Abstract:
The "Animal Welfare" eco-scheme, implemented in Poland under the National Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027, includes, for pig production, practices involving increased space allowance for sows and fattening pigs, straw bedding, delayed weaning, closed-cycle (farrow-to-finish) production, and reduced antibiotic use. This article critically analyses these practices in terms of their simultaneous effects on animal welfare and the full spectrum of gaseous emissions from pig production: ammonia (NH3), a major air pollutant, and the three greenhouse gases directly included in carbon-footprint accounting—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). A review of peer-reviewed scientific literature indicates that the relationship between animal welfare and gaseous emissions in pig production is neither uniformly positive nor uniformly negative. Rather, it depends on how a given practice is managed, including bedding moisture and renewal frequency, floor type, and diet composition, rather than on the mere fact that the practice is implemented. The article argues that the post-2027 design of the eco-scheme should place greater emphasis on a results-based component using animal-based indicators, rather than relying exclusively on technical criteria, thereby allowing the welfare and environmental and climate objectives of the CAP to be better reconciled.
