The first steps towards a closed supply chain for ITW animals have been included in the 2021-2023 programme. For this purpose, sow farmers and piglet rearers almost become united as piglet rearers must source their piglets from ITW-approved sow farms. However, pig producers must form partnerships with marketers/abattoirs themselves – they must enter into agreements with ITW abattoirs in order to receive the animal welfare price premium. Piglet rearers do not currently have to source ITW piglets.
If you are a pig or poultry farmer, you can register for the Initiative Tierwohl at any time. Sow farmers will also be able to do so from the 1st of February 2021. Piglet rearers, however, can only register during official registration phases, as the sponsoring company must allocate a budget for them before they can participate. All the information that you need about the programme and participation is available in the download section. Please contact your coordinator directly to register.
Pig farmers receive a price premium of € 5.28 per pig from their ITWabattoir. For this, they must coordinate directly with the abattoir or their marketer. Piglet rearers receive an animal welfare payment of € 3.07 per reared piglet. The animal welfare payment is paid to the piglet rearer by the sponsoring company. This amount also includes the € 1.80 price premium for the sow farmer for each reared piglet which is passed on from the piglet rearer to the sow farmer.
For broilers, poultry farmers receive 2.75 cents per kilogram live weight, for turkey hens they receive 3.25 cents per kilogram live weight and for turkey cocks they receive 4.0 cents per kilogram live weight.
For broilers, poultry farmers receive 2.75 cents per kilogram live weight, for turkey hens they receive 3.25 cents per kilogram live weight and for turkey cocks they receive 4.0 cents per kilogram live weight.
No. The ITW does not issue general approvals for certain products, manufacturers or structures. The livestock owners can freely decide how and with what they will implement the criteria. They can also switch between different products (e.g. for roughage). Likewise, individual solutions for different pens (e.g. in normal pens vs. in recovery pens) can also be used. The most important thing is always that the requirements of the individual criteria are complied with on-site on the livestock farm.
Farmers that raise gilts (usually breeders that weigh approx. 30 to 120 kg) are not eligible for an ITW price premium for their breeding animals. For selected animals, i.e. animals that are not suitable for breeding, that are sold as animals for slaughter (such as pigs), the farmer can be paid a price premium if they sell their animals to a participating abattoir. These farmers can therefore register with the Initiative Tierwohl as producers.
There is a list of the participating abattoirs available at the bottom of the downloads page. This means that producers can see which abattoir they can supply their pigs to in order to receive the animal welfare price premium. The producers must coordinate directly with the abattoir or the marketing company that supplies them (e.g. the producer group, livestock trader).
No, any violation of the programme requirements is always dealt with on an individual basis.
Each farm manager can decide which production scopes (pig production, sow farming + piglet rearing) they want to take part in for themselves. In the new programme, sow farmers and piglet rearers are affiliated with each other due to the mandatory sourcing of ITW piglets. Sow farmers also receive their price premium through their piglet rearers. Therefore, sow farmers and piglet rearers that work together in a closed system must register together. Producers can still participate in the new programme individually. All the requirements always apply for all the animals and sheds of a participating farm. The farm is defined by its registration number according to the German Livestock Transport Regulation and its production scope (pig production, piglet raising, sow farming). A pig producer can also participate individually under a German Livestock Transport Regulation registration number, while sow farmers and piglet rearers have to work together.
The animal welfare payments and price premiums listed in the Initiative Tierwohl programme manual are classed as net amounts. They are taxed according to the standard tax rate. More information about this is available here.
A producer can market their pigs freely. They are not obliged to supply them to an abattoir that participates in the Initiative Tierwohl. However, only participating abattoirs pay producers the animal welfare price premium.
There are different types of audits, i.e. inspections, carried out on animal welfare farms. Farmers are informed of the comprehensive programme and confirmation audits (with documentation check) a maximum of 24 hours before they are carried out. However, the stock inspections, which only investigate the shed criteria, take place without any prior notification.