Saturday April 3, 2010

Outlook 2010

The outlook for the red meat sector in 2010 and 2011 will be debated by industry experts at "Outlook 2010, A Changing Climate?", jointly hosted by BPEX and EBLEX on Wednesday, April 14, at One Great George Street, Westminster. Cost for the one-day conference, which includes lunch, is £200 plus VAT. Reservations: jacqui.emery@ahdb.org.uk.

Thursday April 1, 2010

A new government will mean fewer inspections

The Conservatives’ agenda for British agriculture, ‘A New Age of Agriculture‘ includes much that will be welcomed by pig-keepers.

Key among these is a promise to ensure membership of a recognised farm assurance scheme results in fewer inspections by the state.

There is also a promise to do better than Labour on labelling.

For reasons that are difficult to understand, the Labour government has been resolutely opposed to mandatory country-of-origin labelling.

Its stance has consigned British pig-keepers to ten years of losses in the face of misleadingly labelled lower-welfare imports.

The Conservatives have promised to support Europe's proposed place-of-farming law. They say they will legislate unilaterally if necessary.

On regulation, they claim the United Kingdom government has earned a reputation for being one of the most heavy-handed in Europe when it comes to implementing European Union farming legislation.

In "A New Age of Agriculture" they argue that as long as the desired outcomes are achieved it is best to leave methods used to the professional judgement of farmers.

Of particular interest to pig-keepers is their promise to allow farmers to apply for Rural Development Programme grants to help meet the cost of European Union legislation, such as IPPC and the Nitrates Directive.

In a bid to make the Rural Payments Agency less of a disaster zone, they will appoint their minister for farming to the Agency’s management board, as chairman.

Like Labour, the Conservatives are CAP-sceptic and will press for a shift of resources across Europe to the rural development programme, and for a fair share of that programme for the United Kingdom.

Some pig-keepers may be worried about a new "independent" animal health quango. They will take comfort from the fact that a Conservative administration will develop a health and cost-sharing strategy in partnership with farmers and veterinarians. This will provide an opportunity for a new look at current plans.

Pigs for the freezer

"Pigs for the Freezer" is a new guide to small-scale production by Linda McDonald-Brown.

It is aimed at smallholders who want to keep pigs for the first time and includes choice of breed, urban pig-keeping, housing, equipment and training courses, health and welfare, rules and regulations, and sending pigs to the abattoir.

Linda McDonald-Brown lives in Scotland and with her husband owns and runs the Bidgiemire Pig Company which sells arks and other equipment.

This new book will be published May 4 by Crowwood Press and will retail for £16.99.

Better IPPC regulation on the horizon

Better advice, easier forms to fill in and more efficient handling of permit variations are on the horizon for pig-keepers with IPPC permits.

A new practical step-by-step guide is planned for British Pig and Poultry Fair, where the Environment Agency will be holding a drop-in centre, with experienced staff on hand to discuss IPPC applications and permit variations with producers.

These actions follow the third in a series of meetings initiated by NPA general manager Barney Kay, where NPA, NFU and BPEX work with senior Environment Agency staff to identify shortcomings in the way IPPC is regulated, and seek to rectify them.

Two problems in particular will take some time to overcome — the time it can take to get a permit variation to allow new buildings to be put up, and the Environment Agency’s insistence on including non-listed sensitive sites when considering the impacts of proposed new buildings.

However, both issues have now been discussed in some depth and solutions may be achieved in due course.

The purpose of the meetings with the Environment Agency has been to work with senior staff to “map” the IPPC permitting process.

The most recent meeting succeeded in identifying a number of actions that should deliver tangible improvements in the short, medium and long term, reports Barney Kay.

“From an industry perspective it is good to see the level of buy-in now apparent in so many different sections of the Environment Agency from senior people who can see the potential benefits of this process of industry-Environment Agency engagement.

“Many of the biggest wins aren’t going to be quick or easy to deliver, but I believe Environment Agency staff are as eager as the pig industry to achieve them.”

