Let’s talk about pigs - free-farmed vs free-range pig farming systems

The labels free-range and free-farmed sound very similar and seem to be implying the same thing – animals happily living outdoors. But there are differences.

New Zealand pigs are farmed in three different systems:

• Just over half of New Zealand’s commercially grown pigs are raised on farms where all animals are kept indoors for their entire lives.
• Then there are free-farmed systems, where sows and boars are kept outdoors at all times, while the piglets are moved to open-plan barns with deep litter once weaned.
• Lastly, the smallest share of the industry is the free-range system, where all pigs, including piglets, are always outdoors.

While indoor systems commonly house farrowing sows in crates, sows in free-farmed and free-range systems give birth in huts that are freely accessible to them.

The SPCA Certified standards for pigs do not cover conventional indoor systems and the use of farrowing crates and mating stalls is prohibited under the programme. The standards cover both free-farmed and free-range systems, and exceed the minimum legal requirements laid out in the Code of Welfare for Pigs in several areas.

SPCA Certified standards for pigs require that the animals’ needs are met and that the system promotes the opportunity for positive experiences. For example, this means providing environmental enrichment (e.g. foraging material such as straw or enrichment objects) to encourage exploration, and providing appropriate good quality bedding material for animals to rest warmly and comfortably. Animals under our standards also have to be provided with more space than is legally required.

Indeed, there are a total of 170 standards, covering not just the environment that pigs live in, but the animal’s behavioural and health requirements, planning for emergencies on farm, ensuring what the animals eat and drink is appropriate and easily accessible, and how pigs are to be treated by stock people, to name just a few.

Terms such as 'free-range’ or ‘free to roam’ do not always provide assurance of good animal welfare. In addition, provision of good animal welfare is about more than just outdoor access or being free-range. It is about ensuring the many different aspects of the farming system are appropriate and the animals’ requirements are kept top-of-mind to ensure their behavioural, physical, and mental needs are met. Providing opportunities for positive experiences to improve animal welfare is an essential aspect of farming under the SPCA Certified programme for both free-range and free-farmed piggery systems.