January 6 2010

NFU survey on the future of CAP

NFU members are invited to air their views on the future of the CAP, via an online questionnaire. The online survey will help NFU develop a policy which it will publish in spring. You can complete the survey here. It will take only five minutes. You can also send views to a dedicated email address at CAP2013@nfu.org.uk.

Welsh breeders aim for 'standard of excellence'

The livestock council of the Pedigree Welsh Pig Society feels the time has come to establish a more traditional looking pig, while retaining the commercial properties of the Welsh breed.

The council is concerned not to lose any existing lines of the breed by establishing a breed standard, but wishes to see a standard of excellence towards which the society will aim. Read more in the society's winter newsletter.

BOCM Pauls finance manager

BOCM Pauls has appointed Samantha Keast as finance manager for its pig, poultry and speciality feeds operations. A qualified accountant, her responsibilities will be primarily to provide financial support across the department and to standardise its accounting procedures. Her role will also include involvement with the company’s international division in respect of its feed distribution and franchise operations throughout Europe with particular attention to subsidiaries in Germany and Romania. She is based at the company’s Bury St. Edmunds speciality feeds mill which produces over 40,000 tonnes of specialist feeds annually, a large percentage of which is going into international markets. BOCM Pauls is the largest manufacturer of its kind in Europe and a leading supplier of baby pig feeds in Europe.

Producers target PRRS

Delegates at the Minnesota Pork Producers Association annual meeting voted to move ahead with PRRS eradication. PRRS has been widespread in Minnesota since the late 1980s, said Scott Dee, a professor in the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. It is estimated to cost United States pork producers about £330m a year, or more than £3 per pig sold. Delegates have recommended the National Pork Producers Council identify appropriate government funds for eradicating the PRRS virus from the United States pig herd.

Irish producer calls for labelling code

Tim Cullinan, chairman the of the Irish Farmers’ Association's pig committee, has called on the Irish Department of Agriculture to introduce a code of practice to combat pork being mislabelled ‘Irish’.

Cullinan said the voluntary code being drawn up in England was an answer to consumers’ and producers’ demands, who want the origin of pork products clearly stated.

“It is time a similar code is put in place by the Irish government. Misleading labelling is costing jobs in this economy, as inferior imports displace quality Irish produce.”

Dutch producers like Danish genetics (at a price)

Exports of weaners from Denmark to Holland increased fivefold last year, according to Dutch statistics.

The surge has been attributed to growing interest in Danish genetics. However in the last quarter of the year demand plateaued, probably because Danish weaners became around £5 more expensive than Dutch weaners.

Workshop postponed

The BPEX workshop - "Trouble-shooting ventilation" - due to be held tomorrow at The Bear Hotel, Hodnet, Market Drayton, has been postponed because of bad weather.

David Jennings

Much respected specialist pig vet David Jennings, of Market Weighton in Yorkshire, has lost his battle against cancer. He died on Friday. The funeral will be at Pocklington Methodist Chapel on Thursday January 14 at 2pm. More details follow.

Thames Valley Cambac buys Allied Livestock Marketing

Thames Valley Cambac has bought Allied Livestock Marketing. The deal will be complete at midnight Friday January 22.

Allied Livestock Marketing is a division of Associated British Nutrition (ABN), which is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods. It is a pig marketing operation based in East Yorkshire. Its traders will transfer with the acquisition.

ABN has sold its marketing business to Thames Valley Cambac because it believes marketing companies need greater scale these days.

“Amalgamating the two companies helps to create synergies for farmers and processors that ABN alone could not offer,” said Alan Murphy, managing director of ABN.

In 2008 Thames Valley Cambac became the country’s largest pig marketing group when it bought BOCM Pauls’ Porcofram pig marketing business.

The company says its aim is to create a “business of scale”. Chairman Charlie Allen (pictured above) says this is essential to maintain a value proposition to the processing sector by offering high volumes and flexibility.

This in turn makes for more effective marketing for pig producers, believes Thames Valley Cambac.

General manager Phil Woodall (pictured left) — who joined Thames Valley Cambac last year from ABN — says buying Allied Livestock Marketing makes Thames Valley Cambac a truly national organisation and improves its position as a major link in the British pig supply chain.

Specially for the allied trades...

Three pig industry updates for the allied industry take place next week. The events aim to make sure pig industry organisations and their customers know what BPEX has in store over the next three years. Everyone working in the allied industry is welcome.

“This is an unmissable opportunity to find out about the services BPEX provides allied companies," says BPEX head of communications Andrew Knowles.

“We will discuss areas where BPEX can work with them to help close the physical performance gap between British pig producers and our European competitors.”

