Fulfilling 100 organic pig diets: Feeding roughage and foraging from the range

摘要

The derogation from the EU Organic Regulatory Board to allow organic pig and poultry producers to include up to 5% non-organic feed within their rations was due to finish at the end of December 2014. This has now been extended to 31 December 2017 when it will become compulsory under EU Regulation (EC) no 889/2008 to provide all organic livestock with feed derived from 100% organic origins. The Regulation also requires pigs on organic farms to have access to materials they can manipulate to satisfy their behavioural need to forage and to displace abnormal aggressive behaviours such as tail biting. This guide discusses the role roughage can play in addressing the nutritional and foraging needs of pigs in organic systems.