Raising pigs to valorize fodder and productions not marketable for human consumption in a diversified and autonomous agricultural system: zootechnical performances and critical points

Diversification and autonomy are among the tracks to be explored in order to move farming systems towards an agro-ecological transition. On the INRAE ASTER Mirecourt experimental farm, we implement since 2016 a diversified crop-livestock system. Within this framework, a herd of 15 to 30 fattening pigs are raised in free range each year since 2017, with the objective of valorising the productions from the system that cannot be marketed as human food. We show that the design choices of the system lead to (i) heterogeneity in performance, which we describe on the basis of four performance profiles (growth, carcass weight, butchery yield), and that (ii) this heterogeneity is expressed both within and between the pig bands. The inclusion of this system in short marketing circuits makes it possible to develop this diversification, which is not well suited to specialised sectors.