Document type: article from Réussir Porc
Author: D. Poilvet
Preview: In a letter sent to farmers on June 23rd, ten producer groups in the Grand Ouest region of France clearly came out in favour of stopping castration, and for the introduction of a basic price framework for intact female and male pigs. It followed Didier Guillaume's announcement of a ban on the castration without anaesthetic of piglets from 1 January 2022. At the press conference that followed Inaporc's general assembly, held behind closed doors in Paris on 30 June, Thierry Meyer, the slaughterers' representative and also director of the Bigard pig business, condemned this declaration. "The resolution of the problem must be based on discussions between the different links in the chain, not on injunctions. Keeping boars intact is one response to the Minister's directive, but there are other avenues to explore, such as castration under anaesthesia" Put plainly, the market end of the chain does not seem at all willing to bring a general halt to castration of males on farms. [...] A third solution available to breeders, involving immunocastration, was not mentioned. "There is a soft consensus against this solution, especially in the retail sector which considers it to be a risky solution for consumers," an Inaporc manager commented.
