Sunday April 4, 2010

What is it with young women and pork?

The over-45s are still pork's core customers, but younger consumers are catching up.

If you have a farm shop and a late-teens or early-20s girl walks in... give her a welcoming smile and direct her to the pork, bacon, sausage and ham displays, because research shows she is your hip new young customer.

But if she's 25 or more, practically over the hill, best show her the courgettes or something... because the chances are it won't be your pork she's after.

Bacon, ham and sausage sales have grown over the past year. Pork has remained stable, but it has grown 5 percent since 2007.

Sausages and ham have a younger profile and are popular with children. Core pork consumers are eating less pork but younger customers are driving growth.

Commodity prices

Commodity prices will discussed in one of the British Pig and Poultry Fair forums.

Three industry experts, Hugh Burton, of ABN, Simon Christensen, of Frontier, and Alex Miller, of Cargill, will give their opinion on future raw material issues.

After discussions, the audience will be asked to cast their vote on the debate they believe to be the most likely scenario.

The obvious change in the next 12 months is the effect of increased bioethanol production in the United Kingdom which is set to take around 12 percent of home grown wheat production. Around a third of this will return to animal feed as a wheat distillers co-product.

The volatility of exchange rates seen recently, the precarious United Kingdom economy and the forthcoming general election, are all likely to have an impact on cereal and protein prices.

Price gap narrows

As world pigmeat prices start to converge, the European market, with its 45p tariff on third country imports, will be starting to look less attractive to United States exporters, such as Smithfield. Exchange rates play a pivotal role in determining relative prices. The dollar has strengthened against the euro this year, and this in turn has narrowed the gap between United States and European pigmeat prices.

Anaerobic digestion workshop at Pig Fair

BPEX’s Nigel Penlington and pig producer James Hart will host a British Pig and Poultry Fair workshop on the practical aspects and benefits of installing an anaerobic digester.

Nigel Penlington will look at the different systems available to pig and poultry producers in Britain and where they can seek advice on installing a system on their own units.

“There’s a lot more to gain than simply a supply of electricity — such as the new Feed-in tariffs offered by the National Grid and by-products from the digestion process, and I will outline these,” he said. “I will also make visitors aware of the possible pitfalls and difficulties of installing a system.”

In a joint venture with a neighbouring poultry producer James Hart, who has a 400-sow pig unit in Gloucestershire, is installing an anaerobic digestor. He will outline the reasons for this move and how they sought planning permission and grants, plus some of the barriers they have had to overcome.

Electricity from this joint venture will be used on both units and surplus can be sold in to the National Grid.

James Hart will talk about additional benefits they hope to achieve such as the use of surplus heat from generating the electricity and the high value digestate that can form a valuable fertiliser for the arable land. He will discuss the cost benefits of the project and the self-sufficiency in power that it should afford the two partners.

The Anaerobic Digestion workshop will take place at 2.30pm on both days of the Fair in the seminar room between Exhibition Halls 1 and 2.

Danish imports splutter rather than sizzle

United Kingdom pig slaughterings increased 4 percent in February, compared to February last year. They were up 4 percent in England and Wales, and 15 percent in Northern ireland, but down 10 percent in Scotland.

During the first two months of this year clean pig slaughterings are up 5 percent to 1.6 million. Sow slaughterings are slightly higher too.

During January, Danish imports halved compared with January 2009. Holland and Ireland increased their shipments by over 50 percent.

Change in waste exemption rules

On Tuesday, April 6, new regulations waste exemption rules come into force. Under the new system, waste exemptions will be designed to cover only simple, low-risk activities generally involving small tonnages and thresholds.

The existing two-tier system of Simple Exemptions and Complex/Notifiable Exemptions will be scrapped.

Existing exemptions. Those holding existing exemptions will eventually have to transfer to the new system. This can be done any time after April 6 but does not need to be done immediately as existing exemptions will remain valid for a further three years. The cut-off date is September 2013.

New exemptions. Those who do not currently hold an exemption for an activity, and decide they need one, will register new-look exemptions directly on the new system. This will mean that in some cases, between now and the cut off date of 2013, farmers may hold a combination of old and new exemptions.

Complex/Notifiable exemptions. Some farm businesses will be holding Complex Exemptions involving non-agricultural waste. These are exemptions which require the submission of more detailed information and payment of a fee to the Environment Agency, and they tend to need renewing each year. The common ones are for commercial composting, land-spreading of waste material, and use of waste materials in construction.

