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Page 4 %u2013 Australian Pork Newspaper, December 2024 www.porknews.com.auADVOCATING for the uptake of outdoor pork production and pasture-raised pigs means I%u2019m always on the lookout for positive messages from people and businesses sharing that passion.I was therefore keen to read a refreshing little piece tucked away on page 26 of the 100-page 2023 sustainability report of global meat production giant JBS that talked about the virtues, potential and reality of farming pigs outdoors. The report was released in August this year.Let me share%u2026When done right, farming pigs outdoors can help improve the quality of the land. This is a key principle of the JBS-owned Pilgrim%u2019s Europe Pork approach to regenerative agriculture and one of the reasons the sows in their British Quality Plus welfare program spend their entire lives outdoors.Incorporating livestock into an arable rotation gives land a worthwhile break from continual crop production, which is known to deplete nutrients and compromise soil health. Within the Pilgrim%u2019s Europe BQP program, pigs are hosted on partner farmers%u2019 fields for two years, during which time they produce manure that enriches the soil, reduces weed burden and disease carry over, increases nutrient retention and boosts biodiversity.This makes the land more productive for growing crops such as cereals or potatoes, improving yields and removing the need for arable farmers to use synthetic fertilisers.To showcase the financial and sustainability benefits of integrating free-range pigs into agricultural practices, Pilgrim%u2019s Europe Pork partnered with supply chain management firm Intellync to analyse soil health pre and post pig production across nine farms in southeast England. The study indicated increases in organic matter and soil carbon, reductions in fertiliser use and yield improvements. However, the benefits were temporary, necessitating the continuous inclusion of pigs in rotations for sustained results and reinforcing the synergy between livestock and arable crop production.While I accept that farming and environment conditions for outdoor pork production are very different in the United Kingdom compared with Down Under, I still see this as a positive move that could be adopted here, albeit probably on a small scale and in select environments, to enhance crop productivity by utilising the very natural life processes of the pig.In his introduction to the sustainability report, JBS chair Jerry O%u2019Callaghan wrote that the key challenges of climate change and food security must be tackled in tandem to ensure reliable access to affordable nutritious food.With the Food and Agricultural Organisation estimating a 20 percent increase in demand for animal sourced foods for a global population expected to reach 10 billion people in three decades, and with consumers increasingly aware and demanding to know the origin of the food they purchase, opportunities abound for those willing to try alternate farming systems.With large-scale factory farming of pigs in Australia %u2013 now so often %u2018on the nose%u2019 with the general public, governments and animal welfare advocates %u2013 perhaps the time has come to seriously consider gentler production systems, even if that is at the expense of productivity.Author%u2019s note %u2013 Pilgrim%u2019s Europe is %u2013 at least according to parent company JBS %u2013 at the forefront of the UK%u2019s food manufacturing industry, providing fresh locally sourced poultry, as well as beef, pork and vegetarian products. Pilgrim%u2019s Europe includes Moy Park, a leading provider of fresh locally farmed poultry and innovative convenience products, and Pilgrim%u2019s UK, the United Kingdom%u2019s number one pig farmer and producer of higher welfare pork that operates across several hundred farms and 15 wellinvested manufacturing sites, many of Britain%u2019s leading retailers and foodservice outlets.Headquartered in S%u00e3o Paulo Brazil, JBS processes, prepares, packages and delivers fresh, further processed and value-added beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, plant-based, cultured protein and prepared food products for sale to customers around the world.JBS is present in more than 25 countries on five continents, with more than 600 operations located across Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Uruguay and Vietnam.JBS claims to be the world%u2019s second biggest pork producer and market leader in Australia, Brazil, Europe and the US. CantComment by BRENDON CANT*To reduce lung lesions Fostera Gold PCV MH contains inactivated recombinant chimeric porcine circovirus type 1 containing the porcine circovirus type 2a open reading frame 2 (ORF2) protein, inactivated recombinant chimeric porcine circovirus type 1 containing the porcine circovirus type 2b (ORF2) protein and inactivated Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae strain.Zoetis Australia Pty Ltd. ABN 94 156 476 425. Level 6, 5 Rider Boulevard, Rhodes NSW 2138. %u00a9 2024 Zoetis Inc. All rights reserved. ZL1958B...SO SHOULDY O U R PROTECTIONTHE ONLYvaccines withTWO PCV2GENOTYPESprotecting againstPCV2a, PCV2b& PCV2d*UNIQUE FORMULATION SINGLE OR SPLIT DOSET H R E A T S ADAPT...T H R E A T S ADAPT...Sows kept outdoors in Australian summers of course face different environmental challenges to those farmed that way in the UK.Pigs having a field dayPork belly and potatoes, a tasty dish that might well be plated up as a result of a balanced outdoor pork farming system.