References for implementation of an outdoor pig production system in the Basque Country (Spain)
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At the request of a group of farmers and butchers, an R+D project was carried out in 1999 to design an outdoor pig production system adapted to the existing conditions and market in the Basque Country (Spain). Therefore, the interests of farmers, butchers and final consumers were taken into account. Five farms were available for fattening pigs with a cereal-based diet under a free-range system. Gilts and castrated males of 4 breeds were used: Ibérico (IB), Large White-Landrace x Duroc (LWLD), Dalland (Da), and Dalland x Pietrain (DaP). Collected information comprised quantitative data such as quantities of foodstuff provided, morbidity, morbility, live weight and carcass features (weight, conformation, fat plus skin thickness and muscle thickness). Subjective information was also requested to assess the level of satisfaction of butchers, by means of surveys (conformation, fat content, exudation, etc.), and that of consumers, by means of meat-tasting panels (tenderness, juiciness, colour, flavour, etc.). The LWLD breed seemed to be the best compromise between the objectives of farmers, butchers and consumers, and was chosen to develop an outdoor pig-fattening sector in the Basque Country. Farmers joined forces under the “Txerrizaleok elkartea” association, which now encompasses 15 farmers, producing and commercializing about 3 000 pigs/year.