Organic pigs - a case study
At Eastleach Downs Farm, Sam and Helen Wade do their best to provide their 80-odd breeding sows and their progeny with the conditions that enable them to behave as pigs like to behave. Before they farrow, the sows can create nests to their own liking in their farrowing arcs, using straw and clods of earth. The young pigs are kept together in family groups throughout their lifetime. There is ample opportunity for the pigs to dig and wallow in mud. Boars, sows and weaners spend their lives outdoors, and are not subjected to mutilations such as teeth-clipping and nose-ringing, painful practices which are common in non-organic outdoor piggeries. "Good welfare makes good business sense," suggests Sam Wade. "If pigs are stressed, they are much more likely to succumb to diseases, and much more likely to indulge in activities like tail-biting."
Sam and Helen Wade met in the late 1980s when they worked for the Abingdon-based Pig Improvement Company (PIC) Ltd, an international group which specialises in creating commercial breeding stock. "When we worked at PIC," recalls Helen, "we were dealing with a very intensive system. The pigs were finished on slatted floors, and we still had sow stalls." Under this system, now banned in the UK, sows spent their entire life in a confined space, on concrete or slats.
When the Wades married in 1991 they decided they wanted to set up on their own. First, they went to work for Robert Bowden in Hampshire on a 2,000-sow outdoor unit. Then they moved up to where they are now, in the heart of the Cotswolds, and rented land from the Hatherop Estate, whose owner was looking for a source of fertility for his arable land. Here they set up a 600-sow outdoor unit as contract growers for Robert Bowden. The latter supplied the sows and the feed; the Wades supplied labour, expertise and a constant supply of 3-week-old piglets.
As the years passed, the Wades became progressively more uneasy about the welfare of their pigs. For one thing, the piglets were being weaned very early, at three weeks. This was done for a reason. The new oestrus cycle starts a few days after the piglets are weaned: sows with early-weaned piglets can therefore be mated sooner than late-weaning sows. "When we weaned at three weeks, both the sows and the piglets suffered," explains Helen. The sows were still heavy with milk, and the piglets were sent off elsewhere to be fattened up indoors, on slats. "We began to ask ourselves: ‘What's the point of doing this, of rearing pigs outdoors, and then sending them into an intensive system with lots of welfare problems?’” The Wades decided to fatten up the weaners themselves, and go organic. Wades Pigs was set up in 1999, with 75 sows retained from Robert Bowden’s herd.
Going organic entailed some significant changes, although the Wades had already ceased tail-docking and teeth-clipping, both of which are prohibited under organic rules. Sam believes that these practices are unnecessary if pigs are reared outdoors and properly managed. "Tail-biting happens when pigs are bored," he explains. "When they are kept indoors, boredom is a big problem. Outdoors it isn't." When they began as contract breeders, they clipped the piglets' incisor teeth, a practice designed to prevent damage to the udder and biting among piglets. The Wades found that there was no need to teeth-clip, providing they evened the number of piglets out between sows. "If a sow has 14 piglets fighting for 12 teats, fighting can lead to udder and facial damage," says Sam. "Switch two of the piglets to a sow with 10 or less of her own, and there won't be a problem."
When the Wades were contract breeders, they would routinely vaccinate against post-farrowing scours, which can seriously damage the health and development of young piglets. The Wades no longer use this vaccine, which was given to sows before they farrowed. “We now rotate our pigs around the farm at regular intervals and this prevents the build up of bugs that cause scours,” explains Sam. In conventional outdoor units, pigs are often kept on the same patch of land for two years, and this encourages a build up of worms and pathogens. Under the organic system, pigs can remain for a maximum of six months on any one plot of land, which must then remain pig-free for a period of four years.
The Wades also used to dose all their piglets against coccidiosis when they were 5 days old. Now they don’t. They haven’t got rid of coccidiosis, which is transmitted from piglet to piglet, but the problem is not severe enough for them to seek a derogation from the Soil Association to use conventional medicines. When they were contract growers the piglets were kept in the arcs where they farrowed till they left the farm; now they are free to leave the arcs after 48 hours. “This means they can get to water,” says Sam, “and this seems to help them overcome attacks of coccidiosis.” Thorough disinfection of the arcs between litters and disposal of the bedding help too.
The only serious disease problem the Wades have encountered is post-weaning, multi-systemic wasting syndrome, or PMWS. Many of the pig farms in this part of southern England have suffered losses of around 30 per cent as a result of PMWS. Losses at Eastleach Downs Farm, in contrast, have amounted to around 10 per cent. The Wades attribute this to the fact that under organic conditions pigs suffer less stress and are better able to cope with the virus. Although there is still much uncertainty about the cause of PMWS, it is widely agreed that reducing stress among young pigs reduces the instance of the disease.
In fact, the Wades’ whole system of management is geared towards reducing stress. Take, for example, the life of a weaner. The piglets are weaned after eight weeks - the recommended time stipulated by the Soil Association is six weeks - and Helen believes this is good both for the piglets and for the sow. During the last two weeks the piglets take on more solid food and less milk. This helps them to adapt gradually to a changing diet. It also helps the sow to gain weight, even though she is still lactating. "And after eight weeks," suggests Helen, “mum is ready to leave the piglets." The young weaners stay where they are, living in family groups with other weaners they have known since birth, until just before they go to the abattoir. The Wades believe that this makes for happier, healthier pigs.
Choosing the right breed for an organic piggery is vital. Saddlebacks and other traditional breeds like Gloucester Old Spots and Tamworths are particularly favoured by organic farmers as they make good mothers, they are relatively hardy and are not prone to sunburn. However, the Wades began with Camborough 12 pigs, a high-performance modern strain developed by their former employer, PIC Ltd. When they went organic they put their sows to a Duroc boar, and they now have a crossbred animal they are happy with. "We feel the Saddleback has rather too much fat for the modern market," explains Sam. "The offspring of the sows we've got now have plenty of colour, so they don't suffer from sunburn, and they perform well under organic conditions."
A couple of days before the pigs leave the farm they are brought into a concrete enclosure, in family groups, and provided with straw bedding. This helps them to get used to the sort of environment they will encounter at the abattoir in Wolverhampton. A family-run transport company with skilled livestock handlers takes the pigs on Tuesday mornings. They then have a night to settle in before they are killed the next day. Until recently, the Wades sold all their pigs through Eastbook Farm Organic Meats, which supplies major supermarkets. They will continue to supply the cooperative, but they also plan to market meat locally and have their pigs slaughtered in nearby Witney.
From the pigs' point of view, the shorter journey will be welcome, but it is not just for the pigs’ sake that the Wades hope to establish a local market for their meat. During the past year there has been an oversupply of organic pigmeat, and supermarkets are sourcing their produce wherever it is cheapest. This has led to a significant increase in imports from Germany, although organic farmers like the Wades dispute whether this produce should really be labelled as organic.
In order to prevent their animals from contracting a disease that affects wild boar, German producers have been allowed to keep their farrowing sows indoors, along with the weaners, till they are 10 weeks old. "This is plainly unfair on organic farmers here," says Sam. The Wades have had to lay-off a farm worker and slightly reduce the number of sows as a result. If they increase local sales, the Wades will be less at the mercy of supermarket buying policy – and a lax interpretation of organic standards in some other countries.