With new legislation in Germany banning castration without full anaesthesia starting in 2021, the time for producers to make changes is now, a swine veterinarian says.

According to Niels Wuyts, DVM, technical director for swine at Zoetis, the new legislation – passed in December 2018 – represents the biggest step to date in the EU’s move to end piglet castration. Whereas other countries in the block have passed laws to reduce pain related to castration, Germany’s law aims to eliminate pain, which Wuyts describes as a “small word difference but one that makes a big difference in reality.”

That reality is that starting 1 January, 2021, producers in Germany will have three options for male pigs: raising intact boars, vaccinating against boar taint (sometimes called immunological castration) or surgical castration with full anaesthesia and analgesia. Castration without full anaesthesia will no longer be allowed.

With no possibility of extending the deadline for adopting castration alternatives, farmers must act now to ensure they are prepared for when the new legislation takes effect, Wuyts told Pig Health Today at a PROHEALTH event in Belgium. However, he added, government and industry must do their part to educate farmers about their options, so they can make informed and sustainable choices for their businesses.

“Farmers…have to be better informed on what these changes entail for them,” he said.

“In the next two years, they will have to make their decisions; that means right now they will have to think about which alternative measures they adopt. It’s up to the industry [and] the government…to help farmers with education programmes so they can make an educated choice on where they want to go with production.”

Staying competitive

For farmers in Germany, adopting castration alternatives is a matter not only of legal and regulatory compliance but also of staying competitive in a global pork market that is increasingly moving away from castration, Wuyts said.

“Not changing is not an option for them…because the rest of the world is also changing,” he stressed, noting that the UK and Australia have not castrated for years, while many countries – including the US, Brazil, Thailand, Russia, Poland and Spain – continue to embrace alternatives.

“It would be wrong to deny German producers…the tools to stay competitive with other farmers who have already made their choice.”

Emphasising the need to support farmers as they adapt to new technologies, research, regulations and consumer trends, Wuyts added, “We should not forget that pig farmers have so much to do at the moment…there’s welfare, there’s hygiene and still they have to be competitive with the rest of the world’s production.

“So all the technology is nice, but there are always tradeoffs, and what’s needed for the farmer…is to find for himself a sustainable choice…so he can make a living out of it and be happy.”