This year’s CERES tour of the jurors in the pig farmers category started on the farm of Tobias Urban in Eglingen, Baden-Württemberg. With outside temperatures around 30 degrees, the new sow barn proved to be a delight for the jury, consisting of consultant Dr. Dirk Hesse from agriKontakt, Dr. Stephan Kruse from category sponsor Vion and agrarheute editor Uwe Bräunig, as a soothing, cool oasis. With the help of sophisticated cooling and ventilation technology, the clever farmer is able to offer the animals (and people) an optimal stable climate even in midsummer. The entire husbandry system (which is not yet commonplace in Germany) is also impressive: the 30-year-old pig farmer practices free farrowing, in which the sows are not restrained either at birth or during the suckling period.
The second station for the jury in the pig farmer category was the operation of Konrad Hirl in Rimbach, Lower Bavaria. Already on the way to the farm, the new open barn with a green roof, located on a hill, caught the eye from afar. It is the heart of the farm and offers the 640 fattening pigs the highest level of animal welfare. The animals always have fresh air, plenty of space and straw to run around. The latter is automatically renewed several times a day using a bedding machine, which saves the 44-year-old farmer a lot of work and time. The pigs are marketed in the premium segment via the Edeka straw pig program.
The jury expected something very special from the third finalist in the pig farmer category, Henry Cloer from Werl in the Soester Börde. The 47-year-old is one of the pioneers of a new type of straw housing system for rearing piglets and fattening pigs called Xaletto. The farmer not only offers his pigs a high level of animal welfare. There is also no manure here and the air in the barn is pleasant – far from the typical pig smell, which the jury was able to convince themselves of live.