Compromising biosecurity? Dynamic changes in Corsican free-range pig breeding systems under new health constraints. | Vers un compromis biosécuritaire? L'élevage porcin corse sur parcours face à de nouvelles contraintes sanitaires.

International audience

English. Free-range breeding systems differ in their land holding, techno-economic orientation and risk of exposure to infectious wildlife. Contemporary biosecurity measures aiming to protect livestock against pathogens introduction potentially result in standardisation of practices, which can undermine local breeding systems. A ministerial order and its technical instruction imposing biosecurity measures for pig farming, notably including the confinement of all animals in double fences enclosures, were considered as unsuitable by Corsican farmers because of free-range importance on the island. According to the French New Health Governance, a technical committee including our laboratory team, the regional organizations involved in animal health management and breeding advice was established to design a regional health plan admissible by regional and national health authorities and pig farmers. In this applied research, we designed a hybrid breeding system that combined biosecurity adaptations and techno-economic requirements. We present here three zootechnical dimensions around which a compromise was built: 1) access to rangelands with a risk acceptation for finishers; 2) breeding compartmentalisation according to the type of animal; 3) progressive monitoring of the farm evolution. The results show that a systemic approach to animal science that integrates biosecurity paradigms is effective when designing compromised free-range systems. We argue that it is relevant to reconcile public health requirements, animal welfare and local food systems that value local breeds, spontaneous resources, and local knowledge.