OneWelPig Project

Using a ‘One Welfare’ framework to develop alternative high welfare pig production systems

The OneWelPig project is focused on creating a more sustainable way to raise pigs. This work is guided by the ‘One Welfare’ idea, which is simple: the health and happiness of animals, people, and the environment are completely linked.

We are comparing different pig farming methods, especially those where pigs are kept outdoors, to see how well they meet modern expectations for welfare across all three areas. Detailed information has been gathered from these farms, everything from pig behaviour and health to farmer income and the quality of the soil and local biodiversity. This data will help us objectively measure the environmental and social impact of these systems.

A major focus is testing agroforestry, raising pigs among trees, for the first time in Ireland and using computer models to understand how switching to this system affects farm output. Our ultimate goal is to determine the practical challenges of raising pigs this way on a large scale, and then create a successful blueprint for the Irish pig industry to move toward systems that give pigs regular access to the outdoors. This shift will develop a viable alternative to intensive farming, creating a more resilient food supply chain, helping the local environment, and allowing farmers to earn a better living by offering premium, high-welfare pork.

Pigs being reared outdoors in different environments

Vision

Our vision is the development of pig production systems that provide an environment that satisfies the animals’ physical and behavioural needs, whilst also considering farm workers and the environment.

We plan to achieve this through several key goals:

Blueprint for outdoor pig production
Cross sectional One Welfare characterisation of outdoor pig production
Modifying the Pig Biocheck Tool for outdoor pig production
Social barriers to alternative pig production practices and social impact of current systems
Longitudinal One Welfare assessment of agroforestry and alternative systems for pig production
Modelling land use change of alternative pig production systems
Addressing practical constraints to improving welfare standards in conventional indoor pig production
Social and environmental life cycle assessment of alternative pig production

OneWelPig will also help farmers identify viable means of income diversification, with potential to capitalise on premium prices for high welfare pig-meat and thus help to capitalise on the potential good animal welfare has to build resilience into food production chains. Ultimately, our research will provide the knowledge for individual producers to improve pig welfare, and potentially a portion of the industry to transition to higher welfare systems.

Newsletters

Peer-reviewed publications

Buijs, S., McFarland. C., Olave, R. & Muns, R. Health and performance of fattening pigs reared in grassland and agroforestry systems in a temperate maritime climate. Animal (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2025.101616
Carroll, G., Wangui, J. & Kyriazakis, I. Lack of Social and Physical Opportunity are key barriers to adopting alternative pig farming systems Environmental Development (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101395
Wangui, J.C., Carroll, G.A. & Kyriazakis, I. Rethinking social life cycle assessment for agricultural systems: insights using the pig value chain in the Republic of Ireland as a case study. Int J Life Cycle Assess (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-025-02503-1
Senanayake, N.S., Boyle, L., O’Driscoll, K. et al. Effects of season, age and parasite management practices on gastro – intestinal parasites in pigs kept outdoors in Ireland. Ir Vet J 78, 12 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13620-025-00297-0

Project funding and duration

This project is funded for 4 years by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Funding Programme (2021R600).

Contact

laura.boyle@teagasc.ie or keelin.odriscoll@teagasc.ie

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