Australian pork industry on track to meet the 2017 deadline of phasing out sow stalls

MORE than 60 per cent of Australian pork producers are now sow stall free.

MORE than 60 per cent of Australian pork producers are now sow-stall free.

And the industry is well on its way to its 2017 target of phasing out the stalls, according to Australian Pork Limited chief executive Andrew Spencer.

Mr Spencer was speaking at an Agribusiness Association of Australia breakfast last week.

He said he believed the goal would be achieved in line with the industry’s decision in 2010 to voluntarily take the action.

“The last 15 per cent will be the hardest, but they may be the farmers who retire from the industry altogether,” Mr Spencer said.

Converting sow stalls into group housing cost about $500 for each sow, and Mr Spencer said it was still a significant ­expense for producers.

“Australian producers are spending about $50 million to upgrade infrastructure,” he said.

Australia accounts for about 0.3 per cent of the world’s pork production, with 4.8 million pigs processed each year.

About 70 per cent of the smallgoods — mostly bacon and ham — consumed in Australia are imported from Canada, North America and Europe.

Mr Spencer said these were the countries that still used sow stalls.

“Very few customers are aware of that fact,” he said.

Mr Spencer said despite the relatively small role Australia had in the global pork industry it was “a world leader” in terms of production and animal welfare.

It is this “world leader” status that Mr Spencer said would set Australia apart and help give it greater market access.

“We are never going to be the world’s lowest-cost pork producers, so if we want to get into markets like China we have to demonstrate how our pork is different and better,” he said.

Mr Spencer said opportunities were opening in China, and although Australia did not yet have access to its market, the industry was eyeing it.

China is the biggest consumer of pork in the world, with 65 per cent of the meat it consumes being pork.

“For us to be able to take on certain export markets, like China, our industry will have to grow,” Mr Spencer said.