GERMANY

Germany presents the stable of the future for pig farming

Pork

More space, more light, more animal welfare: Two new model stables for pig farming have been built in the Haus Düsse Agriculture Experimental and Education Center of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture (LWK NRW), which are intended to show examples of how sustainable and future-oriented livestock farming can be achieved in practice.

Posted on Feb 28 ,00:10

After around four years of planning and development, the stable of the future was opened in Bad Sassendorf, Westphalia. At the opening, NRW's Agriculture Minister Silke Gorißen addressed politicians in Berlin clearly and called for the support and preservation of local businesses.

Together with the President of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture, Karl Werring, the Minister for Agriculture and Consumer Protection Silke Gorißen opened the stable of the future in Bad Sassendorf, Westphalia. The 'Stable of the Future' project ensures more animal welfare and more sustainability and is so far unique in Germany, said Minister Gorißen during the inauguration. The 'Stable of the Future' shows how the transformation of livestock farming can be successful, including conventional farms.

At the Haus Düsse research and training site of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture there is now a so-called evolutionary further development of a model stable with external climate contact for pigs with up to 400 fattening places and a revolutionary stable system with up to 270 pig fattening places to give animals even more space to move and grow. There are also various solutions for creating animal-friendly functional areas in the stable. In the Revolutionary Stable, for example, this is an innovative roof construction - a kind of greenhouse roof made of glass that can be opened when the weather is right. There are also root gardens and straw there. Wood chips on the ground should also be tested as an activity material for animals in the rooting and lying areas.

Other special features include the most modern technical processes for reducing noise or separating feces and urine. This is intended to reduce odors. The stables are based on the current requirements of the Animal Husbandry Labeling Act in the housing type 3 fresh air stable or housing type 4 run/pasture . The stables will also serve for training and further education and are intended to provide important information about the operation and management of outdoor climate stables - for example, whether the stables and their functional areas correspond as closely as possible to the natural behavior of pigs and how the emissions behave as a result. Haus Düsse's first piglets are due to be housed in May 2024. The first goal is to use the stables intensively to demonstrate innovative, new stable systems and husbandry concepts.

During the press conference, Minister Gorißen explained that the NRW Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection is committed to the project to preserve domestic production and strengthen regional cycles. Gorißen warned against relocating pork production abroad and its consequences. For example, more pork would then be imported and the associated increased transport would put additional strain on the environment. Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection has repeatedly addressed the federal government in recent months that the plans to promote animal welfare, for example, do not provide sufficient support for conventional farmers, who urgently need prospects for their businesses and more planning security. Many conventionally operating companies that strive for a higher standard are blocked from getting there. This does not create a spirit of optimism for the future, on the contrary.

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