Back when Taiwan was a mainly agricultural society, many families raised a few pigs on the side. Their manure could be used as fertilizer, and when major expenses came up, such as a child’s tuition or a daughter’s wedding, families could sell a pig to raise the cash. Hogs were indeed precious assets for farming families. In that time of material poverty, though pork was a luxury item, raising pigs was part of many people’s collective memories.

COA minister Chen Chi-chung says that Taiwan’s achievements in preventing and eradicating swine diseases are clear for all to see. This has garnered international recognition for the quality of Taiwanese pork, and boosted farmers’ competitiveness.(photo by Lin Min-hsuan)

Memories of pig-raising

Chen Chi-chung, minister of the Council of Agriculture (COA), who was born and raised in a traditional farming family, has similar memories from childhood. “From when was small I had to help out with the hogs, including washing out the pig pens, delivering newborn piglets, and clipping piglets’ teeth,” he recalls.

In the heyday of Taiwanese pork exports, Chen’s family expanded pig raising from a sideline to their main business. In 1995 Chen’s father took out a loan from a farmers’ association to construct pig sheds, where he raised 100–200 female breeding hogs. At the time, this was considered a significant scale of operations. However, in 1997 Taiwan suffered an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD), which quickly spread throughout the island.

That year is deeply ingrained in many people’s memories. Taiwan had been the world’s second largest exporter of pork, with annual overseas sales worth upward of NT$50 billion. But after FMD broke out, the domestic price of live pigs collapsed from over NT$40 per kilogram to below NT$20, and the number of households raising swine plummeted from more than 25,000 across Taiwan to today’s figure of only 6,000-plus.

Chen Chi-chung’s father was one of the 19,000 farmers who were wiped out, and he had to work for more than a decade to pay off his debts. FMD caused many people to lose their shirts, and the experience of Chen’s family is a microcosm of that era.

In the past, pig farms were seen as unwelcome neighbors because of their offensive odors and polluted water. (MOFA file photo)

Donghaifeng is a new-style pig farm boasting negative-pressure water-curtain pig sheds with indoor temperature control, and automated feeding systems. Negative-pressure enclosures can reduce disease transmission. The facility creates an entirely new image for pig farming, and sets an example for upgrading the industry as a whole. (courtesy of Taiwan Sugar)

When you fall down, get back up

Following this harsh experience, Taiwan’s swine-­raising industry adopted concepts of biosecurity. Controls were imposed on access to livestock farms for people, vehicles, and materials, and pigs were immunized, with the coverage rate reaching 90%, causing FMD to gradually disappear from Taiwan. After long-term monitoring, agricultural agencies gradually phased out FMD vaccinations completely, yet there were no further cases of FMD. In 2020 the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) certified Taiwan as an “FMD-free zone where vaccination is not practised.”

Perhaps precisely because of its experience in eradicating FMD, since 2018 Taiwan has also successfully prevented African swine fever (ASF) from impacting its pig farming sector.

Chen Kuo-shun, president of Chaishan Foods Company, which sells the C.I.S. brand of pork, shares his firm’s experience with disease prevention. He says that in the past when talking business staff would meet with customers at the firm’s livestock farms, but nowadays pig farmers have all learned their lesson and do not allow visitors onto their sites, but instead will invariably schedule meetings at coffee shops outside the farm. Workers at pig farms must not only wash and undergo disinfection before entering their place of work, they must stay in quarantine for two days, and are only admitted to the facilities after their fingernails, hair, and nasal cavities all test negative for ASF.

ASF is a highly infectious disease with mortality approaching 100%. Moreover, there are no medications or vaccinations for ASF, and the virus can survive for long periods in the environment. Wen Yuan-wen, CEO of the Animal Industry Business Division at Taiwan Sugar Corporation, who is a veterinarian by background, describes the virus as being like a ninja that can hide anywhere and is sure to find its way into pig farms if ever we let our guard down. Taiwan has only able to keep ASF at bay thanks to the joint efforts of the ­government and the private sector. The Customs Administration guards the border, the Environmental Protection Administration ensures that kitchen waste used as pig slop is disinfected by heating, and pig farms cooperate assiduously in implementing the necessary measures.

Now, Taiwan’s efforts to prevent diseases in hogs are taking another step forward. Over the course of 2023 Taiwan will gradually phase out vaccinations against classical swine fever (CSF), and if there are no new cases within a year after the end of inoculations, it can apply to the WOAH to be certified as a CSF-free zone. If this happens, Taiwan will become the only country in Asia to be free of the three major swine diseases.