Other points of interest. Most of the existing exemptions that cover common, every-day farming activities, such as use of tyres on a silage clamp and use of waste material as bedding, will be included in the new-look exemptions. Most of the conditions attached to the specific exemptions will remain the same, including for the spreading of pig and poultry carcass ash.

Re-registration and charging. Once farmers have moved to the new system they will have to re-register their exemptions with the Environment Agency every three years. Exemptions will be free of charge. Government had initially proposed plans where farms would be charged £50 each time farmers registered their exemptions but vigorous NFU lobbying resulted in the charges being dropped.

• The above note is taken from an NFU briefing paper. For further information see this Environment Agency factsheet and the Environment Agency website.

Slurry storage deadline could be an opportunity

Many farmers are going to have to build new slurry tanks and pits to comply with the NVZ 2012 deadline and this may provide a biogas opportunity, according to Lord Redesdale, chairman of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association.

“I have been talking to a lot of financiers over the past few weeks to see if they would see this as a viable financial product, paying for the gas being produced which would offset the cost of a new pit or tank,” he told a conference at Reaseheath College, Nantwich.

“You could even see your slurry pit being a financial asset rather than a financial liability, which would be nice,” he said.

Historically biogas had not been important because of cheap North Sea gas, he told the conference.

“Although anaerobic digestion is used widely in Germany and Denmark, in the United Kingdom it is currently seen as a novel technology by financiers.

“They do see biogas as profitable but current financial incentives are influencing the industry to generate electricity rather than gas.

"For many businesses this is a great thing and it works in certain areas, but the size of the feedstocks streams needed will limit the number of plants.

“The government is very interested in subsidising biogas production. The trouble is that you have different departments coming up with different targets.”

Don't legislate on mycotoxins, says compounders

The imposition of maximum limits on the presence of mycotoxins in feed could cause shortages of animal feed in some years, warn European farmers and feed compounders.

Noting the European Commission health and consumer department is considering regulating on mycotoxins in feeds, farmers organisation Copa-Cogeca and the European Feed Manufacturers' Federation have urged caution.

Experience over the last six years has proved how difficult it is to control the development of fusarium toxins, they say.

“Any stricter risk management measure such as maximum limits might therefore expose the feed chain to risks of shortage of feed materials in cases of a combination of low yields and relatively high mycotoxins prevalence.

“This could also have knock-on effects on the food sector itself as well. On the other hand, we cannot anticipate any direct benefit for animal health.”

They say the correct way to proceed is to maintain the current combination of monitoring for mycotoxins, and taking corrective action where guidance values are exceeded.

“This enables a proper management of the risk, in particular a prevention of long term exposure of animals to highly contaminated feed.”

Environmental challenges when applying for planning permission

One of the workshops at this year’s British Pig and Poultry Fair will look at the environmental challenges involved in planning applications.

Brian Barrow, managing director of chartered surveyors and planning consultants Acorus, will discuss environmental factors that face producers — particularly IPPC producers — when they are preparing planning documents.

“Environmental issues are a far more important part of planning now than they were ten years ago,” he says. “It is unwise to go through all the hurdles of planning and then fail because a key environmental issue have been overlooked.”

He will highlight the ecology on-site that must be taken into account - such as nesting birds and bats - and what action has to be taken in such cases; also any issues of run-off water into streams.

Looking further afield, he will draw visitors’ attention to off-site environmental issues such as transport, traffic, noise and dust production.

“We have to consider odour production and the impact of emissions from the site. It is possible that ammonia from say a poultry unit could ‘fertilise’ a site 1km away and if this is a Site of Special Scientific Interest then there are implications.”

He will outline help that is available when preparing plans, such as ammonia emission models. He will also talk about Environmental Impact Assessments that should identify any issues that could have an impact on planning permission.

“This assessment is required on planning applications above defined sizes of units and it should show up any environmental issues that may affect planning. It is worth considering even with plans for smaller units.”

Also related to size of unit is the requirement for a renewable energy source as part of scheme. He will introduce the audience to these plans, which are just filtering through to local authorities.

“The key point I hope to get across to visitors is the importance of casting an environmental eye across the site being considered for planning and to do this at an early stage so that unnecessary costs are avoided and likely requirements are taken account of.”

The Environmental Challenges for Obtaining Planning Permission workshop will take on both days at 11.30am in the seminar room between Exhibition Halls 1 and 2.

Saturday April 3, 2010

Helen's Nuffield blog

Helen's Nuffield blog has been updated again.

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

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.

Earlier on this page...

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.

BPEX workshops in Yorkshire

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

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.

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.

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.