{"id":614256,"date":"2026-09-28T11:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/614256\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:44:09","slug":"taranaki-solar-powered-piggery-tackles-rising-costs-and-welfare-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/614256\/","title":{"rendered":"Taranaki solar-powered piggery tackles rising costs and welfare reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanley, who originally started out in viticulture and winemaking, came back to the family farm 12 years ago.<\/p>\n

His grandfather and great-uncle bought the original farm, a rehab block, and farmed both dairy cows and pigs.<\/p>\n

That was continued by Stanley\u2019s father and his brother.<\/p>\n

Six years ago, the family decided to expand the pig operation and move into cropping \u201cbecause we thought that we could make better utilisation of our fertiliser that the pigs were creating for us\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 133ha farm now grows silage, hay and maize for neighbouring livestock farmers, \u201cand we do it on 100% natural fertiliser\u201d.<\/p>\n

The \u201cfarrowing [birthing] to finish\u201d operation runs 500 sows and delivers 240 to 260 grown-on pigs weekly to the domestic market, Stanley said.<\/p>\n

Stanley Bros is among the 52% of New Zealand\u2019s commercial pig farms that keep pigs fully indoors.<\/p>\n

Stanley\u2019s grandfather used to keep his sows outside, but the family learnt Taranaki\u2019s volcanic soils were not suitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cPigs can tend to turn the place over in the mud pretty quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going indoors was also a way of staying viable \u201cwhen you\u2019re competing with the foreign pork coming in\u201d.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, a $1 million upgrade to the four farrowing units saw larger pens and nesting areas alongside the farrowing crates, which restrict the sow\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always had this mentality on the farm that we\u2019d always be hoping to be two or three steps ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The welfare code is tightening to reduce the time sows spend in the metal crates (from a maximum of 33 days to seven).<\/p>\n

Moveable rails will be mandated and minimum space for grower pigs increased by 13.3%.<\/p>\n

These changes must happen by the end of 2035.<\/p>\n

Debate continues over whether farrowing crates should still be allowed at all<\/a>, after animal welfare advocates won a High Court case in 2020<\/a> banning them outright, as in a handful of European countries.<\/p>\n

\"KarlKarl Stanley with one of his days-old piglets. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n

That ruling was superseded by an easing of regulations brought in by the coalition Government in 2025, with a 10-year transition period.<\/p>\n

Stanley said his new shed will lower stocking density throughout the farm and should be up and running by Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur changes will be certainly towards making sure that we\u2019re well and truly ahead of the new regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing steps ahead gives you flexibility and also better efficiencies, but also just being a few steps ahead means that you can really get yourself scope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PigletsPiglets suckle on a sow in a farrowing crate. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n

Stanley took Country Life on a tour of the piggery and farrowing area, where newborn piglets scurried between a nesting box under a heat lamp to suckle on their mum, who is restricted to lying \u2013 enclosed by the rails \u2013 for two and a half weeks, able to sit up but not move around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 100% protection of the piglet. A sow can be a little bit clumsy at times and lay-ons are certainly a concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the new system gets put in place with the temporary confinement, she\u2019ll be confined for the first three days after farrowing and then she will be able to hop out and rotate around and do her thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WeanedWeaned piglets. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n

He hopes the current 9% piglet mortality rate will not climb further under the new system, which will see a refit to allow the rails to be pushed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to find that balance between the welfare and protection of the piglets and also the welfare of the sow.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably the hardest part is we\u2019re competing with imported product that\u2019s not following the same standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanley\u2019s refit comes as the pork industry continues to warn that local producers are struggling<\/a> against a flood of lower-welfare imports.<\/p>\n

\"GrowerGrower pigs. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n

He hopes to make changes to the first farrowing unit in the next year to 18 months, then acclimatise staff and fine-tune things \u201cto make sure that the piglet welfare and the sow\u2019s welfare is at the optimum and before we make the changes to the rest of the facility\u201d.<\/p>\n

Along from the farrowing area, a nursery houses hordes of tiny piglets in 22C warmth, \u201crunning around and being silly buggers like they want to be\u201d, Stanley said.<\/p>\n

Welfare regulations require enrichment, which Stanley said would be enhanced in the new development.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe foundations of the new piggery at Stanley Bros in \u014cpunake. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gone from little ballcock balls that they can push around and play with or else going to the chains, which they quite enjoy … because they sit there and chew it with their teeth and just something for them to do \u2013 a bit of fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be certainly adding more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanley said experts from Europe \u2013 where some countries\u2019 welfare regulations are tightening too \u2013 had advised on the new development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re 100% to increase the square metreage of the entire farm without really increasing the actual production.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this expenditure is not a gain in production, unfortunately, but it\u2019s certainly going to give us a better, how would I say, a better future knowing that we\u2019ve got that scope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA solar farm was installed in 2024 to power the piggery. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n

The adjoining 400-panel solar farm, put in two years ago, produces 200 kilowatts, enough to power the piggery from 9am to 5pm during the summer, with lower production during the winter, Stanley said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a saving of $75,000 annually and with power at 10% of the farm\u2019s cost, he hopes to invest further in wind turbines and batteries to create more energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great investment and it\u2019s good for us, lowers our footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanley said the overall investment had been daunting and had caused \u201ca few headaches\u201d but he hoped consumers would back New Zealand pork growers like him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing our part and we just need that support back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stanley, who originally started out in viticulture and winemaking, came back to the family farm 12 years ago.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[95,138,802,111,139,69,302585,8263,801,18833,8909,193789,84320,16715,2443],"class_list":["post-614256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-and","tag-business","tag-costs","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-piggery","tag-reforms","tag-rising","tag-round","tag-sally","tag-solarpowered","tag-tackles","tag-taranaki","tag-welfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}