HAPPY AS PIGS IN A PASTURE—Student worker Tiffany Meyers lets pasture-raised pigs cool off under the water hose on a hot summer day. The pigs are “subjects” in a multi-year study that AAES researchers Daryl Kuhlers, animal sciences professor, and Nada Nadarajah, research fellow, are conducting to determine the differences between pigs raised in confinement and those raised in pastures and the impact that outdoor pig production systems have on the environment. In the study, Kuhlers and Nadarajah are comparing growth rate, feed efficiency, herd health and meat quality of the animals, and though final data won’t be in until 2008, what they have found so far is that the pastured and confined pigs rate equally health-wise. The confined swine do weigh slightly more at finishing, but the pastured pigs win hands down when it comes to quality of life. The scientists say the pasture method could potentially boost Alabama’s rural economy because it would enable rural landowners to start up small swine operations, as an added source of income, with minimal acreage and little up-front cost.