How we will meet the challenges

By Barney Kay, general manager, NPA

The Environment Agency’s business improvement team started our third mapping meeting by reviewing work undertaken so far with the key sections of the Agency that hadn’t previously been involved, and discussed the issues identified and opportunities for improvement.

ACTIONS

• A practical step-by-step guide for producers is to be produced, for those considering a new application or a variation to an existing permit.
  
  
• The intention is not to duplicate existing Environment Agency guidance, but to highlight the pre-application work an applicant should undertake and the different people/organisations he or she should consult before making a submission. The guide should also signpost frequent errors made in applications, to help applicants avoid making errors.
  
  
• It will emphasise the consequences of a producer ticking the box that requests commercial confidentiality. This could add around a month to the application timescale and is highly unlikely to be granted.
  
  
• It will emphasise the importance of early engagement by a producer to get local community support, as this can have a significant impact on the likelihood of receiving planning permission.
  
  
• A key error in applications is a misunderstanding by producers of which fee they should be paying — the Environment Agency will provide clarification over current fees for different types of variations and new applications.
  
  
• The Environment Agency will also provide clarity on the different types of variations, their names and the circumstances in which each should be used.
  

The intention is to have the guide ready for British Pig and Poultry Fair when the Environment Agency will have a drop-in centre on its stand, with experience staff available to discuss permit variations and new applications. The Agency will also have screening tools on-line so producers should come armed with specific data for a meaningful discussion.

MORE ACTION POINTS

• NPA will host a training workshop in June for consultants on the IPPC permitting process. The Environment Agency will provide expert staff to highlight common issues for consultants filling in Environmental Permitting forms, and will provide ammonia modelling guidance. NPA will invite poultry representatives to take part.
  
  
• In future, at quarterly industry/Environment Agency stakeholder meetings, the Agency will provide its Environmental Permitting reports, which show current processing times and volume of applications etc. And industry will provide market updates to help the Agency determine likely permitting demand.

A big issue for pig producers is the amount of time it takes to get planning permission and then an IPPC permit.

The meeting agreed this was an area where two processes were taking place that should ideally happen as one, with the Environment Agency and local planners considering a single application and being jointly involved in the approval process.

It was felt that achieving this would be nirvana and could take a long time. Nevertheless, this should be the aim as it would deliver the greatest time and cost savings to all parties.

It was agreed that evidence of the potential benefit will be needed for NPA to drive the necessary change at a national level.

Therefore a trial between the Environment Agency and a local authority will take place using a recently issued pig permit variation as an example. This should identify how a joint system could be developed, or duplication removed.

This work could highlight areas where Environment Agency staff and planners could better liaise to reduce the timescale of the current dual process, before the long-term solution of one application form could be delivered.

EVEN MORE ACTION POINTS

• The latest ‘EPR2’ form will be sent to NPA, BPEX and NFU for views. We have asked for a return to sector-specific forms as producers find these easier to understand and complete.
  
  
• The Environment Agency will inform industry representatives when new applications or variations reach the ‘duly made’ stage.

Six paper copies are still required for each variation and new application. We requested this be challenged so that producers can supply applications on discs or memory sticks. Six paper copies seems at odds with government’s challenge to industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Non-statutory sites are a major issue for pig producers seeking a variation. There are a lot of these sites but we don’t know where they are or the species they contain etc.

The Environment Agency has agreed to look at the issue again and come back to industry representatives.

The phone won't stop ringing

Dingley Dell Pork, one of the British pig industry's standard bearers, has just been rebranded.

The new brochure, which features metallic gold on a heavy matt card, was mailed out only a few days ago and interest from potential new customers has been instant.

"It has definitely proved to be an exercise worth doing and it has proved that it pays to listen to the advice of professional marketeers," said East Anglia producer Mark Hayward today.

Dingley Dell products can be found in leading supermarkets and in other high-profile outlets such as John Lewis restaurants and on Virgin trains.

Above: The new logo.

