title: Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: the procedure, the evaluated systems and the evaluation tools.
abstract: Although a few studies consider the sustainability of animal farming systems along the three classical main pillars (economy, environment and society), most studies on pig farming systems address only one of these pillars. The present paper is the introduction to a series of companion papers presenting the results of a study undertaken within the EU-supported project Q-PorkChains, aiming at building a comprehensive tool for the evaluation of pig farming systems, which is robust to accommodate the large variability of systems existing in Europe. The tool is mostly based on questions to farmers and comprises a total of 37 dimensions distributed along eight themes: Animal Welfare, Animal Health, Breeding Programmes, Environmental Sustainability, Meat Safety, Market Conformity, Economy and Working Conditions. The paper describes the procedure that was used for building the tool, using it on 15 contrasted pig farming systems and analysing the results. The evaluated systems are briefly described and a short overview of the dimensions is provided. Detailed descriptions of the theme-wise tools and results, as well as the results of an integrated evaluation, are available in the companion papers.
authors.affiliation: 1UMR1348 PEGASE,INRA,F-35590 Saint Gilles,France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonneau
authors.affiliation: 2Livestock Research,Wageningen UR,NL-8200 AB Lelystad,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Greef
authors.affiliation: 3Institute of Animal Science (ITW),Universität Bonn,DE-53115 Bonn,Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brinkman
authors.affiliation: 3Institute of Animal Science (ITW),Universität Bonn,DE-53115 Bonn,Germany.
authors.forename: M U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Cinar
authors.affiliation: 1UMR1348 PEGASE,INRA,F-35590 Saint Gilles,France.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Dourmad
authors.affiliation: 4Food and Rural Development,School of Agriculture,Newcastle University,GB-NE1 7RU Newcastle upon Tyne,UK.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Edge
authors.affiliation: 5IRTA,Veïnat de Sies,ES-17121 Monells (Girona),Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fàbrega
authors.affiliation: 5IRTA,Veïnat de Sies,ES-17121 Monells (Girona),Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzàlez
authors.affiliation: 2Livestock Research,Wageningen UR,NL-8200 AB Lelystad,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H W J
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Houwers
authors.affiliation: 6Danish Technological Institute,Maglegaardsvej 2,DK-4000 Roskilde,Denmark.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hviid
authors.affiliation: 7Pôle Economie,IFIP,34 Boulevard de la Gare,F-31500 Toulouse,France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ilari-Antoine
authors.affiliation: 3Institute of Animal Science (ITW),Universität Bonn,DE-53115 Bonn,Germany.
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Klauke
authors.affiliation: 3Institute of Animal Science (ITW),Universität Bonn,DE-53115 Bonn,Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Phatsara
authors.affiliation: 8Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU),SE-750 07 Uppsala,Sweden.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rydhmer
authors.affiliation: 9Swine Research Centre,Nutreco R&D,NL-3818KC Amersfoort,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van der Oever
authors.affiliation: 10Bäuerliche Erzeugergemeinschaft Schwäbisch Hall,DE-74549 Schwäbisch Hall,Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zimmer
authors.affiliation: 4Food and Rural Development,School of Agriculture,Newcastle University,GB-NE1 7RU Newcastle upon Tyne,UK.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Edwards
mesh_terms: D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe; D006799:Housing, Animal / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards*; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology*