barrows –Daily gain g/ day –Feed conversion ratio kg feed/kg weight gain –Meat %+ 2 – 3 % –Less infection risks –Less manure –RETURN + 7 euro End of inconvenient castration labour

My own experience Boars since 15 years Do’s and don’ts when raising boars It works, but it is different!

How to manage boars Boars behave and react different Challenges: –Feeding strategy, feed composition –Housing and group size –Light: regime and intensity –Strategy at begin fattening period Key to succes: cooperation on the farm between pig farmer, researcher, feed company and veterinarian Practical experience from yourself and your neighbour

How to move on? Pig farmers want to change We can succeed if all partners in the pig meat chain embrace the Brussels declaration Copa Cogeca signed Let us put together maximum effort in market acceptance Give us time to find solutions for boar behavior Retail and ngo’s: join us towards 2018

Conclusion Farmers want to end castration Many initiatives and projects in many EU countries Cooperate in the production chain to solve challenges in the field of: –Market acceptance of boar meat –Boar management on the farm –Detection at the slaughterhouse –Preventive measures (breeding, feeding, farm management) Steps are taken, results are promising, we know a lot, but not yet all. Let us move together towards ending castration.

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