Jeju wins top livestock-environment award for second straight year, accounting for half of national winners

【Financial News Jeju = Jeong Yong-bok, Staff Writer】 A Jeju pig farm has won the grand prize for the second consecutive year in a nationwide livestock-environment contest evaluating livestock manure and odor management, among other factors. This year, two of the four winning farms nationwide were from Jeju and were recognized for their livestock-environment improvements.
According to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province on the 6th, Jeil Yangdon Farming Cooperative Corporation, located in Gwangnyeong-ri, Aewol-eup, Jeju City, and represented by Jo Hui-sun, was selected to receive the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award—the grand prize in the Clean Livestock Farm category of the 2026 Livestock Environment Best Practices Contest. Ujin Livestock, represented by Kim Tae-hyeon, in Hallim-eup will also receive an excellence award.
Following Samho Farm in Hallim-eup last year, a Jeju pig farm has won the nation’s top award for the second consecutive year. This year, Jeju accounted for half of the four national winners in the Clean Livestock Farm category.
The contest, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and organized by the Livestock Environment Management Institute, announced the winners on the 3rd after document reviews, on-site assessments and a public vote. It comprehensively evaluated practical efforts in the field, including improvements to barn conditions, odor management and farm landscaping.
Both farms are designated by MAFRA as environmentally friendly livestock farms. They have windowless pig barns, enclosed facilities where machinery controls temperature and ventilation, as well as all-slat flooring with gaps across the entire floor so manure can fall through.
They have also worked to manage rearing conditions by operating systems that process livestock manure into liquid and recirculate it, and by regularly washing the barn interiors with water. The farms’ voluntary efforts to improve the environment and their community service activities were also taken into account in the evaluation.

Environmental management is directly tied to the sustainability of Jeju’s pig farming industry. According to figures compiled by Jeju Province, the sector’s gross receipts last year totaled ₩494.3 billion, about 35% of the livestock industry’s total gross receipts of ₩1.4208 trillion. It is the largest segment of the province’s livestock sector.
Meanwhile, livestock manure disposal and odor remain challenges for the pig farming industry. Continued monitoring and verification are needed to determine how much the designation of environmentally friendly livestock farms and facility improvements lead to actual odor reduction and better living conditions in surrounding areas.
Ujin Livestock was designated an environmentally friendly livestock farm in 2023 and was also selected as an outstanding farm in last year’s nationwide follow-up evaluation of such farms. Jeil Yangdon Farming Cooperative Corporation was newly designated an environmentally friendly livestock farm in April last year.
Jeju Province plans to attend the awards ceremony scheduled for December 10 alongside the winning farms. It also plans to produce video training materials documenting the two farms’ livestock-environment improvements and share them with other farms across the province.
Kim Youngjun, director of Jeju Province’s Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau, said, “The national grand prize for the second consecutive year is the result of the efforts of pig farmers who have quietly worked hard in the field,” adding, “We will support the spread of these best practices across livestock farms in the province.”


[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter