中國將豬放入 13 層樓的“養豬旅館”以防止細菌滋生 (2 of 2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China’s Putting Pigs in 13-Story ‘Hog Hotels’ to Keep Germs Out (2 of 2)

Bloomberg News

Sun., August 1, 2021, 10:59 p.m.

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Mega Complexes

These days, mega pig complexes that don’t rely on other farms for sows, fodder and labor -- which risk introducing pathogens -- are a pillar of China’s food security. As of 2020, 57% of the country’s pig production is from farms supplying more than 500 hogs a year. Before the outbreak, only about 1% came from larger suppliers.

New Hope Group recently completed three five-story buildings across an area the size of 20 football fields, or 140,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet), in Beijing’s eastern Pinggu district. The facility, which can be smelled from about a kilometer away, will eventually produce 120,000 pigs annually, making it the largest in the Beijing area.

It’s equipped with robots that monitor animals for fever, air filtration, and automatic feeding and disinfection systems, according to Gong Jingli, the supervisor in charge. A request to visit was declined on biosecurity grounds.

That’s in part because the scale of these farms means more is at stake. With thousands of pigs housed in close proximity, an infectious disease could spread rapidly.

Strict protocols are enforced to minimize risks. Staff are required to shower and change their clothes on entering and exiting the facility -- much like scientists working in biosafety laboratories. Wristwatches must be left outside.

Tom Gillespie, a U.S.-based swine veterinarian with 40 years of experience and who visits farms in Asia annually, said he was asked to remove his wedding band before entering a facility in China, but was allowed to keep his spectacles on. The requirement was a reaction to African swine fever, he said, and may be relaxed once operators are more familiar with managing biosecurity risks.

Some mega farms have built staff dormitories to try to limit workers’ contact with the “outside” -- a strategy Gillespie said would be difficult to implement in other countries.

So far, large-scale farms in China have also avoided many of the restrictions applied to their overseas counterparts because of animal welfare and environmental concerns.

“In Europe and U.S., there are restrictions on how big we can make a pig farm because people just object -- they don’t want to live next to these huge sites,” said Gira’s Claxton. “In China, that doesn’t seem to be the case. If it’s decided that a pig farm is needed, then the space is available.”

Popular Option

Expanding vertically is a popular option in a country lacking vast tracks of empty space. Rapid urbanization has diminished land available for agriculture, and environmental regulations have made intensive animal production increasingly difficult in metropolitan areas.

High-rise blocks can cut farmland use by a third compared with traditional farms with the same number of pigs, and there’s flexibility in terms of location as some can be built on mountains, said New Hope’s Gong. Wastewater from the Pinggu plant is treated and used to irrigate orchards nearby, while the solid waste is turned into fertilizer, Gong said.

Muyuan Foods, China’s largest hog breeder, said it has land available to support 100 million hogs. Jiangxi Zhengbang Technology, the second-biggest, has said its herd may eventually reach a similar size.

The rise of large hog farms also reflects shifting diets in China. Whereas Beijing focused on fighting hunger and eliminating poverty in past decades, rapid economic development and expanding incomes mean China’s 1.4 billion people are eating more meat, eggs and other animal proteins. That’s driving more-intensive animal production.

“China is the world’s largest pork-consuming nation, and I don’t see that changing very easily or any time soon,” said David Ortega, associate professor of Food and Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing. “Rebuilding the pork sector is a national priority for the government.”

Translation

(繼續)

大型綜合體

如今，大型養豬場是中國糧食安全的支柱, 它不依賴其他農場飼養母豬、飼料和勞動力 - 這都有可能引入病原體 。截至 2020 年，該國 57% 的生豬產量來自每年可供應 500 頭以上生豬的各農場。在疫情爆發之前，只有大約 1% 來自較大的供應商。

新希望集團 最近在北京東部平谷區完成了三座五層樓的建築，面積相當於 20 個足球場，或 140,000 平方米（150 萬平方英尺）。該設施在一公里外都能聞到，最終每年將生產 12 萬頭豬，成為北京地區最大的豬場。

據負責人龔景禮介紹，它配備了機器監測動物發燒、空氣過濾、自動餵食和消毒系統。他們以生物安全為由, 拒絕了訪問的請求。

部分原因是因為這些農場的規模意味著更多的風險。由於數以千計的豬被關在一起，傳染病可能會迅速傳播。

所有安排都嚴格執行以降低風險。工作人員在進出設施時需要淋浴和換衣服 - 就像在生物安全實驗室工作的科學家一樣。手錶必須放在外面。

擁有 40 年經驗的美國養豬獸醫Tom Gillespie 每年都會訪問亞洲的農場。他說，在進入中國的一家農場之前，他被要求摘下結婚戒指，但被允許繼續戴上眼鏡。他說，這項要求是對非洲豬瘟的反應，一旦操作員更熟悉管理生物安全風險，要求可能會放寬。

一些大型農場建造了員工宿舍，試圖限制工人與“外界”的接觸 - Gillespie說這一策略在其他國家難以實施。

迄今為止，中國的大型農場也不遵循許多適用於海外同行, 都是由於動物權益和環境問題出発的限制。

Gira的 Claxton 說: “在歐洲和美國，會對養豬場的規模有限制，因為人們一直反對 - 他們不想住在這些巨大豬場的旁邊”; 又 說: “在中國，情況似乎並非如此。如果決定需要一個養豬場，就有可用的空間。”

熱門選項

在一個缺乏廣闊空間的國家，垂直擴張是一種流行的選擇。快速的城市化減少了可用於農業的土地，環境法規使大都市地區的密集的動物生產變得越來越困難。

新希望 的龔說，與生豬數量相同的傳統農場相比，高層建築可以減少三分之一的農田使用量，並且在位置方面具有靈活性，因為有些可以建在山上。龔又說，平谷農場的廢水經過處理後用於灌溉附近的果園，而固體廢物則轉化為肥料。

中國最大的生豬養殖商牧原食品 表示，它擁有可養活 1 億頭生豬的土地。第二大的江西正邦科技 表示，其畜群最終可能會達到類似規模。

大型養豬場的興起也反映了中國飲食結構的轉變。北京過去幾十年專注於抗擊飢餓和消除貧困，而經濟的快速發展和收入的增加, 意味著中國 14 億人正在吃更多的肉、蛋和其他動物蛋白。這推動了更密集的動物生產。

Michigan State University in East Lansing的食品與農業經濟學副教授David Ortega說: “中國是世界上最大的豬肉消費國，我認為這種情況不會輕易或很快發生改變”; “重建豬肉行業是政府的國家優先事項。”

              So, China’s domestic hog numbers recovered more swiftly than anticipated because mega farms have expanded capacity aggressively. If this business continues to operate successfully, I am wondering whether China would become a major pork exporting country in the future.