This was announced by the two responsible ministers, Johannes Rauch and Norbert Totschnig.
However, the end will take place in stages, and a long transitional period is planned until the complete ban is in place. Fully slatted pens without a functional area in new buildings and conversions will be prohibited from next year. Existing barns must be converted by 2039. The animal welfare package is to be passed in Parliament next week.
Animal Welfare Minister Rauch described the coming end as a “great success for animal welfare” and “a real turning point in pig farming”. Agriculture Minister Totschnig said that especially in times of rising prices, further development steps must be taken cautiously, also in order not to endanger domestic production chains.
- ZIB 1: Off for fully slatted floors from 2040
The “Association against animal factories” criticized the long transition periods. But it is precisely these that are important from the point of view of the Chamber of Agriculture: “New and conversion work is costly and must be earned over a longer period of time,” said President Josef Moosbrugger.
Meat as a shopkeeper?
The topic of animal welfare is as present as it is controversial: Billa recently called for substantial animal welfare improvements in a broadcast. The demands for ever higher animal husbandry, environmental and production standards are not expedient, according to a broadcast by the Upper Austrian. Farmers Union. Due to the rising cost of living, consumer behavior would change in the direction of cheaper food. “There must be a sale for food from particularly animal-friendly husbandry,” said the chairwoman of the farmers’ association, Michaela Langer-Weninger.
Source: Nachrichten
