Producers in the European Union (EU) discuss sow housing alternatives and welfare compliance. Not many U.S. pork produc-ers probably know it, but the ban on gestation stalls scheduled to go into effect in the European Union (EU) in 2013 actually grewout of a debate over a different sow housing system, says Sherrie Niekamp, Director of Animal Welfare for the National Pork Board. Producers in the EU commonly used sow tethers in an open-backed stall system until welfare concerns led to its ban in January 2006. That's when sow stalls popped up on EU legislators' radar screens, which eventually led to the upcoming ban. Sow gestation stalls won't actually be outlawed, clarifies Niekamp. In general, the EU regulation allows stall use during the first four weeks or so after breeding and also a week or two prior to farrowing.
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