For over a decade, the world has had a focus of being a clean green image. It has had advantages & disadvantages where in the Pig Industry, pig farmers are constantly under pressure to update, modify & change their farming practices on farm.
The pig farmer is under pressure to up date and change to a more suitable farming practice.
But at what cost to the industry and the consumers? This has raised some significant issues. I will discuss these issues in the attempt to raise awareness in the readership.
Contrasts show, in the poultry industry, companies couldn’t meet the deadline to move to a more substantial farming. The transition from caged poultry to free range has dropped many poultry farmers out of the industry, significant numbers of what was once in multitudes of poultry, that now has diminished. Supermarkets shelves are mostly empty due to the shortage on egg supply & eating supply. Prices of eggs & chicken has significantly increased. This type of transition has been observed & has been occuring in the pork industry for sometime now.
The death rate of removing a sow from a furrowing grate will be on average 50%.
This will lead to short-term shortages and higher prices paid by the consumer. Supplying of bacon is outweighed by demand, therefore farmers are unable to keep up with supply.
This has caused rising tensions resulting in outrage across the country where the general public care enough to hold protests to the New Zealand Government to account.
The general public need to weigh their understandings, broaden their base knowledge, inform themselves of the pig farming industry. Out there on the land is a daunting experience when compliance is constantly under review by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), resulting in pig farmers & poultry farmers are constantly fitting the bill.
Ourselves as the public, we need to be confident that we can rely on qualified media outlets, newspaper articles, credible internet sources & websites, articles & reports, past & present so that we can assess all issues on an even scale. We need to feel confident that we can give a conscious & balanced view & still be able to hold different Government agencies to accountability.
Our Health & Food Safety is a world class system which New Zealanders can be proud of, from the gate to the plate.
New Zealand’s reputation world wide, to provide the best quality food, in this case, pork, is second to none. We are a country that can be proud of the quality practices on farms, to knowing what the animals eat being grass fed and outdoor rearing of the animals grazing free range, allowing New Zealand to continue to uphold it’s proud heritage.
