Farmer Focus: Is slatted or straw housing better for finishing pigs?

It is all systems go with gathering all the straw up for the year ahead. It’s a costly business, not just the straw itself but the baling, leading, handling and also the continual mucking out which goes with straw-housed pigs.

As a family we are very much focused on welfare and housing our pigs in what we believe, and what is perceived, to be the highest welfare conditions.

But are we kidding ourselves? Is it really what the consumer wants? Or more importantly, is the customer prepared to pay for it?

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There is no doubt that if people wanted to see some finishing pigs you would take them to a straw-based system.

This is how the consumer thinks all pigs are reared. But are we shooting ourselves in the foot by pushing our cost of production up?

With straw comes more labour requirements and a poorer performing pig – the more space they have the more they run around, a natural environment means they use energy to keep warm and they eat straw, which increases their food conversion rate. So is it really what the consumer wants?

If there is no premium for an indoor pig produced on straw over an indoor pig produced on slats, then as margins get even tighter there is only one thing to do and that is to put all pigs into fully slatted houses where we minimise costs of production.

We are the only country that puts finishing pigs in any building. If you have a spare shed then I can guarantee there will be a farmer not too far away that will fill it. But is this changing? Buildings built for pigs, be it straw or slats, do perform better and with margins the way they are this has to be the way the industry goes.

And so our next investment is looking like it’s going to be a slatted finishing building. Then we can compare performance with the straw-based system we put up two years ago.

My heart will remain with straw as I’m convinced the pig’s life is much better fulfilled, but for efficiency and competiveness as a business I feel it is something we need to do.

Kate Morgan and family farm 1,700 sows indoors in East Yorkshire and 1,200 outdoors in North Yorkshire, taking all the progeny through to slaughter.