Update on Checkoff Funded Activities of the "National Pork Board's Animal Welfare Committee and the Swine

Welfare Indexing System"

Paul Sundberg, DVM, PhD Dipl. ACVPM

Assistant Vice President, Veterinary Issues

National Pork Board

Recent developments have underscored the importance to the producer and the industry of animal welfare issues. Newspaper articles, pressure from animal rights organizations, restaurant and retailer questions and positions and even political petitions have brought swine welfare issues into focus, especially with regard to gestation sow housing.

There is no one ideal system in which the facility alone can simultaneously meet all the needs of the animal. The single most important factor in addressing the welfare of animals is the husbandry skills of the producer. Calling for change only for the sake of change will not benefit the animal but it may endanger food safety, the health of the animal and the environment.

Animal welfare and its relationship with food safety, the environment and the health of our animals must be addressed in a way that ensures that they are kept in balance in relationship to each other without sacrificing their individual critical points. That is the nature and essence of all of animal agriculture.

National Pork Board Animal Welfare Committee The National Pork Board's Animal Welfare Committee is made up of producers using a variety of production types and with a broad range of operation sizes. A panel of animal welfare experts from academia and veterinary medicine advises them. The committee and its activities, programs and research are funded using producer checkoff dollars under producer control and direction.

The Animal Welfare Committee has been fully supportive of adding to the scientific knowledge about animal welfare in all phases of pork production. It has been actively working with all our customers to make sure that they have accurate, factual information about how pigs are raised and about the industry's continued commitment to the welfare of its animals.

The Committee has adopted the following purpose and objectives: Purpose: To maintain and promote the pork industry tradition of responsible animal care through the application of scientifically sound animal care practices Objectives:

Advance producers' awareness of emerging animal welfare issues

•        Provide information and education to improve animal care skills

*        Support scientific research to enhance well-being

•        Provide information for greater public understanding and awareness about producers' commitment to providing humane care for their animals

Committee Products and the Swine Welfare Indexing System"':

Swine Care Handbook The Swine Care Handbook provides the producer with scientifically based guidelines for maintaining and improving the welfare of their animals. It acts as a resource for the producer to ensure that their operation's procedures are scientifically defensible. It includes detailed information about:

•     Pork Producers Code of Practice

•     Husbandry Systems

•      Management Practices Environmental Management

•      Facilities and Equipment

•      Feeding and Nutrition

•      Herd Health Management

on-Farm Euthanasia of Swine - Options for the Producer

Euthanasia is defined as a humane death occurring without pain or distress. Even with our best efforts in every swine production system, animals will become ill, injured, or disadvantaged in such a way that euthanasia may need to be considered. This booklet gives guidelines developed with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians about humane methods of on-farm euthanasia.

PORK QUALITY ASSURANCETm Program

Before producers can sell to major packers, they are required to demonstrate that they have completed the PAPA Program. Over 75,000 people have been issued PQA Level III status. Good Production Practice #8 is "Provide Proper Swine Care". It provides information to the producer about:

*         Pork Producers Code of Practice

•          Swine Handling

•          Equipment

•          Human Contact

*          Facility Considerations

*         Loading and Transport

Swine Handling

A series of videos and related educational materials for producers, transporters and packers are available. Proper pig handling and movement, mitigating the effects of extreme environments during transportation, and loading and unloading guidelines are covered. The "Proper Swine Handling for Pork

Swine Welfare Indexing SystemSM Q&A

1. What is the Swine Welfare Indexing SystemSM?

A user-friendly way to objectively measure and track indicators of animal well-being. Although indexes for different phases of production, such as farrowing systems, nursery or finishing systems may be possible, the first Index focuses on sows in gestation.

2. How will a swine welfare indexing system help producers?

First, it will give them a uniform, producer-developed tool to help them maintain market availability if selling to a market that asks for information about animal welfare.

In the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) model, USDA-FSIS holds packers responsible for certain food safety characteristics. In turn, they may have producer food safety expectations - such as Pork Quality Assurance Program certification. Using the HACCP concept, more and more food service companies are in the process of developing their individual company's guidelines about the raising, handling and processing of animals and requiring compliance by their suppliers. This raises the possibility that a producer may need to abide by multiple, individual company-dictated animal welfare guidelines in order to have access to these markets and the packers that supply them. The Index will be a way for producers to answer this need in a uniform, producer-developed and farm-implementable way.

Second, even if a producer is not in a market in which the packer asks for such information, this tool may also help them to evaluate and track their operation's performance over time. It might help them identify weaknesses in management, nutrition or health programs before they become production problems.

3. How will the Index measure on-farm animal welfare?

There are three classical measures of animal welfare: physiology (hormones and immune response), animal behavior and animal production. The Index will evaluate indicators of these measures using objective, on-farm assessments of the farm's records, the animals themselves and the conditions of the facilities.

4. Will the indexing system apply to all producers and production styles?

Yes. Since the Index is an assessment of the welfare of the animal it is independent of the type of facility or production system and the number of animals. It will be applicable to all production sizes and types, including indoor and outdoor operations and operations using stalls, pens or other forms of housing.