The fact that 357 pigs died in a fattening farm in the district of Kitzingen raises many questions: about the owner, the keeping conditions and controls. First answers.
Photo: symbolic picture Roland Weihrauch, dpa
The police are still investigating. Many questions are open and have to be checked by the authorities, which is why the result is a long time coming. Only then, says a police spokeswoman for the Würzburg Presidium, can you provide information about what led to the death of 357 pigs. In the early morning of April 23, her owner found her dead in his pig fattening farm in the southern district of Kitzingen. According to previous investigations, the ventilation system, which supplies the population of around 600 animals with fresh air, had failed.
The holder certifies that both politicians from his home town and representatives of the authorities are known “as a tidy and conscientious farmer”. The court has not been noticed negatively so far; The veterinary office had checked him a year ago. The police spokeswoman said: “The farmer acted immediately when he found the animals were dead. He behaved in an exemplary manner, informed the police and, together with them, the veterinary office.” However, the investigations must clarify whether the pig fattener does not notice the failure of his ventilation system or whether he has acted negligently.
How pig farming works
But how can an unnoticed system failure occur? Thomas Schwarzmann, head of the experimental and educational center for pig husbandry in Schwarzenau (district of Kitzingen) explains that there are different types of pig husbandry: in the field, in partly open and in closed stables. “Most of the stables are forced-ventilated due to their sealed construction,” says Schwarzmann. The advantage: the farmer can precisely regulate the climate in the barn, i.e. temperature and humidity. Because depending on the population, the animals would have a different need. Piglets need different temperatures than fully grown fattening pigs.
“There is no one hundred percent security.”
Thomas Schwarzmann, specialist in pig farming–
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck, dpa
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Ventilation systems suck out the bad air and fresh air. However, this must work without interruption. Depending on the density of the livestock and the age of the pigs, if the ventilation system fails, oxygen can become scarce after four to five hours. So that it does not get that far, self-sufficient alarm systems are required, which react in the event of a power failure. They inform the farmer, for example about calls to his cell phone and landline phone. In this case, many farmers have an emergency power supply. Sometimes this is activated automatically; sometimes the farmer has to put them into operation manually.
Fatal consequences in the event of a system failure
If the alarm system fails in addition to the power supply and the farmer does not receive a call, the consequences are fatal. That is why there are controls: QS Quality and Safety GmbH is a control institution introduced by the agricultural sector, which regularly inspects the plants of the affiliated companies. The veterinary office in the district of Kitzingen also checks the pig farmers and shows the functionality of the system in the event of a test alarm. However, according to its head, Dr. Claudia Baldauf, in many cases only active when the occasion arises. Say: if something has happened before. Even then, the office can only visit ten percent of companies in one year.
But what if everything works during the inspection, but the system fails at some point? “There is no one-hundred percent security,” says Schwarzmann, who has worked as a pig farmer’s advisor for more than 25 years and owns pigs himself. But he emphasizes: “These cases are very, very rare.” In his experience, they are mostly due to “the chain of unfortunate circumstances” and therefore “the absolute exception”.
Loss of around 70,000 euros
Schwarzmann and Baldauf explain that the farmers monitor their livestock and facilities on their own initiative. After all, that is your responsibility and it is also about economic interests. This is confirmed by a piglet producer from the district who does not want to be named. “It is controlled, but you have to be behind it yourself.”
He estimates the loss of the farmer from the fattening pigs that have died at around 70,000 euros, simply because of the lost sale. Not including the cost of disposal. But with all the technology and control, the piglet producer also emphasizes: “You can never say that this would not happen to me.” A residual risk always remains. That is why many pig farmers would not go on vacation. The risk of not being able to react in time to a system failure is too high.
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Kitzingen
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Andreas Brachs
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consultant
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Farmers and farmers
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Agriculture
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police
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Residual risk
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Pig farming
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Damage and loss
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Power outages
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Power supply
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livestock farming
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Monitoring and control
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