There will also be the chance to meet the local BPEX team, find out what is happening in the region and learn more about the funding opportunities available to help support customers.

Those wanting to attend must register to secure a place at the event. Call Tess Howe at BPEX on 07779 321078 or email tess.howe@bpex.org.uk.

• 12 January - Ramada Inn, Wetherby.
• 13 January - Brome Grange, near Eye.
• 14 January - Holiday Inn, Swindon.

Agenda: 2pm Working together - funding and opportunities available; 2.40pm Knowledge transfer team - what are we up to in your area?; 3.20pm BPEX strategy - what does it mean to you?; 4pm Feedback/discussion.

River basin management plans

River Basin Management Plans for ten districts in England and Wales (published December 2009)

January 5 2010

Benn calls for culture of professionalism

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference today, Hilary Benn unveiled his vision for a strong agricultural industry armed with a skilled workforce.

He threw his weight behind the AgriSkills Strategy, currently out to consultation and called for, “a new culture of professionalism, to ensure we have a new generation of skilled farmers who can pick up where those of today leave off."

He described the new AgriSkills strategy — "Towards a New Professionalism" — a "profoundly important piece of work”.

He made special mention of the contribution of pig industry training chief Richard Longthorp, who is Lantra's England chairman and who also chairs the AgriSkills Forum.

On labelling, Benn said, “We do want to know about where and how our food is produced. Beef is already labelled by country of origin. So is poultry. Lamb is pretty well labelled. On pork, the pigmeat taskforce we set up has agreed a code of practice on labelling. I expect all our retailers to sign up to it when it’s published.”

Decisions must be based on sound science

NFU says Defra’s new food policy, 'Food 2030', offers a useful blueprint for the future of United Kingdom food production but care is needed as government moves to deliver its strategy.

NFU president Peter Kendall said: “This vision demonstrates that Defra has grasped the complex issues that are in play when developing a joined-up food policy and that it will provide much-needed leadership on food policy.

“The whole food supply chain and government will need to work together to optimise productivity within an increasingly competitive framework if we are to improve the sustainability of the sector at the same time.

"This vision clearly sets out many of the challenges that the food system faces and indicates a number of possible solutions which farmers and growers will want to scrutinise as they think through the long-term direction of their businesses.

“Having identified the core issues for the food system, government will need to achieve the right balance between them as it moves to delivery. Farmers and growers are already demonstrating that they can produce more food while impacting less. What we now need are policies that underpin and enhance a productive agriculture sector.

“The fact that government wants to deliver its vision for food in partnership with industry and build on existing work in progress is good news. However, the need to base decisions on sound science, particularly where food production is concerned, has never been greater.”

Supermarket ombudsman should be a priority

The creation of a supermarket ombudsman should be a priority for any government that has consumers’ best interests at heart, the NFU said today.

Responding to a Conservative Party commitment to create an ombudsman to police the new Grocery Suppliers Code of Practice if it wins the next election, NFU president Peter Kendall said: “Our manifesto, Why Farming Matters in the Election, identified the introduction of a Grocery Market Ombudsman as key to a successful, forward looking industry that provides for consumers. It is pleasing that the Conservatives have taken note of a policy that will deliver for consumers and food suppliers alike.

“The abuse of market power by retailers damages farmers’ ability to innovate and invest which, in turn, leads to a reduction in choice and availability for consumers. We have always said that an ombudsman would need to provide proactive and robust enforcement of the Code of Practice as well as protection of anonymity for suppliers to eliminate the climate of fear that currently exists.

“While we await further details of the Conservatives’ proposal with interest, we would look forward to working with any government that sees the creation of a Grocery Market Ombudsman as a priority in delivering the Competition Commission's recommendations in full.”

Otley Pig Discussion Group

Tonight's meeting has been cancelled because of the weather.

Breakfast sponsors sought

LIPS is seeking sponsorship for a farmhouse breakfast it will cook on Friday January 29 at Driffield Showground, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. If any producers or butchers are willing to donate sausages and/or bacon, please contact LIPS chairman Sue Woodall.

January 4 2010

Suffolk softies

Being a group of softy southerners we have decided to cancel our Suffolk Pig Discussion Group meeting this Wednesday, January 6, at the Cedars, because of the weather. Andrew Knowles was going to speak. The plan is to reschedule the meeting sometime. — Keith Poulson.

North Amercia herd down 7 percent

If Canada's January 1 breeding herd is 5 percent lower than one year ago (the July and October counts were 4.9 percent and 4.5 percent lower than one year earlier), the combined United States and Canada pig breeding herds this December-January will be 7.4 percent lower than their peak in October 2007. But productivity growth will likely result in a combined pig crop in September-November that is only 5 percent smaller than the combined pig crop for autumn 2007.