The rebranding concentrates on the high quality of Dingley Dell products — the genetic mix used to create good flavour, the welfare of the pigs, and the wildlife on Mark and Paul Hayward's Suffolk farm.

The new Dingley Dell logo positions the Haywards' products at the quality end of the market, and this message is reinforced by the new brochure and a Dingley Dell DVD.

Mark Hayward is being careful not to distribute the brochure too widely at this stage. "It takes a lot of time and work from an initial expression of interest to the creation of a new supply chain," he said.

"There is no point in attracting so much interest that you are unable to follow up properly on every approach. Some of the calls we have taken in the past few days are very high profile, and very exciting."

Boost for better regulation

Management by Moving About (MbMA), a concept pioneered by University of Durham business school, will be given a significant impetus today when it is adopted by Defra as part of its “Better Regulation, Better Business” initiative.

MbMA is a recent advance in the established management practice of MbWA (Management by Walking About) and employs Keynesian geographical and construction indicators for the efficient routing of capital between the Private and Public sector (PAP).

Its leading proponents, the Federation of Empire Constructionists (FEC), argue that any activity is to be preferred to inactivity. A practical application of this philosophy is to take an efficiently functioning team of people from a large, modern, freehold building and relocate them 40 miles away in rented, inefficient premises, whilst planning to invest several £millions in a third building.

To unsophisticated observers such activity appears unproductive but according to FEC chairman John Whist, FIMbMA, it complies with MbMA and is beneficial because it creates contra-rational activity as a precursor to the transfer of private money into the public sector.

So confident is FEC of MbMA, its chairman has developed a new marketing slogan... “Trust us to FEC you up”.

Wednesday March 31, 2010

Helen's blog

Helen's Nuffield blog has been updated again today.

Pig Discussion Groups

Contact details for Pig Discussion Groups — those that have sent details — are on the Contacts page. If your group's details are here, are they up to date please? If your group is not included, you are invited to email details, if you wish to be included.

Today we say goodbye

By Digby Scott

It has been shorthand for all the good things we do. It is the talisman we marched behind. Today, the pig industry says goodbye to a much-loved friend.

Many will mourn the passing of the Quality Standard Mark, which tomorrow is replaced by the ubiquitous Red Tractor.

The Quality Standard Mark has been described by BPEX boss Mick Sloyan as, ‘Shorthand for all the good things we do.’

Most shoppers won’t notice the change. The Red Tractor is very similar. And so it should be — it is a direct crib from the Quality Standard Mark.

The pig industry’s Quality Standard Mark has been a leader in every way.

• From the start it covered the whole chain, not just the farm.
  
  
• And it was first to incorporate the Union flag in a way that Brussels found acceptable.

With the green light from Brussels, this meant that for the first time levy-payers money could be used for promoting pork clearly identified as British.

I asked some industry leaders for their thoughts today, on the passing of the Quality Standard Mark.

“It has been a champion for the industry,” said Martin Barker, managing director of Genesis Quality Assurance.

“The respect it gained from the stakeholders in the whole industry is testament to those who upheld it — well done.”

The passing of the Mark to be replaced by a very similar Red Tractor should be seen as an opportunity, he said.

“The king is dead, long live the king! The Red Tractor umbrella body Assured Food Standards has a strong foundation on which to build. Let’s help them make it happen!”

BPEX marketing boss Chris Lamb (we should doff our caps to him and his team for the way they have pushed the Mark) pays tribute to the way it became a rallying point during difficult times.

“When we launched the Quality Standard Mark in 1999, we had no idea how important it would become for the pig industry.

“From humble beginnings it has become a focus for both producers and consumers as a simple differentiator on welfare and a guarantee of provenance... clear criteria which now transfers to the Red Tractor, which will continue to be developed.”

Andrew Knowles at BPEX applauds the Quality Standard Mark for the way it united us.

“It is the symbol the whole industry marched behind. It pulled everyone together. It brought a united voice that said, ‘We are proud of our industry, our pigs and our people.’”

