Pig farmer estimates $3m costs to meet welfare plan

A Taranaki pig farmer says he could have to spend up to $3 million in order to meet proposed animal welfare standards.

The pig industry is at odds with the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (Nawac) over a draft welfare code.

Nawac has proposed changes to the use of farrowing crates, where sows are kept before, during and after giving birth. It also proposes changes to the size of grower pig housing.

Karl Stanley farms with 450 sows near Opunake, and said if Nawac’s proposals were adopted without changes he would have to build two new growers sheds and revamp a farrowing shed that was revamped two years ago at a cost of $1m.

As the code was not finalised there was uncertainty about exact changes and associated costs, but he calculated costs up to $3m, he said.

NZ Pork chief executive Brent Kleiss said the average pig farm faced upgrade costs of about $2m.

There was a concern that the upgrades would make New Zealand pork so expensive that consumers would instead buy cheap imports, and farmers could be left with loans for upgrades that they could not repay. Changes would need Government support and long transition times, he said.