Document type: news item from the Ifip website
Author: Alexia Aubry
Preview: On 1 January 2022, the castration of male piglets without anaesthetic will be banned on French farms. Farmers will have to adopt alternative practices, for example, castration under local anaesthetic, immunocastration or the production of whole, uncastrated males. Beyond the issue of whether implementation is technically feasible and the challenges it presents to the sector, there is a need to assess the economic impact of the cessation of male castration on farm businesses.
Ifip has therefore developed the SIM'Alter tool, which allows :
1. the chance to explore typical scenarios where parameters have already been set, representing average impacts (3 realistic scenarios based on different feed price assumptions),
2. the possibility for farmers to tailor the analysis to their own situation, with an open scenario that allows each farmer to simulate the variables that relate to his or her own situation.
For each scenario, SIM'Alter works its way through a comparison of two different farm contexts:
- production of females and castrated males (F-CM) where a "classic" feed is provided during fattening,
- production of females and whole males (F-WM) all provided with a "whole male" feed enriched with amino acids.
The simulator gives an estimate of the impact of stopping castration on feed costs, labour costs, health costs and carcass return rates.
The results are expressed in €/pig produced (F+WM versus F+CM).
How to access the SIM'Alter tool:
- Visit the website: gtdirect.ifip.asso.fr
- register
- once you have reached the GT-Direct page, click on 'Sim'Alter
- create your scenarios
