The first National Network Meeting in Austria took place on 6 October 2025. During this online meeting, the participants from different advisory teams in Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Styria exchanged ideas how the LiveNet project can strengthen the network of pig advisors in Austria. It was concluded that a strong network of advisors with different expertise across all federal states is vital to prepare for future challenges for farmers in the sector. A second aspect was the generation of synergies and the best possible use of advisors’ time resources.
The meeting was used to discuss how advisors from different federal states and organisations can be motivated to be become part of the network and also to get an overview on questions currently relevant to pig farmers in Austria.
These are:
- current and future changes in legal requirements
- the profitability of pig farms
- animal welfare and
- animal health.
After defining the goals for this group, a date for a meeting with a larger number of participants in december was agreed. Advisors from all federal states will be invited in the next weeks.
The meeting will be held in Wels, Upper Austria. It was also concluded that a small group of advisors should act as a board for organising future meetings. Futhermore experts should be invited to the network, depending on topics which are going to be discussed. In the next step relevant topics for the meeting in december were clarified. Likewise, topics were defined which are important at the event in order to discuss them with the advisors and to determine the relevance of the topics.
An important point that should definitely be discussed at the next meeting in december is the issue of hardship cases regarding the transition period for structured fully slatted pens that was defined in May 2025 which affects advisors all over Austria. Due to the different responsibilities in the individual federal states, it is important that a common agreement is reached on this question and advisors can answer farmers’ questions.
