When visiting Yong Qing Xiang Pastures, located in Guan­shan Township, Tai­­tung County, your first reaction might be, “The penWindow('20866')">pig shed’s right next to the rice paddies! How can that be?” And when walking around the shed, which holds over 4,000 pigs, you might then wonder, “Why doesn’t it stink?”

But when you see the large pens, each holding 20 or so hogs, or the birthing pens with piglets suckling from their mothers, you’ll notice that each animal is the picture of health.

Lü Shao­qing, hog farmer and director of the ROC Swine Association’s Tai­tung office, proudly explains that the feedlots, which undergo regular cleaning and disinfection, are also equipped with automated ventilation and irrigation systems. But his secret weapon for minimizing odors from pig excrement is the addition of enzymes and probiotics to the hog feed. Though this increases feed costs by an extra NT$300,000 a year, it results in superior pork flavor.

At this modern egg farm, with a certified food safety control system, eggs are washed and carefully inspected before being sent to market.

After his discharge from the military, Lü, now in his 40s, started his venture from scratch with 500 hogs. While growing up he had seen the people of his hometown exploited by meat corporations, plus at that time there were numerous news reports of diseased pork entering the market, which dealt a blow to consumer confidence and hurt honest pork producers in Guan­shan. Twelve years ago, after being elected head of the hog raising production and marketing cooperative, he convinced several like-minded farmers to join him in building the KS Pig brand.

KS Pig complies with “hazard analysis and critical control points” (HACCP) food safety controls all the way from production and feed allotment through slaughter and packaging, following a set of complex follow-up and record-keeping systems to ensure safety, so when problems occur the causes can be identified and addressed forthwith.

In addition to the rearing environment, KS Pig also pays close attention to flavor, the key being that the rearing period must be 210 days to reach maturity. “The longer the pigs are raised, the greater the fat distribution within muscle (or marbling) and the better the flavor,” Lü explains.

But the road to brand building has not been a smooth one. Their cooperative raised funds to set up sales counters in Taipei markets, but this didn’t work out due to a lack of marketing expertise. When other cooperative members went back to the traditional way of selling pigs via wholesaler auctions, only he persisted in brand building.

Today, Yong Qing Xiang Pastures’ KS Pig brand continues to garner loyal customers through word of mouth and reliable home delivery, even attracting orders from the major meat products firm T Ham.

High-welfare chicken farming methods provide birds with natural foraging, dust bathing, roosting and sheltering facilities. Shown here is Secret Chicken Base, a farm in Namasia, Kao­hsiung City.

The efforts of Yong Qing Xiang Pastures epitomize the upgrading of Taiwan’s livestock industry.

Statistics show that Taiwanese people eat an average of 76 kilograms of meat a year per person: 37 kg of pork, 33 kg of poultry, and 5 kg of beef. For pork, which is consumed in the greatest quantity, there are between 20 and 30 brands of domestically produced pork known for their excellent quality and flavor. But the quantities are quite small, accounting for less than 5% of the overall pork market.

Some may feel that branded livestock products bearing penWindow('20865')">certification marks are priced too high and are only for the well heeled. But there are conditions and costs in acquiring safety, flavor and quality.

Animal Technology Institute Taiwan associate research fellow Liao Chen-yuan reminds us of outbreaks of hoof and mouth disease in Taiwan’s livestock industry years ago that dealt a blow to exports, as well as price competition engendered by imports following Taiwan’s entry into the WTO. This necessitated numerous reforms that have taken place over the last dozen or more years, including disease prevention, safety controls and humane slaughter measures.

“Currently, the level of risks involving drug residues in livestock products is lower than that for plant-based products,” says Liao. Most livestock products undergo slaughter and butchering, and slaughterhouses must by law pass veterinary inspections, drug residue tests and so forth. As such, there is a basic guarantee of safety.

However, says Liao, the standard designated by government agencies for drug residues is just the “minimum level,” testing technologies are limited, and just because a sample passes a test doesn’t mean the entire batch is okay; besides, it’s difficult to guard against adulterated products (given the limited scope of substances tested for). “To truly ensure food safety, there needs to be a consistent safety control system covering every link from beginning to end,” he says.

Liao recommends the Taiwan Safe Produce penWindow('20865')">certification scheme, along with ISO-22000 and HACCP compliance. The latter two are international standards with strict credibility, while the first was formulated by the Taiwan Society of Agricultural Standards, and features labeling for place of origin.

And are the organic products people frequently ask about 100% safe?

Liao says that the intent of organic production is to be environmentally friendly and natural. But in Taiwan, with its small land area and dense population, organic feed is hard to produce locally, while imported feed is very expensive. As such, organic livestock is not economic to produce at present. “If safety-controlled production models are used, we can attain 95% of the food safety level of organic production, with prices much lower than organic foods,” says Liao.

New Taipei City’s PCfarm Market has a special sales counter for safety-certified meat products, featuring a full range of items.

Besides safety, another goal of upgrading livestock production is flavor.

Recently, humane farming has been a topic of frequent discussion in animal husbandry circles. In addition to prompting people to think about life ethics, it has resulted in higher-quality meat products.

