All food production must follow the environmental imperative of being friendly to society and to neighbors, says Peter Best with Watt Publishing in the UK. Best gave a presentation on this topic at the 2008 International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, Inc. Here is a summary of his presentation:
Pork production gains whenever it succeeds in reinforcing its safe, clean, healthy image. This should help not only with consumer demand but also in other areas such as the recruitment of 
new workers, which has joined feed costs as one of the great challenges to the business.
Environmentally, all industries are judged according to their impact in terms of global warming, nutrients in soil and water, and contributors to atmospheric acidity. To that we can add, of course, the necessity for pig units to control the emission of odors and to avoid releasing pathogens into the air that might infect other sites.
In practice, pig producers around the world have demonstrated their commitment to being “green,” or environmentally friendly. The “greenest generation” in world pork production is on sound foundations economically. Systems to reduce odors or to treat manure are often described as costs rather than investments, but the pioneers are showing that actions to limit economic impact also make economic sense. These actions can allow units the potential to start and to expand. Producers are creating new income streams such as the generation of biogas. They are saving on energy and other inputs. They are opening further market opportunities.
Even more important is their demonstration that environmentally related practices within pork production sites have a beneficial effect on pig growth performance. These positive steps help producers prepare for the day when all food producers are taxed financially for the heat, waste, and carbon emissions that arise from production activities, which may not be that far away.
Editor’s Note: This commentary is the summarization of a presentation at Alltech’s 2008 International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium, and is sponsored by Alltech, Inc. For more information on animal health and nutrition, go to: www.alltech.com
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