Document type : dossier published in Réussir Porc
Author : Christophe Reibel
Preview : At a time when Germany is having difficulty with its export markets due to African swine fever, German farmers are reinforcing their domestic market by implementing animal welfare rules under the Tierwohl Initiative. The requirements, which are simple and pragmatic, leave the choice of commitment level to the individual farmer. Whether through circumstance or belief, more than half of German farmers have begun this work, even if most of them are happy to implement the regulation at the level that requires no external course of action. Awareness of the initiative is already high among German consumers and demand exists for it. However, the crisis is holding back any significant increase in sales prices, as this would would undermine consumption. Caught between the desire to improve animal welfare and the reality of current prices, German producers, like their French counterparts, have very little room for manoeuver.
Contents: - Pig welfare: Germany is keeping things simple to be sure they work
The German meat industry is meeting the issue of animal welfare head-on by creating rules that apply to the vast majority of farms. Consumers have responded favorably to their actions.
- I'm set up for the next ten years with my outdoor runs," says this German farmer
Johannes Scharl, a farmer in Eichstätt (Bavaria), foresaw the demand for animal welfare measures. He believes he has secured the medium-term future of his farrow-to-finish operation by providing access to outdoor runs.
- The ITW animal welfare program benefits German pig farmers"
Philipp Beckove is one of the first German pig farmers to have joined the Tierwohl Initiative (Initiative for Animal Welfare or ITW).
- Welfare must be profitable for the pig farmer"
Leon Trentmann, a farrow-to-finish pig farmer in Germany, has joined the ITW initiative. A subsidy has covered almost all expenses.
- Pig welfare "The consumer is always tempted to go for the cheapest meats"
Ulrich Enneking, from the marketing department of the University of Osnabrück, believes that the key to the development of welfare-based meat products is the large-scale retail sector.