Taiwan’s pig slaughterhouses and pork processing businesses are keeping up with the times and getting in line with international standards. The photo shows the butchering area at Chaishan Foods Company.

Sustainable pig farming

As the whole world faces the challenges to food security brought by climate change, Taiwan is responding by creating pig farms based on the concept of sustainability.

The Donghaifeng Agricultural Circular Park, located in Pingtung County, was created by rebuilding Taiwan Sugar Corporation’s Donghaifeng pig farm. Pig farms have long been seen as unwelcome neighbors, but when you stroll through Donghaifeng, where more than 10,000 hogs are being raised, there are no strong unpleasant odors in the air and the surrounding greenery gives one an agreeable feeling.

Donghaifeng boasts negative-pressure pig sheds with water curtains for cooling and odor control, constant-­temperature climate control, automated feeding systems, and automated dung removal systems. The negative-pressure enclosures also reduce the risk of infections spreading. When the piglets see us through the glass of the observation corridor, they all gaze at us as we go by. Deputy farm manager Tsai Yen-ru explains that swine are very friendly to people and are curious by nature. If you enter the pig pens they will even nibble at your shoes and pull on your clothing.

Donghaifeng also seeks to promote animal welfare. The concrete slats that make up the floors of the pig sheds are no more than two centimeters apart, so that the animals don’t get their feet stuck and there is enough solid surface to give them adequate space for resting. The elevated flooring is designed so that excreta can be scraped away by the dung removal system and dispatched to a large anaerobic digestion tank at the rear of the facility, where it is fermented to make biogas, which is then used to generate electricity. The biogas slurry can be ­composted into fertilizer, while the liquid digestate is treated to meet effluent standards and can be used for irrigation or for the park’s water supply. This dedication to a green, sustainable livestock model has enabled Donghaifeng to become the world’s first pig farm to be certified under British Standard 8001 as implementing the principles of the circular economy, and earns it visits by experts from around the world eager to learn about its operations.

Donghaifeng is the world’s first pig farm to be certified as implementing the principles of the circular economy, earning it many visits from foreign experts eager to learn from its operations. (courtesy of Taiwan Sugar)

Pig dung can be fermented to produce biogas for renewable energy, while biogas slurry and liquid digestate can also be reused.

Organizing a “Team Taiwan”

Raising livestock sustainably is one element in upgrading the livestock sector. But to enable Taiwanese pork to be exported, it is necessary to work collectively. Not only have pig farms continued to make progress, but efforts are also underway to improve slaughtering and processing operations. In recent years an increasing number of slaughterhouses have received “hazard analysis and critical control points” (HACCP) certification, indicating that they are in line with international standards. Meanwhile, a completely new facility built in the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park by the Taiwan Farm Industry Company (T-HAM) has been designed from the start according to high-spec Japanese standards. The production lines for raw and cooked foods are kept entirely separate in order to avoid cross-­contamination, and there are physical barriers separating flows of people, materials, and even air.

The plant, which combines completely new equipment and facilities and the most advanced processing technology, was last year certified by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries for the heat processing of meat products, which is a key advantage for accessing the Japanese market for processed pork products. Jack Lee, vice general manager and CFO at T-HAM, argues that exports of Taiwanese pork products will not compete on price, but rather, thanks to our geographic proximity to Japan, can rapidly meet demands for customization. This, combined with these products’ high level of refinement and unique Taiwanese flavors, can provide a competitive edge in terms of quality differentiation.

Today there are many positive signs for Taiwanese pork exports. Given Taiwan’s success in disease prevention and control, and with pork industry enterprises continuing to gain international certifications, many Japanese firms and hotels are in active discussions with Taiwanese companies. Some long-established Taiwanese restaurants have also approached T-HAM to explore the potential for collaborating in overseas expansion. Moreover, the Council of Agriculture has been organizing Taiwanese brands to exhibit at international food shows, enabling members of the public in other countries to directly taste delicious Taiwanese cuisine. Our pork industry has formed a “Team Taiwan,” and the day when domestically produced pork will be sold across international borders is close at hand.

Taiwan has held pork food truck events in Japan to help spread the word about the delicious taste of Taiwanese pork. (courtesy of COA)

Pork plays a key role in Taiwanese cuisine. Taiwan’s pork industry is advancing thanks to the collective efforts of all stakeholders, and may soon be able to export Taiwanese pork to the international community.