Outdoor pig production systems offer significant welfare advantages over intensive indoor systems but require careful management of rotational grazing and environmental conditions.
Outdoor pig systems represent a genuine welfare improvement over intensive indoor confinement for most pigs — the ability to root, wallow, explore, and engage in complex social behaviour transforms the quality of life available to outdoor pigs relative to their indoor counterparts. However, outdoor systems are not automatically high-welfare — poorly managed systems expose pigs to thermal extremes, inadequate shelter, and land that becomes bare mud without vegetation, limiting rooting behaviour. Rotational grazing management, which allows rooted areas to recover while pigs access fresh land, maintains both welfare quality and environmental sustainability. The investment in good outdoor management practice is repaid through healthier, less stressed pigs with better welfare outcomes and typically better growth performance.