“Implementation and evaluation of measures aimed at integrating sustainability aspects into pig fattening”
Project
Public concern about the sustainability of industrialised agricultural animal production has substantially increased during the last decades. Not only the ecological impact gained more attention, but also public awareness of animal welfare issues has increased. On the other hand, the high demand for low-priced meat and meat products has favoured high-output, large-scale production systems. Producing under more animal and environmentally friendly conditions, which result in a higher input of resources and labour, therefore presents a huge challenge. When striving for more sustainable animal production systems (APS), it is important to take into account societal demands on APS in terms of enhancing animal welfare whilst reducing environmental impact.
The objective of this project is to define important aspects of sustainability for pig fattening with a special focus on animal welfare. Based on this definition, measures, which aim at integrating these aspects into conventional pig fattening systems, will be developed together with farmers using a participatory process. Subsequently, these measures will be implemented on pig fattening farms in Austria. In order to assess the effects of the implementation, they will be evaluated with regard to their effects on animal welfare, economic performance and environmental impact using already established evaluation methods such as animal-based welfare indicators based on the Welfare Quality© protocol. Furthermore, interviews with the participating farmers about the implementation will be carried out.
Project team
phd-student: Schodl Katharina, Dipl.-Ing.
supervisor: Winckler Christoph, Univ.-Prof. Dr.
co-supervisors: Kantelhardt Jochen, Univ.-Prof. Dr.
Leeb Christine, Dr.
Zollitsch Werner, Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.