Cargill Achieves Eight Critical Animal Welfare Assurance Goals

April 22, 2009 — 

Cargill Pork today announced it has achieved eight priority animal welfare assurance objectives. Advancements are in the production, handling, transportation and harvest of hogs.

On October 1, 2008 Cargill was the first in the industry to institute a policy that it will purchase hogs only from farms that have been certified under the National Pork Producers Council's Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) program.

The program establishes strict certification criteria for many aspects of hog production, including animal welfare standards.

In addition, in December 2008 Cargill Pork's live production business completed PQA + certification site assessments for all of the 450 farms where it has production contracts.

Cargill also made the commitment more than two years ago to widely adopt group housing for gestating sows. "We decided to take a leadership role in sow housing because we think it's the right thing to do to support our customers and our brand," said Cargill Pork President Dirk Jones.

The company reported it has achieved its goal of having 50 percent of contract farms using group sow housing rather than traditional gestation stalls for pregnant sows.

"Achieving this objective distinguishes us as a leader among pork companies," said Jeff Worstell, Cargill Pork vice president for live production and procurement. "As we contract with new grower operations, they too will need to meet Cargill's sow housing standards."

Cargill also instituted the pork industry's Transportation Quality Assurance (TQA) policy that only truck drivers who are certified in humane handling of livestock are allowed to deliver animals to the company's plants.

TQA is a system of training and performance measures for the handling and transportation of pigs. Under the TQA program, drivers and handlers of livestock are trained on the requirements of their role in ensuring swine well-being and pork quality. Cargill now requires that any transporter of hogs to its facilities must be TQA certified. Any hauler not certified may not pass through the company gates.

Source:
Farm & Ranch Guide