Healthy fattening pigs: Utilisation of health data for the improvement of respiratory diseases and parasite infestation with fattening pigs

Topic area
Agriculture and forestry, incl. value chain

Disaggregation level
Agriculture
Animal welfare
Value added
Risk management
Knowledge transfer
Innovation
EIP European Innovation Partnership

Project region
Lower Austria
Upper Austria
Styria

LE– Programming Period
LE 14–20

Project period
01.09.2017-31.10.2020

Project costs overall
307.737,00 €

Priority
EN - 16.02.1. Unterstützung bei der Entwicklung neuer Erzeugnisse, Verfahren & Technologien der Land-, Ernährungs- & Forstwirtschaft

Project initiator
OG "Gesunde Mastschweine"

Short description

The health of the pigs is an important prerequisite for the economic success of pig fattening farms. However, there is no systematic evaluation and presentation of health data for the use on farms available for the farmers. The project “Healthy fattening pigs” aims thus at developing a health database for pig fattening farms, which will render it easier for farmers to identify risk factors and weak points with respect to health problems and to take respective improvement measures. In addition to that a diagnosis catalogue, as well as tools (e.g. excel tools, apps) for an analysis of the holding will be developed.

Point of departure

Pig fattening farmers receive diagnoses on the health status of their pigs in the course of the official ante- and post mortem inspection at the slaughterhouse (SFU data). The farmers attach great importance to these data as they could be used for the health management on the farm. However, the prerequisite for it is an appropriate quality of the data, which is, for the time being, not sufficiently examined and secured. The information does not contain any evaluation over a longer period, no comparison with the previous year and no benchmarking with other farms. If you were interested these data would have to be summarised and evaluated individually and manually. What is also of interest for the farmers is information about the use of medicinal products. It is documented by the farmers in writing, however, systematic, digital recording of the use of medicinal products at farm level with a simple evaluation of the data is missing. With this project a comprehensive health database for pig fattening farms, which enables farmers to improve animal welfare and health on their farms, is developed.

Targets and target groups

The project “Healthy fattening pigs” aims to develop a health database for pig fattening farms, which will render it easier for farmers to identify risk factors and weak points with respect to health problems and to take respective improvement measures. In addition, tools (e.g. excel tools, apps) for an analysis of the holding will be developed. Main target group are agricultural holdings with fattening pigs.

Project implementation and measures

Important project steps are (1) programming the interface and the possibility to evaluate the SFU data and the data on medicinal products, working out tools and a diagnosis catalogue (= development stage), (2) evaluating the status quo and the subsequent implementation of measures on 34 pig fattening farms (implementation stage), (3) evaluating and controlling the effectiveness of the tools as well as the publication of the project results (= evaluation stage). The project stages partly merge into each other. Thus for example the tools and the health database shall be adapted with a view to the results of the farm visits.

Results and effects

The expected result is an improvement of animal health and bio-safety due to fewer respiratory diseases and parasite infestation in pig fattening farms. In this way fewer medicinal products will have to be used and the competitiveness of pig fattening will increase in general.