The Quality Standard Mark has been the symbol of a can-do industry that rolls up its sleeves and rises to every new challenge and crisis, determining its own future, and not looking to others for help or crying out for handouts, he said.

“The Quality Standard Mark was a pioneer. It was ahead of its time. Only now others are beginning to follow.”

NPA general manager Barney Kay said, "When I joined the NFU as a regional adviser in East Anglia in 1999 I attended a regional MLC meeting and heard the work they were doing to promote pork behind their British Quality Standard Mark. I can remember wondering why no one else had such an excellent initiative to encapsulate the attributes that make up our quality, high welfare home- produced product.

"As I've since learnt it was just one of many examples of the industry being at the forefront of innovation. The Qualty Standard Mark has been a faithful servant to our British cause and its principles will live on in the Red Tractor."

But still, but still... some of us, perhaps all of us, worry about losing our own brand. And we worry about a knock-on effect on sales if another sector of Red Tractor produce should be subjected to one of the tabloid media’s periodic scare stories.

There is also a nagging doubt that the the Mark never quite fulfilled its potential, but might have done, if we had we persevered with it.

For instance, producer Mark Hayward always hoped it would one day become a regional brand, with the East Anglia Quality Standard Mark, for instance, adding an extra fillip to sales.

These doubts are inevitable given the commitment shown to the Quality Standard Mark by producers and by BPEX marketeers, who really have pulled out every last stop to promote it.

But when it was announced in 2008 that the Quality Standard Mark would be discontinued, to be replaced by the Red Tractor, there was no outcry from pig-keepers, although many expressed regret that it was to be scrapped.

"I don’t detect a huge amount of opposition but I don’t detect a huge amount of enthusiasm either," observed Philip Richardson, chairman of Assured British Pigs, at the time.

The pig industry has recognised, reluctantly, that retailers are not prepared to continue putting both the Quality Standard Mark and the Red Tractor on packs.

In some cases the Mark was being relegated to the back of packs, and was being downgraded to black-and-white.

When news of the forthcoming demise of the Quality Standard Mark was announced to NPA Producer Group in 2008, Jane Conder, then chairman of of Ladies in Pigs, said producers had invested considerable emotional capital in the Mark, through some very difficult times. "My ladies are very upset that we might be going to lose it."

BPEX boss Mick Sloyan agreed. "I don’t underestimate the emotional attachment to the Mark. Over nearly ten years it has become shorthand for all the good things we do. When people feel emotional attachment to the Mark, I’m probably at the front of the queue."

But producers were faced with retailers who wanted to rationalise what they put on their packs, and pig producers needed to acknowledge there was general recognition of the Red Tractor, he said.

There is another reason why the pig sector had to rally behind the Red Tractor — funding.

Whilst BPEX will continue to use levy-payers’ funds to promote the Red Tractor for bacon, ham and pork — just as it did with the Quality Standard Mark — some central funding will in future be contributed by Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board for promotion of the Red Tractor’s core values.

The passing of the Quality Standard Mark is probably inevitable. But it is another blow to pig industry independence and self-determination. The Quality Standard Mark is owned by BPEX. The Red Tractor isn’t.

Clean Energy Cashback scheme

Feed-in tariffs for renewable electricity generation are creating substantial interest from farmers and growers across a wide range of different technologies — even though much of the detailed guidance is still missing.

The Clean Energy Cashback scheme, which comes into effect tomorrow, is being introduced in response to lobbying by a coalition of stakeholders including the NFU.

Chief renewable energy adviser at the NFU, Dr Jonathan Scurlock, said, “This is good news for our members and will help to realise our aspiration that every farmer and grower should have the opportunitiy to provide low-carbon energy services alongside our traditional roles in food production.

" There’s a natural fit between farming and renewable energy, whether you are looking at a wind turbine, solar electricity or a biogas plant. For some technologies, at the right scale and in the right place, these tariffs offer an excellent rate of return on investment."

However, concerns have already been raised by NFU members over the definition of a ‘site’ which could prevent some farmers from installing independent generation projects close to existing wind farms; and the compatibility of Rural Development Programme capital grant funding with the feed-in tariffs is still far from clear.

