Can free-range pigs in rural areas be raised up to 50? These regulations you need to know

In rural areas, free-range pig farming is a fairly common phenomenon, and it is also a way for farmers to increase their income. But with the development of the urban economy and the backward technology of rural free-range pig farming, the number of rural free-range pig farmers is steadily decreasing, and many rural friends are still not very clear about some issues regarding free-range pig farming. What regulations apply to free-range pig farming in rural areas? Can you raise 50 head?

1. What regulations apply to free-range pig farming in rural areas?

1. To set up a small pig farm, an individual should submit an application to the village committee of the location where the farming land is situated, and after reporting it for approval to the competent department at the township level, go to the local Administration for Industry and Commerce to handle the pre-approval procedures for industrial and commercial registration (pre-approval of the farm name), and then proceed to handle the “Business License” for an enterprise or an individual industrial and commercial household. Generally, in rural areas, setting up a small pig farm only requires handling the “Business License” for an individual industrial and commercial household.

2. Go to the local animal husbandry department to handle the filing procedures for the pig farming project.

3. Entrust a qualified environmental impact assessment company to write an environmental impact assessment report, then send it to the Environmental Protection Bureau for entrusted review, and finally, once the review is passed and the approval document is obtained, the environmental impact assessment procedures are considered complete.

4. With the ID card of the legal representative of the unit and the relevant industry business license (photocopy), go to the local Animal Quarantine and Inspection Bureau to handle the “Animal Epidemic Prevention Condition Qualification Certificate”.

2. Can free-range pigs in rural areas be raised up to 50 head?

In rural areas, raising any number of pigs is legal; there is no numerical limit. So, which areas are designated as “no-breeding zones” for livestock and poultry?

1. Drinking water source protection areas, scenic and historic interest areas, and the core zones and buffer zones of nature reserves.

2. Densely populated areas such as residential districts, cultural, educational and scientific research districts, and medical districts in cities and towns.

3. No-breeding zones designated according to law by the people’s government at the county level.

4. Other areas requiring special protection as stipulated by national or local laws and regulations.

As for the state prohibiting pig farming in rural areas, many rural friends may have misread this. The state does not prohibit rural individual households from raising pigs; rather, it is laws and regulations formulated for certain pig farms, requiring pig farms to meet the relevant national standards, so as to further protect our ecological environment and ensure food safety for consumers.

3. Precautions for free-range pig farming in rural areas

The requirements for the farming environment of free-range pigs are higher than those for pen-raised pigs. In the past, every household in rural areas raised a few pigs for the New Year, but free-range pig farming today is different from the past. Nowadays, we mainly raise free-range pigs to make money, and raising just a few at home cannot guarantee our source of income at all, so a certain number of pigs must be raised. A certain number of free-range pigs places relatively high demands on the farming environment. First, it must be far from villages to avoid the farming odor affecting residents; second, the chosen farming environment must be suitable for grazing and also free of pollution; and finally, transportation must be convenient to facilitate freight costs.

The technical requirements for free-range pig farming are equally strict, not inferior to pen-raised pig farming at all. Free-range pigs are not simply let outside and left unattended; they likewise require daily management and epidemic prevention. Free-range pigs do not avoid getting sick, and after they fall ill, the heavy use of antibiotic drugs will inevitably have a certain impact on the quality of the pork. Compared with pen-raised pigs, we need to increase feeding management even more to prevent pigs from getting sick. At the same time, the epidemic prevention that should be done must be carried out in accordance with the epidemic prevention procedures.