Caption:
Südamerika, Brasilien, Ernährung, Lebensmittelindustrie, auf der Schweinefarm Lucion werden Schweine markiert, die zum Schlachthaus gebracht werden.
Loading pigs for the slaughter house at Lucion pig farm, some 30 minutes by car NE of Sorriso. The farm produces 980 pigs to slaughter per day (the slaughter house is run by the Lucion subsidiary Nutribras, which process 1300 pigs per day, with some purchases from other farms.) Locally grown corn and soy beans comprise 82% of the diet, with augmentation of vitamins, etc.. All of the pig excrement is used for fertilizing the fields that feed the pigs, and provides methane to run much of the machinery. They also extract soy bean oil to power their vehicles.
Their pork is sold to multiple countries:
China and Hong Kong take most internal organs (heart, liver, kidney, tongue, stomach, etc)
Brazil takes face, ears, nose, ass, feet, and bacon
Ukraine and Russia take ribs, back, legs, and hams
Pigs have 160 days to grow from birth to slaughter, and are slaughtered at 120kg live weight, of which 88kg is meat and skeleton. Each 120kg animal consumes 280kg of feed and 2,000 liters of water over it's short lifetime. Mato Grosso grown corn and soy beans are the world's cheapest, and local cost is only R$208 (approx $90.00) per animal. They also have a relatively diseases free dry environment, and plenty of land to isolate the farm from transmitted diseases.
The farm breeds pigs that are a mixture of four varieties: Large White, Landrace, Duroc, and Pietran.
Sows have 12-13 piglets per liter, they nurse for 25 days, and are ready for breeding 5 days after that. Gestation is 115 days. They spend the first 30 days of pregnancy in pen/confinement. Then days 31-110 in a large maternity pen with other pregnant females where they feed themselves in an automated chute that reads a chip implanted in their ear an gives each one only a certain amount of food and water per day but no more, so that they are not too heavy and are in perfect condition for nurturing their young. They are put back into confinement/pen for delivery. They pens are designed so that the heavy sows don't accidentally crush their young, and have steady access to food and water. While I was there, the sows spent most of their time lying on their sides, but could get up on their feet at will. Lucion adheres to European standards for pig raising, which requite a 30 day period during each maternal cycle when the pigs can walk about freely, but most of them were lying down anyway. The vet here had visited pig farms in Minnesota, and told me that the sows he saw there (a JBS/Swift facility) were permanently confined to pens for their entire breeding lives. 2013. © 2014 George Steinmetz / Agentur Focus ACHTUNG - doppeltes Honorar!