The sustainability of the Irish pig sector and how it has performed up to this point was commended by those in the industry recently.

It was a key aspect of the Irish Pig Health Society (IPHS) Symposium held yesterday (Tuesday, April 16) at the Curragh Racecourse Exhibition Hall in Co. Kildare.

Professor of monogastric nutrition, John O’Doherty said at the symposium that “we often think at the moment, the only sustainability pillar is the environment”.

“But, there is an economic sustainability figure, and there is also a social impact pillar as well,” he said.

He said people also call them the three P’s: planet, profit, and people.

Prior to 1990, prof. O’Doherty said “the only pillar that was important was the economic pillar”.

He added the social pillar “was less relevant”, and that the environmental pillar “wasn’t all that relevant”.

“Currently, we are seeing the three pillars are important. I have no doubt, that into the future, one of the most important pillars will be the social pillar,” he added.

Prof. O’Doherty said: “We have seen a change on what is needed for environmental sustainability. But the pig industry has been at the forefront of this for years.”

He said issues around nitrogen excretion, the use of non-renewable resources, phosphorus eutrophication, high levels of ammonia on pig farms were being dealt with on Irish pig farms.

Prof. O’Doherty referred to “new nutritional concepts,” where farmers are now talking about “digesting net energy, rather than digestible energy, digestible phosphorus, rather than total phosphorous”.

He said there are “fantastic nutrition models out there in terms of people able to predict animal performance, and then being more precise in the diet of diet we feed them”.

Prof. of monogastric nutrition, John O’Doherty speaking at the Irish Pig Health Society Symposium

By reducing crude protein levels from 21% to 15% in feed, prof. O’Doherty said this “phenomenal reduction” has proved to reduce the level of nitrogen excretion by 34% without affecting pig performance.

“We have been very very good around that sustainability issue, and I think we should be shouting it from the rafters about what we have done over the last 10 years because it is not known in certain quarters.”

Prof. O’Doherty acknowledged that “the main criteria for economic sustainability is profitability” but he said this can fluctuate due to high pig and feed prices.

He referred to “periods of economic crises,” that included African swine fever, which increased prices, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which increased feed costs.

“This time two years ago farmers were losing 36c/kg. On an 89kg pig carcass, they were losing €32/pig.”

Prof. O’Doherty said: “Economic sustainability in pig production is not just about the immediate profits, but it also involves a longer term strategy.

“We’ve got to consider collaboration along the supply chain. We need much more collaboration across producers, supermarkets, processers, so that this will never happen again,” he added.

Social sustainability

Prof. O’Doherty spoke on the social pillar that is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the pig sector, and he said engagement with consumers is key to this.

“Customers and consumers are concerned about the environmental, animal welfare, and the health impacts associated with modern agriculture.

“Pig producers need to maintain and enhance customers and consumers trust that we are production food that offers healthy choices for the consumers.

Prof. O’Doherty offered his thoughts on what the future requirements of the pig sector towards sustainability would be, and if the industry would have to adapt to change.

“If we look at the future of pig production systems, and what will be the key drivers of change, we’ll see environmental change. We’ll see a change in regulation around excretion, emissions, changing your feed composition. But we have done it.

“I think our biggest problem is getting land to be able spread slurry.”

Important factors that will impact the social sustainability of the sector, according to Prof. O’Doherty include the increased social demand from consumers around organic food, feed sourced without deforestation, and without genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

An additional concern for the sector is on the future of who will produce pigmeat in the country.

Prof. O’Doherty said: “No one thinks about the next generation. In order to feed the world, we need the next generation to get involved.

“We’ve heard so much about farmers that aren’t willing to take up the farm. That for me is a really big social problem.”

On the current work undertaken by the Irish pig sector, Prof. O’Doherty provided the following comments.

“We’re producing safe food with a low carbon footprint. We’re protecting and promoting animal wellbeing. There might be a few outliers, but 99.9% are doing that.”

He added the sector is “ensuring practices to protect public health,” providing a “safe work environment,” and “safeguarding natural resources”.

Social sustainability

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