Prospects for sustainability of pig production in relation to climate change and novel feed resources

Abstract

Pig production systems provide multiple benefits to humans. However, the global increase in meat consumption has profound consequences for our earth. This perspective describes two alternative scenarios for improving the sustainability of future pig production systems. The first scenario is a high input–high output system based on sustainable intensification, maximizing animal protein production efficiency on a limited land surface at the same time as minimizing environmental impacts. The second scenario is a reduced input–reduced output system based on selecting animals that are more robust to climate change and are better adapted to transform low quality feed (local feeds, feedstuff co‐products, food waste) into meat. However, in contrast to the first scenario, the latter scenario results in reduced predicted yields, reduced production efficiency and possibly increased costs to the consumer. National evaluation of the availability of local feed and feedstuff co‐product alternatives, determination of limits to feed sourced from international markets, available land for crop and livestock production, desired production levels, and a willingness to politically enforce policies through subsidies and/or penalties are some of the considerations to combine these two scenarios. Given future novel sustainable alternatives to livestock animal protein, it may become reasonable to move towards an added general premium price on ‘protein from livestock animals’ to the benefit of promoting higher incomes to farmers at the same time as covering the extra costs of, politically enforced, welfare of livestock animals in sustainable production systems. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Use of insect products in pig diets

“…The EU goals for animal production are in particular to increase the competitiveness and economic viability of animal production systems, to improve livestock's adaptation to diseases and increasingly extreme weather patterns related to climate change, to address issues related to diet and health, ammonia and air quality, and issues related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, nitrate emissions and degradation of natural resources such as water, soil and biodiversity, global food security, global trade and animal welfare (ERANET, 2020). The negative impact of livestock production on our earth can be reduced by two alternative scenario's for improving the sustainability of future pig production systems (Rauw et al, 2020). The first scenario is a high input-high output system based on sustainable intensification, maximising animal protein production efficiency on a limited land surface at the same time as minimising environmental impacts.…”

Mediterranean diet: a nutrient‐packed diet and a healthy lifestyle for a sustainable world

“…It occupies more than one‐third of all potentially cultivatable land. Moreover, livestock consume around two‐thirds of all the land dedicated to agriculture and contribute about half of the farming‐related GHG emissions 1,37–40 . In general, the environmental impact of food systems is calculated on the basis of three indexes: carbon, water and ecological footprint 9,11,29,41 …”

“…In fact, the the MD does have low ecological, carbon and water footprints due to its high proportion of plant‐based foods (SDGs 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15). The MD ensures that natural resources are not overused or degraded 5,13,40,88–90 …”

Post-weaning diarrhea in pigs weaned without medicinal zinc: risk factors, pathogen dynamics, and association to growth rate

“…As a key for prevention, risk factors for PWD in such pigs should also be determined. Furthermore, impaired gut health can be associated with reduced productivity, which is undesirable from the perspective of resource use, climate gas emissions, and production economy [ 35 – 37 ].…”