Pig vets want urgent review of swill feed rules
Pig vets want urgent review of swill feed rules
WHILE a ban on feeding pigs swill has not yet been ruled out, pig vets are calling for an urgent review of rules for swill feeders.
According to a report in New Scientist magazine, contaminated swill is suspected of infecting pigs at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, with foot-and-mouth and beginning the epidemic.
It adds that Europe may ban swill feeding or, if it does not, Britain may introduce its own ban. The UK Agricultural Supply Trade Association is also reported to be in support of a ban.
MAFF says that if swill is found to be the cause of the outbreak, a ban is one of the options to be looked at, and is being considered. But it says only 97 producers are licensed to feed swill to their pigs.
If swill feeding is permitted to continue then policing of licensed units is urgently needed, says Pig Vet Society member Mark White.
"Under current rules, swill feeders are inspected annually when licences are renewed. They will then have other visits during the year, which are supposed to be spot-checks.
But after an inspection, producers can be fairly confident they will not be visited for some months, so they could cut corners on boiling swill, adds Mr White.
"Boiling easily kills the foot-and-mouth virus." One or both of two new measures could ensure swill is properly treated, he believes. The first is that spot visits can be made by MAFF with no pre-determined frequency and it should do so regularly. But it is also possible to use new technology to monitor swill processing on farms.
"Monitors on boilers can now record what is done and this data could be made available for inspection by MAFF. This would make swill feeding expensive, but so is foot-and-mouth," says Mr White. *