Boar is demanding

New demands on the keepers

In Denmark and France the issue of castration of piglets with consumers and trade is not in focus. About 90 percent of farmers castrate their piglets with painkillers. Germany still wash around the correct method for without anesthesia castration and provides the boar out as one of many possibilities. The Dutch have already established and fatten their pigs already half as boars. 

For Maarten Rooijakkers the Dutch Farmers Union LTO there was no question going into the boar. He fattens around 7.000 boar in Aarle Rixtel just outside Eindhoven. "The consumer is the golden standard," explains Rooijakkers. And if consumers want to boar meat, then get it. However, if you just replace his porkers only by Eber, will not be successful. Farmers have to adapt to demanding animals. You need about 20 percent more space, without the barn to be rebuilt. Ten to 15 piglets per pen can be stabled. A group mast with 50 animals is still considered unproblematic. The courts must be clean because skatole can pass as one of the substances responsible for boar taint, through the skin and lungs in the animal. Permanent access to the feed keeps the boar on the employment with other boars. The boar is "louder" than normal mast. Nevertheless, the farmer needs to recognize what is still normal or in which animals are piling wrangles. Early screening of troublemakers ensures the progress of the boar. "Who has the touch," said Rooijakkers, "has neither animal nor losses cannibalism on his premises." 

"Experience and professionalism make the boar today problematic than even believed years ago," said Dr. Simone Müller of the Thuringian State Research Center for Agriculture (TLL) on a QA session. "The higher activity must be considered in the feed calculation. An extra allowance of essential amino acids is not necessary. High-quality feed, take into account the higher lean meat content, are a matter of course". 

The one to two percent lower cannibalization is compensated by a higher price. The order 0,2 0,3 to better feed utilization percentage is reflected as specified by the Ministry of Agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia in the saving of 12 percent of arable land for the porkers resist. 

The secret of the Dutch success lies in the cooperation of the whole chain. There is a purchase guarantee of Masteber, the human nose as smell detector for boar taint will be specially trained in personnel and trading brings the meat to the supermarket. In addition an application comes within the framework of the Week of the pig. However, the market for boar meat in the Netherlands is limited. The declared aim of the pig sector is now the marketing abroad.

Source: Bonn [Roland Krieg, www.aid.de]