£20m aid for United Kingdom farmers

As it has done for other countries, yesterday Brussels authorised a £20m aid package for United Kingdom farmers who encounter difficulties caused by the economic crisis.

Aid under this scheme can be granted until the end of the year. It will take the form of a direct grant.

This scheme is part of the European Commission's temporary state aid package to give businesses access to finance during the financial and economic crisis.

It allows member countries to grant limited amounts of aid to primary agricultural producers.

The scheme is open to farmers in all sub-sectors of primary agricultural production, provided they were not already in difficulty on 1 July 2008 — ie. before the beginning of the crisis.

It provides aid in the form of direct grants, interest rate subsidies and loans with an aid element and guarantee.

Tuesday March 30, 2010

Pig (around the) World

What fun they must be to go on holiday with!

NPA 2Shoes (or Zoe Davies, as some people call her) started it off with this picture of her reading the house rag in the Maldives....

And then NPA's Barney Kay went skiiing with some pals in the French Alps...

Nuffield blog updated

Helen Thoday's Nuffield blog has been updated today.

What they can do for us...

NPA's leaflet for prospective parliamentary candidates is nearly ready to go to press.

Candidates will be in listening mode over the next few weeks, and some, for the first time in over a decade, may soon have real influence.

So NPA is preparing a brief for would-be MPs, to show them how they can help the British pig industry continue to prosper. "The British pig industry is huge. It turns over more than £40m a week at retail, and helps provide vital food security for Britain," explains the leaflet.

The leaflet is designed to be delivered personally by pig-keepers to their local candidates. It says...

"My pig business is an integral part of the industry and it plays a key role in this constituency — creating real, sustainable economic activity and providing real, sustainable jobs. Please help me continue to make a worthwhile contribution to society and to this constituency in particular."

Europe's farms in crisis

In a meeting with the Spanish presidency of the European Union yesterday, farm leaders called for immediate action to improve the 'catastrophic situation' on Europe's farms.

“The economic crisis has seriously hit European Union farmers, with a huge income drop of 12 percent seen last year," said European farmers leader Padraig Walshe in a meeting with Spanish farm minister Elena Espinosa.

The Copa president said some sectors were particularly affected, with drops of as much as 30 percent seen in the European Union cereals sector, 24 percent in the olive oil sector, 21 percent in the dairy sector and 12 percent in the fruit sector.

Urgent action must be taken to prevent a complete collapse of the European Union farm sector, he said.

Monday March 29, 2010

Politicians like pork, but not pigs

By Digby Scott

Could the European Union end up being a net importer of pigmeat? Such a question would have been unthinkable until recently.

But I understand European Union inspectors will shortly be visiting Smithfield in the United States to inspect pig production units that are to be dedicated to production for the European market.

Smithfield forsees a pigmeat shortfall in the European Union.

It is becoming clear that complying with the European partial stalls ban in January 2013 will simply not be possible for thousands of producers.

The Dutch herd could plummet by 30 percent, according to one study. And in Spain there will also be a significant exodus.

Even those who are prepared to invest in loose-housing are likely to find that after two years or more of poor returns, the banks are not willing to lend to them.

In some countries, producers face the double whammy of unilateral welfare and environmental legislation.

Europe’s welfare and environmental drive is forcing pig production into fewer hands.

It is a fair bet this is the opposite of what consumers want — which will make Britain’s less efficient but more diverse pig production model look even more attractive.

In north-west Europe about 50 percent of pigs are already loose-housed but stalls remain in use for the first four weeks of gestation.

In other parts of Europe few producers have converted to loose-housing. In Spain, for instance, it is estimated around 90 percent of sows remain in stalls.

In Holland producers are being called on to reduce ammonia emissions and increase space allowances at the same time as they move into loose housing.

“It can be concluded that there is a good chance that the pig population will decline by several ten percentage points in the short term,” says a recently published university report.

