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Differences in the rearing of Iberian pigs

Some time ago we talked about the labels or seals regulated by Royal Decree RD 4/2014 on Iberian ham and in this article we tell you how Iberian pigs are raised and what conditions they must meet to enter one category or another.

Difference in the breeding of the Cebo de Campo Iberian pig and the Cebo de Campo Iberian pig.

The standard speaks of food – feed in both cases. In the case of Iberian field fattening ham, RD 4/2014 expressly states that it will also take advantage of the natural resources of the Dehesa.

In addition, the legislation on Iberian ham establishes the amount of land that each type of animal, fattening or field fattening, must be raised on.

This is a key factor:

For Iberian cebo ham, the animal is always raised intensively: 2 square meters per animal = 5,000 pigs in 1 hectare.

To give you an idea, 1 hectare would be approximately one soccer field.

If you look at the Iberian cebo campo ham, there can be a lot of difference from one ham to another. And we only know this difference if we know the farmer-producer. Whether or not it “champions” the pigs. We have this information at ibericomio because we know our artisan producers.

The breeding of the Iberian free-range ham pig the difference between extensive and intensive farming

  • Extensive: 15 pigs maximum per hectare
  • Intensive: 100 square meters for each animal = 100 pigs per hectare

Information on the breeding of acorn-fed Iberian pigs.

An Iberian pig during the montanera, according to the standard, the minimum replacement will be 46 kg of meat (4@) for more than 60 days.

Each day in the mountains, the animal eats between 2-3 kgs of grass and 7-8 kgs of acorns.

It takes about 10kgs of acorns for an Iberian pig to replace 1kg of meat. Each adult holm oak produces an average of 10 to 12 kg of acorns.

In one hectare (a soccer field) there is usually an average of 20-40 adult oaks.

If we make numbers, each acorn-fed Iberian pig needs a minimum of 1.5-2 hectares in which to be raised for two months. The Bernabeu + Camp Nou alone for him for at least 2 months.