The animal welfare issue was popularized early on by the UK’s Farm Animal Welfare Council. They believe that when using animals, people should meet the animal’s basic needs in at least five areas: proper nutrition, prevention of disease and injury, freedom from physical and psychological discomfort, freedom from fear and stress, and the ability to express natural behaviors. These five needs require appropriate animal husbandry techniques and knowledge to be put into effect.

Hung Yau-kuen, third-generation proprietor of the venerable firm Fwusow Industry Co., Ltd., which made its mark in soybean oil and feed manufacture, has long stressed green environmental principles. For his factory he invested in energy-saving heating equipment, and continues to promote a strategic blueprint for the use of organic fertilizers, biofertilizers, biopesticides, and green production and marketing.

He decided to set up a chicken farm in the misty, verdant mountains of Nantou. He raises his chickens in a humane, free-range setting, where they can roam, forage and interact freely, and he provides coops for egg laying. The rearing method allows the chickens to behave completely naturally. The farmlands undergo attentive maintenance, with a variety of garden plants and fruit trees planted on the grounds, and in the future he also plans to raise free-range pigs. It’s like an animal paradise.

In the birthing pens, piglets are prevented from being crushed when their mothers lie down. The environmental control facilities keep them warm and help ensure healthy growth of piglets. (left:) The pregnant sows are kept in separate corrals to prevent them from fighting, which can cause miscarriages.

But are there international standards for humane farming?

Liao points out that there are no globally consistent standards for humane treatment. Many years ago, to advance the industry and boost farmer income, developed countries such as the US and France encouraged civic organizations to take it upon themselves to implement higher welfare standards than government animal protection regulations require, such as giving animals more living space, fewer restrictions, and a richer growing environment. This ended up creating a special market segment for such farmed products.

From overseas experience we know that humane breeding also affects meat quality: if animal anxiety can be prevented or recreation and exercise provided while raising livestock, this can stimulate growth and improve the juiciness and tenderness (mouthfeel) of the meat.

Humane shipping and slaughter are also beneficial for meat quality. In general, if the shipping, auction and slaughter processes are not carried out well, abnormal changes in acidity are created, leading to poor-quality meat. For instance, “DFD” (dark, firm, dry) meat, with a pH of over 6.0, is easily affected by microbe contamination and propagation, which is bad for processing and storage, while “PSE” (pale, soft, exudative) meat, whose pH is lower than 5.5, has inferior water holding capacity, and the nutrients and flavor flow out with the meat juice.

“The humane slaughter concept has been entrenched in Taiwan for a while now. Ten years ago when we promoted the concept of humane treatment at auction houses and slaughterhouses, the operatives cursed us under their breath, complaining that we were slowing down their work; now they save their curses for the newbies: ‘No hitting! Don’t abuse my pigs!’” laughs Liao.

There are many advantages to high-welfare livestock farming. But in order to create a high-quality production environment, it’s necessary to increase land and labor costs; moreover, seeking improved flavor lowers production efficiency and obtaining penWindow('20865')">certifications is also costly; this is all reflected in the sale price. Currently in Taiwan there are only three chicken farms, four egg farms and one pig farm that have gained high welfare penWindow('20865')">certification.

In the birthing pens, piglets are prevented from being crushed when their mothers lie down. The environmental control facilities keep them warm and help ensure healthy growth of piglets. (left:) The pregnant sows are kept in separate corrals to prevent them from fighting, which can cause miscarriages.

We’ve learned from overseas experience that for animal welfare standards to rise, consumers need to know how to make proper choices and be willing to spend a little bit more to support conscientious businesses, give producers the chance to be profitable, and continue to upgrade standards. As time passes, the government can naturally take advantage of this opportunity to pass relevant legislation.

The problem now is that most consumers lack sufficient knowledge of livestock product quality. People’s primary demand for food has only just begun to evolve from “cheap” to “safe.”

Happily, many people recognize that this is the wave of the future.

Liao notes that Taiwan’s limited land area makes it hard to grow feed crops, meaning that livestock feed stocks are completely reliant on imports, with product sales taking place mostly through auctions or wholesalers. Given the difficulties livestock farmers have in controlling prices from raw materials through end product, if international feed prices climb in the future, there are just two courses left for farmers to take: either to become contractors for big businesses that operate feed factories and slaughterhouses, or to establish farming enterprises that produce goods under their own brands, with the extent of their efforts reflected in sales price and revenues.

Yong Qing Xiang Pastures receives a shipment of feed from a truck designated for drug-free feed to prevent cross-contamination.

Faced with the recent string of food safety crises such as mad cow disease and ractopamine contamination, Liao believes that the solution is to provide clear and fair labeling of food content, giving consumers the power to make decisions.

For instance, Taiwan should follow Japan’s lead, adopting a twin-pronged “open import, domestic restriction” approach regarding ractopamine. Clear labeling of place of origin should not only apply to fresh refrigerated meats, but also to meat buns, meat dumplings, hamburgers and so forth. This can help stimulate self-regulation by domestic livestock operators.

“People often ascribe obesity, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and allergies to eating meat, but in fact these key problems are mostly related to overeating of meat, over-consumption of food in general, excessive processing of foods, and chemical residues. The solution is a balanced diet and the careful selection of good meats,” says Liao.

A Western proverb goes, “You are what you eat.” Starting today, by wisely choosing good meat, your behavior can affect the humane development of the livestock industry.