 Original article written by Vincent ter Beek Swine producers in New Zealand have 10 more years to convert to systems without farrowing crates. That is the outcome of legislation that was approved in the New Zealand parliament early in December. The deadline for the transition is now 18 December 2035 The legislation is the outcome of a long process in which the country had to find a way out of an animal welfare challenge. On 13 November 2020, the country’s High Court ruled that both mating stalls as well as farrowing crates were “unlawful and invalid” as they would be incompatible with the country’s existing animal welfare act. One month later, the government at the time agreed to phase out existing systems within 5 years – a period that would come to an end on 18 December 2025. In the meantime, a National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (Nawac) had time to review the country’s Pigs’ Code. In October 2025, the associate minister of agriculture Andrew Hoggard came up with a detailed proposal on how to move ahead, which included both legislation as well as more leeway for producers. Pig producers would have 10 more years to convert in the case of both farrowing crates and mating stalls. It was this proposal that got approved earlier this month to be in time before 18 December 2025. In essence the new regulations include the following:
The changes come after 5 years of consultation with industry, stakeholders, veterinarians and the public, with Hoggard saying they had listened to and considered a “broad range of perspectives”. Mixed bag of emotions The responses to the proposals included a mixed bag of emotions. Industry body NZ Pork, which was included in the talks, mostly pointed to the fact that big changes are ahead of the industry. In a news release from October 2025, NZ Pork chief executive Brent Kleiss commented: “These proposals bring clarity, but also major practical challenges and significant costs. While the 10-year transition period provides farmers with time to adapt to the new requirements, it will still involve considerable on-farm investment and change.” Animal welfare organisation SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), however, said not to have been consulted and pointed to animal welfare scientists not having been heard. Interestingly, in its own press releases, the New Zealand SPCA stated that “around half of New Zealand pig farms – approximately 44 farms, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries – use indoor systems with farrowing crates”. Original article posted on Pigprogress.net pigssustainable solutionsfarrowing cratesComments are closed.
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