A number of pig equipment companies and consultants are working hard to help global pig producers fight against the rising costs of energy, which accounts for a large proportion of the input costs on most pig units.

The business of breeding pig stock and genetics relies on more than providing highly productive genotypes. Ongoing stock training and technical support is a significant part of the package as those with joint-venture partnerships in China have discovered.

Australian pig producers are buying into a radical new environmental program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a carbon-neutral production systems to produce high-integrity Australian pork.

Pig farmers can expect major changes ahead as far as the design and shape of feeding systems and other equipment needed for pig production, judging from what was on view at both the 2012 SPACE Show in France and at EuroTier in Germany.

Many French pig producers are looking forward to a new start next year, with a possible change in production systems to help them meet rising demand, as well as new environmental and animal welfare restrictions in 2013. It is also widely expected that France’s smaller slaughtering companies will merge with others to reach a critical mass that will enable them to have more influence on the market in future.

A number of international pig breeding companies are moving away from pure genetics to become high-tech, customer-focused and scientifically based to retain business, as well as win new customers. Pig breeding companies in Ireland, Denmark and Britain, which all have clients spread around the world, are moving this way as they incorporate the latest in science and computer software to gear up in the face of stiff competition—and catch up with the new remote world of virtual reality.

UK pig producers who converted to sow group housing are lobbying to ensure that farmers, who have not switched over to the new system before the EU’s ban on partial sow stalls takes effect on January 1, 2013, won’t be allowed to sell their pork products, or be given a derogation exempting them from the ban.