Local pork producer responds to McDonald’s decision

McDonald's Corporation recently announced they will not work with pork suppliers who continue to use gestation stalls. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

McDonald’s Corporation announced last week they want to work with suppliers of pork who will work towards not using gestation stalls when raising their animals.

Although the use of gestation stalls has become controversial, no studies show the practice of using individual pens for pregnant sows to be problematic, according to Pat Bane, McLean County pork producer and member of the McLean County Farm Bureau Board of Directors.

Bane said the decision seems to appease the perception of consumers, which is not always based on facts.

“The care and the health of our animals and the safety of our employees is our number one priority.  We have electronically controlled heating and cooling systems to ensure the animals’ comfort 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year. We have a stand-by electric generator in case of emergency, so that environment never changes.  We have 24-hour monitoring of the environment in the room in case of a system failure, and we provide individual care for the animals to provide the right amount of feed and the right amount of water and best comfort and safety possible,” said Bane.

Bane said there are a few reasons he chooses to use gestation stalls when raising the pigs on his farm.

One primary benefits to housing pregnant sows in individual pens is that it removes the social stress that group housing can create.  Pigs are social animals, and when mixed they will establish a hierarchy or pecking order.

“This process can be pretty ugly, because the animals will fight to establish who has dominance over the other.  Even after that is established, there can be intermittent fighting in order to re-establish that order,” said Bane.

Another reason is that the gestation stalls allow for individual care for each mother pig.

“For example, a thin sow can be given a little extra feed because she has her own individual pen; she gets her own water.  That feed could get stolen by a larger, stronger sow in a [group] pen situation,” said Bane.

Bane said individual pens also allow for better monitoring of the health of the animals.

Opponents of gestation stalls dislike the fact that a pregnant pig cannot turn around or move around in the stall.  But Bane says the performance of the animals shows him that they are comfortable.

“A veterinarian told me that… you can’t fool Mother Nature.  The fact that these females continue to perform better, reproductively – in pigs per sow per year, milking ability, litter size, litter weight – tells us that.  In order to perform well, a female has to be content; she has to be comfortable.  She cannot be stressed.  If these systems were stressing them, we would not be seeing the improvements that we’re seeing,” said Bane.

Bane believes pork producers can adapt to whatever the market demands.  But he doesn’t believe the move away from gestation stalls is a positive one for the animals.

“This change doesn’t really benefit the animals, which is the number one concern.  The end result here is going to be more injuries to the animals, a higher feed cost, a higher labor cost, and more injuries to the workers,” said Bane.

That affects not only the pigs, but the consumers, as well.

“The big story here is that cost doesn’t go away.  That cost gets passed down to the consumer,” said Bane.

Bane realizes that neither scenario provides all the answers.  But he stands by his reasons for raising pigs in gestation stalls as opposed to group housing.

“There is no real perfect world.  Everything has positives and negatives.  And those of us who have spent our lives raising animals saw the negative impacts to the animals in a pen situation, and put them in a scenario that is better for them.  I guess I would hope that people would come to respect that we, who live it a breathe it every day, know what is the best to care for our animals,” said Bane.

Bane encourages people to do their own research and get educated about these kinds of issues.  One good resource is the Illinois Farm Families website.

To hear the interview with Pat Bane, click here:

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Carrie Muehling can be reached at carrie@wjbc.com.