Around the world in 11 pig farms in 2024
Now that 2024 is almost drawing to an end, Pig Progress is pleased to be able to look back to a series of inspiring pig farms that willingly opened their doors for an editorial feature. From Canada to South Africa, here is an overview where Pig Progress emerged.
In its 40th year of existence, Pig Progress started its reporting with a number of outdoor farms – that is merely coincidental, because later in the year, a series of indoor pig farms certainly is being visited. In fact, the 2024 selection offers a nice mixture of research farms, commercial facilities, a company-related farm and even one that unfortunately got hit by African Swine Fever.
The usual disclaimer – the list below is not a “top-11” – the farms are simply presented in chronological order as the Pig Progress team published the features.
FRANCE: Girard Farm
Correspondent Philippe Caldier kicked off 2024 with a visit to Girard Farm, located near Domsure in the region Rhône-Alpes in the west of France. Owner Eric Girard has an outdoor finishing pig farm with in total 22 ha available for meadows, where he keeps his outdoor grow-finisher pigs under the French welfare scheme “Grand Porc Pleine Nature.” His target is to send about 240 heavy pigs of about 167 kg to market every year.
SPAIN: Era Alta Farm
Coincidentally also an outdoor farm, but in an entirely different category, is Era Alta Farm. This farrow-to-finish facility near Vilanueva de Córdoba in southern Spain is specialised in growing ibérico pigs for making high-quality pata Negra hams. Owner Antonio José Cano Cabrera explained to correspondent Rene Stevens which challenges he meets these days to keep his farm running. The 3-site farm houses 70 ibérico pigs and produces about 300 finisher pigs per year at 180 kg live weight.
NETHERLANDS: De Vaart Farm
Going back indoors, correspondent Rene Stevens also visited De Vaart Farm, a 4-site farm owned by Wim Hendrickx near the towns Dongen, Ossendrecht and Heerle in Noord-Brabant province. The farrow-to-finish farm, in total populated by 1,000 sows, 100 gilts, 300 growers and 4,100 finisher pigs, recently had daylight shafts installed in the roof. That allowed the farm to continue producing for the Dutch “Beter Leven” welfare scheme. In summer, when sunlight is plentiful, the shafts can achieve values of 3,000 lux.
CANADA: Ontario Swine Research Centre
In August 2023, Ontario Pork proudly announced the opening of the Ontario Swine Research Centre, a research facility with farrow-to-partially-finish capacities for 300 to 350 sows, located close to Elora, ON. The farm is managed by the nearby University of Guelph and replaced an older facility closer to Guelph from 1979. Pig Progress editor was happy to take a look in this farm with wide alleys and novel techniques from all over the planet, and in which many pig nutrition trials can be performed. The visit got published in 3 separate articles: apart from an introduction to the OSRC, readers can also take a sneak preview into the sow barns and the weaner and finisher facilities.
SOUTH AFRICA: Walt Landgoed
Correspondent Lindi Botha visited Walt Landgoed in the Settlers area of Limpopo province, South Africa. Apart from crop and cattle divisions, the farm also has a multi-site farrow-to-finish division. Teaming up with animal protection organisation VulPro, owner Johan van der Walt developed an unconventional method to dispose of his pig carcasses on his farm: he makes them available for the vultures populating the region. As these birds are endangered species, they feed on the pigs well – some days more than 200 vultures make it to their “restaurants.”
NORWAY: Delta Norway
Pig breeding company Topigs Norsvin proudly opened its latest addition to its growing global network: the 4,400 m2 large boar test station Delta Norway was opened this June near the town Løten. Senior reporter Kees van Dooren of sister title Boerderij travelled north to learn how about 5,000 breeding boars per year can gather here at 40 kg to be getting a thorough passport about their growth, performance and physical condition, which includes a CT-scan. That way any AI centre receiving boars from this station know exactly whom they can greet upon arrival.
ITALY: Azienda Agricola Vanessa Bassino
Straw, straw and even more straw – that is what audiovisual editor Iris Hofman and her colleague Vincent ter Beek saw when visiting this facility near the town San Giorgio Canavese, Torino province in the north of Italy. The farm used to keep 500 beef cattle but decided to switch to occupy its 2 barns with 1,800 finisher pigs instead, as from 2023. The farm produces pigs for the Fumagalli concept, a high-welfare integrator focusing on producing heavy pigs. The pigs receive diets via Platto Nutrition and Cargill Animal Nutrition. And don’t forget to watch the video we made of this visit.
GERMANY: Grobbe Farm
As Germany moves to new regulations for sows in the insemination phase of their cycle, profound changes are upon all sow breeders in the country. The farm of Eckhard Grobbe – a mixed arable and sow facility near Itterbeck, Lower Saxony state, already made the transition. When visiting, senior reporter Kees van Dooren and Pig Progress editor Vincent ter Beek had a good look around in the 450 m2 insemination room for 40 sows, which was constructed at a cost of €500,000. The farm, which gets its feed through the Rothkötter Group, has a 330 sow capacity and sells its piglets at a weight of 28 kg.
GERMANY: Thomas Paul Agrar
Sadly, mid-2024, African Swine Fever virus emerged in south western Germany as well, which meant that a number of farms also got infected. This also happened to the farm of Thomas Paul, who owns a farm in Trebur, Hesse state, which normally would house 250 sows and would produce 6,000 weaner pigs per year. When 4 sows were confirmed infected with ASF, however, his farm had to be emptied and all 2,600 animals had to be culled. Senior reporter Kees van Dooren of sister title Boerderij visited the empty farm – at the time it wasn’t clear yet when Paul could restart his operations.
POLAND: Agripam
All the pig’s senses play a pivotal role in Agripam farm, located close to Cychry in Western Pomerania province, Poland. Columnist Dr Irene Camerlink had a unique opportunity to take a look behind the scenes to learn about the choices made at this breeding-to-wean facility with 4,800 sows. Following the “Artificial Nature” concept, not only sound, smell, taste and touch play a role, but so does vision as well. That leads to spectacular lit pig houses, which aim to mimic seasons as well as day and night.
CANADA: Aldo Farm
The farm that most certainly won its place in the history books is Aldo Farm, located in St Lambert-de-Lauzon, QC. Pig Progress editor Vincent ter Beek paid a visit to the sow farm of the 7-site farrow-to-finish facility owned by the brothers Alain and Donald Lefebvre. In this location, the Gestal concept of Canada’s Jyga Technologies was perfectionised. This system allows producers to get detailed insight in their sows’ feed consumption during both farrowing-lactation and gestation. The farm has a capacity for 2,200 sows, with the other sites being a nursery and 5 finisher locations.
Would you like to see more farm visits? Also check out our farm visit recaps of previous years:
- 2023 (including a visit to Laos)
- 2022 (featuring a visit to The Good Pig in Argentina)
- 2021 (with a virtual visit to SDSU’s swine resarch facility)
- 2020 (with e.g. a visit to a PIC nucleus in Denmark)
- 2019 (with e.g. a long feature to Cherkizovo in Russia)
- 2018 (when we visited the multi-storey pig farms in China)2017 (with a visit to HoCoTec in Colombia).
