On April 10, 2025, the Porc d’Or Ibérico awards jury met at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries (MAPA) in Madrid to decide which farms would be nominated and awarded prizes for this eighth edition. A total of 66,733 Iberian breeding sows from 84 farms across Spain, primarily in the regions of Extremadura, Castilla y León, Andalusia, Castilla La Mancha, and Murcia, were analyzed to select the 65 nominations and, ultimately, the 32 awards. The selection of the farms has been carried out by the awards jury based on the regulatory criteria and the regulations of the Porc d’Or awards and taking into account the balance and evolution of the results, the constant reliability of the information analyzed, as well as different parameters related to health, animal welfare and the environment.
As in previous editions, this year the Iberian pig farms that, within each of the three categories according to their size, are the most outstanding in relation to three productive criteria have been evaluated: Live Births, Farrowing Rate and Productive Longevity. The jury evaluated the farm that, among all the categories, has had the best productive performance and is worthy of the Iberian Porc d’Or for Maximum Productivity. The jury agreed to exclude farms with more than 25% piglet mortality during lactation from the award nominations. This new animal welfare criterion goes into effect this year and will be maintained and even made stricter in future editions of the awards.
The meeting also determined the farms eligible for the Special Awards, the final nominations of which are decided after a Jury delegation visits the farms:
– the MAPA Iberian Porc d’Or for Sustainability, which recognizes excellence in aspects of health, animal welfare, and the environment;
– the Iberian Porc d’Or to Outdoor Production aimed at Iberian farms with outdoor access, and which values the integration of the farm with the environment along with high zootechnical and sanitary standards;
– the One Health Award from Ceva Animal Health which seeks to recognize the joint work of farmers and veterinarians who implement innovative measures on their farms with a One Health perspective;
– and the Iberian Porc d’Or with Diamond, which jointly assesses excellence in overall management, data and animal handling, along with compliance with health and welfare standards.
The jury members who evaluated the farms in this edition are distinguished personalities related to the world of pig farming and with in-depth knowledge of this sector: on behalf of the General Subdirectorate of Livestock and Hunting Production of the MAPA, the jury includes its deputy general director José Luis Agüero (president of the jury), its assistant deputy general director Pablo Bernardos, and the head of the pig area Ruth Morales; on behalf of the National Association of Pig Producers (Anprogapor), its director Miguel Ángel Higuera, representing the National Association of Select Pig Breeders (ANPS), its director Adoración Llorente; from the University of Córdoba, Vicente Rodríguez, Professor of Animal Production, and Guillermo Ramis, Professor at the University of Murcia; Manuel González Sevilla, Technical Director of ASICI, and Javier García Gudiño, researcher at CICYTEX; from CEVA Animal Health, Roger Galofré, a veterinarian specializing in new technologies; veterinary consultants Juan Luis Criado, José Antonio Pecero, and Pedro López, Director of the 3tres3 Academy. From IRTA, Raquel Quintanilla, head of the Genetics and Animal Improvement program, and Llibertat Tusell, researcher in the same program from the BDporc group and secretary of the jury, are among the jury members. This year, the jury has three new members. Following the departure of Jesús Salas from MAPA, Alicia Mazagatos, Head of Service of the General Subdirectorate of Livestock and Game Production at MAPA, joins the jury. Also joining the jury are Paula Gaspar García, Professor of Animal Production at UNEX, and veterinary consultant Miguel García Lobato. As always, the meeting was monitored and supported technically by Núria Alòs, an IT specialist at BDporc, the foundation that supports the Iberian Porc d’Or awards.
BDporc is a service for the Spanish Iberian pork sector whose main objective is to have a reliable database that allows the analysis of the Iberian pork situation and provides reference information to pig production farms as an element to help in decision making.
