Challenges of implementing new measures of animal welfare in swine farms

• Grant number: 22/05484-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Cesar Augusto Pospissil Garbossa
• Grantee: Livia Bartilotti
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The presence of animal welfare on swine production ceases to be, due to the Normative Instruction nº113 of December 16th, 2020 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Foodsupply (MAPA), a distant ideal to become a mandatory reality. This accomplishment, significant to the history of the production system, is a result of the market's requirements for a more informed consumer, as well as of the exportation targets such as Europe and the United States, which have conditions for the entry of said products that involve, in other aspects, the quality of life of these animals. The established measures take into consideration housing, environmental and sanitary conditions, painful procedures, nutrition, genetic improvement, and even euthanasia, constituting a complete document in terms of content. Nevertheless, the practical application in swine farms presents itself as a gradual process because of the document's requirements, and furthermore, do not take into consideration a key factor for this transition: the direct communication with the farmer. Therefore, the research project targets the accessibility of the Normative requirements through didactic and visual reports, clarification of eventual questions of the farmers of the selected area about animal welfare, and understanding of the main challenges of implementing it in a practical and direct way using surveys, answered by the farmer. Beyond that, the project has the goal of showing the producer that rentability and productivity can be benefited from the transition, in order to add value to the product, at the same time taking into account the animals' behavioral needs. We strongly believe that this initiative has great merit for the continuous improvement of swine production since it wants to build a bridge between the governmental, market, animal, and producer requirements, in an effort to establish Brazil as an important reference worldwide as a major exporter and producer in quantity and quality, but also in animal welfare.(AU)