It adds, “For many farms, the investments are difficult to finance due to the average low yield prices and income in recent years. This situation is not expected to improve much in the coming years.

"Furthermore, the pig farmers who can invest and continue their farming will have to accept a much lower income.”

The European Union plans a new tranche of welfare legislation in the next few years. Depending on the effectiveness of welfarist v pig industry lobbying, this may:

• Outlaw totally-slatted systems.
• Demand greater space allowances.
• Introduce stricter restrictions on tail-docking and teeth-clipping.
• Impose stricter manipulable materials rules.

Furthermore, despite receiving a set-back to their plans recently, European Commission environmental enthusiasts have not given up on their desire to extend IPPC to nearly all pig units in Europe. Almost certainly they will achieve their ambitions in due course.

Given these uncertainties it is not surprising that when continental pig producers visit their banks in an attempt to raise investment money, they are met with a chilly refusal.

Over the past decade Britain has seen nearly half its pig production exported to lower welfare countries. It looks as if the European Union is going the same way.

Brazilian pig producers will doubtless be delighted, but there could also be a golden period for those European pig producers who do manage to adapt.

BPEX workshops in Yorkshire

"The future of piglet management" — for details see Diary Dates for April 20, 21 and 27.

Large-scale closure of Danish abattoirs likely

Denmark is facing large-scale closure of its slaughterhouses. Up to 600 jobs may be relocated abroad by Danish Crown, mostly to Germany.

This follows a failure to persuade the Danish food union to agree 20 percent pay cuts.

Danish Crown cannot offer its pig producer members a competitive price for their pigs unless it cuts its slaughtering costs.

As a result the Danish pig industry is hemorrhaging millions of weaners and finishers to Germany, where they fetch a better price.

The Danish food union has failed to agree a new collective agreement covering around 16,000 workers in the food industry and slaughterhouses.

A conciliator has been called in but he has concluded the parties are too far apart to reach an agreement.

Danish Crown may now move slaughterhouse jobs abroad, to countries with a lower cost base.

German slaughterhouse costs are 50 percent lower than in Denmark, because of Germany's easy access to cheap eastern European labour.

Sunday March 28, 2010

Real welfare takes another step forward

The next stage in the BPEX ‘real welfare’ project takes place next week when producers, vets, researchers, RSPCA, and others, get together to discuss vet training, farm assurance and technical issues such as lesion scores. The meeting will be Thursday April 1 at Stoneleigh Park.

The BPEX scheme, which is about to enter its pilot stage, will see specialist pig vets being trained to carry out ‘welfare outcome’ audits of pig farms, applying scores for tail and body lesions, lameness and several other meaningful empirical welfare indicators.

The results will be benchmarked so pig-keepers are able to compare their husbandry and take the necessary actions to improve welfare.

The project is expected to become part of farm assurance in due course. It will give indoor producers the tools they have demanded for some time to show that on well-run units slats can be as welfare-friendly as straw.

It will help all pig-keepers demonstrate when welfare interventions such as tail-docking are essential in the interests of good welfare, and when the manipulable material they supply is effective as environmental enrichment.

The Welfare Outcomes project is underpinned by research carried out by University of Bristol. It is the result of a considerable ongoing investment of levy-payers’ money. The target is to get some 80 percent of the English industry taking part in two-hour ‘welfare-outcome’ audits.

For more information see “English pig industry launches real welfare for pigs”, Pig World, March 2010.

Linking up in Brussels with BQP sausages

East Anglia and East Midlands members of the European Parliament will this week be sent an invitation to join NPA for breakfast in Brussels.

‘We invite you to come and hear about how United Kingdom pig farmers are leading the way in Europe on welfare in pig farming,’ says the invitation, which is being sent out by NFU’s Brussels office, which has organised the function.

‘Please come and participate in this important debate alongside leading figures from the industry and European Union policymakers.’

The breakfast will feature regional produce from Britain, including sausages provided by BQP. The NPA delegation will be Barney Kay, Zoe Davies, Stewart Houston and Howard Revell.

