pig production

Question 1

how long ago where pigs domesticated?

Answer 1

9000 years ago

Question 2

the history of the pig

Answer 2

• Domesticated about 9000 years ago
• True omnivore
• Originally a cottager’s animal – waste food → high quality protein & lard
• Relationship changed with industrial revolution
• Pig can produce high-quality human food efficiently from a
  wide variety of feed sources

Question 3

number of holdings

Answer 3

10,259 total (4,864 breeding holdings)

Question 4

total number of pigs

Answer 4

approx. 5 million

Question 5

number of breeding animals

Answer 5

343,000

Question 6

number of sows per farm

Answer 6

70

Question 7

number of slaughterings

Answer 7

10,061,034

Question 8

how much pig meat was produced in 2023

Answer 8

927,400 tonnes

Question 9

what percentage of our pork do we import?

Answer 9

~60%

Question 10

what percentage of our pork do we export?

Answer 10

30%

Question 11

what is a sow?

Answer 11

Female pig who has had at least one litter of piglets

Question 12

UK sow breeds

Answer 12

Landrace → good mother, good milking, large litter

Large White → relatively good mother, good meat
characteristics & growth

Question 13

UK boar breeds

Answer 13

Large White → moderate growth, very feed
efficient, good carcass composition

Hampshire → very fast growth, not as efficient (eats lots), carcass not as good,

• Pietrain → moderate growth, not best efficiency,
  great carcass composition (lean)
• Duroc → very good meat quality, grow very fast,
  cope well with disease, hairy.

Question 14

what percentage of sows in the EU are kept in the uk?

Answer 14

90%

Question 14

what is a gilt?

Answer 14

A female pig that has not produced a litter of piglets yet or is being used to grow out and finish to butcher

Question 14

what is the total price per pig?

Answer 14

£178.64

Question 14

what is the pre weaning mortality rate

Question 14

what is the average number of piglets born alive per sow?

Answer 14

14.56

Question 14

what are the challenges facing the pig sector?

Answer 14

• Brexit/Covid-19
• Rising costs – war in Ukraine
• Disease – African Swine Fever
• Ban on zinc oxide
• Free-farrowing

Question 15

african swine fever

Answer 15

• DNA arbovirus (up to 100% mortality) resulting in a fatal haemorrhagic disease
• Spreads quickly – remains viable in raw and undercooked meat
• 2007 in Georgia → spread to Russia and
  neighbours, then Baltic states and Poland
• Established in wild boar populations & hard to
  eradicate
• 2018 in China (1/2 world’s pig population) spread
  incredibly quickly to many other countries
• Largely wild boar and backyard farms with poor
  biosecurity
• Started by feeding food waste to pigs