The recently concluded registration phase for the Animal Welfare Initiative (ITW) has met with a great response – a major step towards greater recognition for the ITW. The fund will last until at least the end of 2026 for all registered piglet breeders, including new registrations.
According to the Animal Welfare Initiative (ITW), the latest registration phase has been very successful. An additional 570 piglet rearing farms, handling approximately 6.9 million piglets per year, have been newly registered. This represents a significant step towards achieving complete traceability. As is known, the ITW system aims to ensure that, from 2027 onwards, pigs are kept on ITW farms without any gaps from birth to slaughter.
The newly registered piglet rearing farms participate in the ITW (Integrated Animal Welfare Program) as piglet rearers. A prerequisite for receiving the animal welfare payment is, among other things, that the piglets are delivered to an ITW fattening farm and originate from an ITW sow farmer. The new participants receive €4.50 per animal from the piglet fund only for these piglets. A budget commitment from the piglet fund is in place until at least December 31, 2026.
The budget is sufficient until at least the end of 2026 for all registered piglet breeders.
With approximately 6.9 million additional piglets registered, the ITW system now has, purely mathematically, more ITW piglets than ITW fattening pigs for the first time. This fulfills a key requirement for further advancing the market solution. The available budget in the piglet fund is sufficient for all registered farms until at least the end of 2026 , according to Robert Römer, Managing Director of the Animal Welfare Initiative.
Equalization between piglets and fattening pigs is expected in 2027.
Currently, over 10,000 pig farms participate in the ITW program, including over 2,000 piglet rearers. The number of ITW piglets will likely continue to align with the number of ITW fattening pigs from 2027 onwards. For reasons of existing stock protection, piglet producers from the first phases of the ITW program who do not supply ITW fatteners are currently still participating.