The hosts, with NPA, are Vicky Ford MEP and Roger Helmer MEP. The brealfast will be April 28 in the members’ salon, at the European Parliament in Brussels.

The NPA delegation will brief MEPs and Brussels officials on the work of the NPA Manipulable Materials Working Group.

It will explain how the group is working to reduce unecessary welfare interventions, but it will stress that some interventions are necessary.

Eye contact at slaughter

I continue to reflect on that eye contact. It was a contract. There is nothing casual about killing an animal, ever, even for a hardened traditionalist. If you kill an animal, you want to leave nothing behind. It's an obligation. — From one pig: 185 products.

In search of the brightest of bright ideas...

Deadline for entering the ABN Innovation Award is Friday, April 9. Aimed at under-35s, the award offers £1,000 for the best idea for marketing British pigmeat, poultry-meat, or eggs. It is part of this year’s British Pig and Poultry Fair, 11 and 12 May. Entrants may send their concept in any format receivable by post or email. Entries will be reviewed by a judging panel and successful finalists will present their concept to a panel of judges. Finalists will be invited to attend the ABN industry dinner at the Fair on May 11, and the winner will be announced the following day. More information.

Don't expect surge in exports

China has become the last country to lift its ban on United States pork over 'swine flu' fears. Its decision has been welcomed by an industry that has suffered several years of losses.

But some commentators have warned United States producers not to expect a surge in exports. China still produces most of the pork it consumes and won't accept pork containing ractopamin, an additive used in the United States to increase lean meat growth.

"Our producers have been losing money since 2007 and the fact that China is open is very important," said Nick Giordano, of the National Pork Producers Council.

• Eighteen United States pork plants will be able to resume shipments to Russia shortly, following the lifting of a ban by Moscow last week. Russia is preparing to allow imports from even more United States suppliers in the near future. Russia's concerns have centred on the presence of the antibiotic oxytetracycline in meat.

New Product Award
BRITISH PIG AND POULTRY FAIR

Some cracking entries are arriving for the British Pig and Poultry Fair New Products Award. You may fill in and email an electronic entry form or, if you prefer, email or phone Pig World and a form will be posted to you. The competition is run by Pig World and the Royal Agricultural Society of England. This year's judge — and given the standard and diversity of entry so far, you really wouldn't want to be in his shoes — is producer Phil Stephenson.

Herd contraction speeds up

Contraction in the United States pig herd is picking up steam. The March inventory shows total pigs in the national herd down 3 percent on the same time last year. The breeding herd is down 4 percent.

The March inventory shows the herd contracting faster than had been predicted and this has injected some bullishness into the industry.

“It appears that a long string of boring hogs-and-pigs reports has come to a screeching halt with today’s report,” says Steve Meyer, president, Paragon Economics, Des Moines, Iowa.

However, tighter supplies ahead may be balanced by record numbers of pigs being reared per litter, warn commentators. In addition, slaughter weights have been increasing.

Saturday March 27, 2010

European banks give pig farms a wide berth

The pig population on the Danish island of Bornholm will plummet by 25 percent over the next four years, it is predicted. This means Danish Crown’s abattoir on the island will have to close.

Producers say they cannot afford to convert to loose-housed sows when the European Union partial stalls ban comes into effect in January 2013.

The sorry state of the Danish pig industry — caused by long-term chronic poor returns from Danish Crown — means pig-keepers cannot get backing from the banks to convert to loose housing, even if they wanted to.

Dutch pig producers are also finding it hard to get hold of investment cash. A study has found more than half of them cannot meet hit the 2013 deadline.

In response, the Dutch government has modified its unilateral legislation on space. It will drop its demand for 1 square metre per fattening pig and will require instead the 0.8 square metres already required on farms that have adapted to loose housing (which is still more than European law requires)

The year 2013 will deliver a double-whammy for Dutch pig producers. In addition to the partial stalls ban coming fully into force, the Dutch government is demanding tougher ammonia reduction measures.

Feast of Fiddles at Lincoln

Feast of Fiddles at Lincoln.