Effect of genotype and level of supplementary concentrate on foraging activity and vegetation cover in an organic free-range pig system

Abstract

The objectives were to investigate the effects of genotype and level of concentrate on foraging activity and vegetation cover in an organic pasture-based system for growing-finishing pigs. A 44% reduction in the allowance of concentrate more than doubled the rooting activity. The effect of feeding strategy on grazing was less pronounced; this behaviour only tended to be more frequent in the pigs fed restrictedly compared to the pigs fed according to recommendations. There were no significant differences in rooting activity between genotypes; however, the ‘traditional’ genotype grazed significantly more than the ‘modern’ genotype. The vegetation cover declined significantly faster in the paddocks with restrictedly fed pigs than in the paddocks with pigs fed according to recommendations. A restriction in the allowance of concentrate is a valuable tool for stimulating rooting behaviour in integrated systems where the pigs’ rooting behaviour is considered a resource in relation to, for example, soil tillage.