January 2 2010

Interest-free loans for pig producers

By Nick Bird, of Farmex

From February, pig farms will be able to apply for interest-free loans for energy saving from the Carbon Trust.

Unsecured interest-free loans will be from £3,000 to £20,000 for up to four years, with a target CO2 saving of 1.5t CO2 per £1000 of loan.

This is equivalent to a return of around 25 percent at typical electricity prices. That is, the loan is self-funding – loan repayments should be covered by the savings achieved over the period of the loan.

Loans are not restricted to electricity savings only, though most is used in this form in British pig production.

The requirement for rapid payback and the limited amount of the loans means they are aimed at the low cherries of energy saving, such as more efficient equipment and better regulation.

The lowest cherries in pig production are farrowing and weaning, where energy use is the most intensive and typically the most wasteful.

The following table compares energy use of typical/inefficient farrowing and weaner rooms with good/improved ones (from the Farmex / BPEX energy survey and other data).

The maximum potential loan has been calculated according to the Carbon Trust’s loan calculator, available on its website.

Most energy in farrowing and weaner rooms is used for electrical heating. The large differences between good/efficient and poor/typical are due to more effective use of heating, rather than different types of heater — for example, using lidded-curtained creeps with effective heating control, and better regulation of minimum ventilation in weaner rooms.

Monitoring has a key role to play, both in establishing the potential for energy saving and in helping to ensure that the project achieves the energy savings expected.

Few British pig farms have sub-metering to measure the use of individual buildings, and it may be difficult to make a good case for an interest-free loan in the absence of sound information on current use.

Meters are now available at low prices and are cheap to fit, so they are worthwhile even for farms that are not considering Carbon trust loans.

In practice, it is very difficult to estimate use on pig farms based only on the equipment fitted (though some energy consultants may tell you otherwise), because consumption is so much affected by how equipment is used.

Metering and monitoring after upgrading equipment is just as important for exactly the same reason.

January 1 2010

Who chooses the way you farm pigs?
Not you...

Society shapes the way you produce pigs more than you do.

This is obvious when you think about it, especially when you consider the pressures imposed by the welfare and environment legislation introduced by Brussels in recent years, on behalf of society.

And if that’s not sufficient to prove the point, consider the way retailers have urged British producers to change their methods of production over the past decade, and how some retailers are even now pressing for a phase-out of farrowing crates.

‘Social background’ is definitely the biggest influence on modern European pig production, say two European Animal Management master of science students in a paper that compares European pig production systems in Denmark, Holland, north-west Germany, Spain and Brittany in France.

Although pigmeat production has become standardised in these areas, social pressures in each country have caused technical and economic differences, say Arnaud Buchet and Sarah Groneick.

“The social background is the most important factor shaping the pig farming systems which can be observed today. Those aspects have to be respected and kept in mind,” they believe.

Roll on 2010!

Pig traders had to remember that Friday came on Thursday this week due to the New Year's Day hangover holiday, but if yesterday's prices were a sign of things to come, roll on 2010. Traffic Lights commentary.

Denmark wants more farm biogas plants

The Danish government wants at least half of all farm manure produced in the country used to make biogas within the next ten years. Its 'Green Growth' programme sees biogas production as an important tool for cutting climate-changing gases from Danish agriculture.

If 50 percent of manure from Denmark’s 1.5m cows and 13m pigs is converted to gas, it could reduce the country’s production of climate-changing gases by as much as 8 percent.

The Green Growth programme is to be introduced this year and is Denmark’s way of implementing European Union climate protection and water biodiversity legislation.

At present around 80 Danish farms have biogas plants out of 5,500 pig and 5,300 dairy farms. So far, Denmark has specialised more in centralised municipal or cooperative biogas plants where manure from farmers as well as industrial by-products such as slaughterhouse waste is processed. There are around 20 of these. The biggest plant processes manure from 60 farms.

Down — but not down enough

December’s returns show the United States pig herd down around 2 percent last year - not enough to put the industry right. "I was hoping for about a 5 percent drop," said Sam Carney of Adair, president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council. He is urging greater reduction in pig herds to bring production in line with demand and end more than two years of steady losses for the pig industry. But pig prices have improved slightly of late, and that may cause some producers to think the worst is over.

December 31 2009

Antibiotics in United States pigmeat

Because of poor regulation of drug use in ‘industrial’ farm animals, consumers in the United States do not know what their food is treated with, or how often, claims Laura Rogers, who directs the Pew Charitable Trusts Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming in Washington DC. "Nor is there a system in place to test meat for dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria," she says.

In 2008 the United States Food and Drug Administration put a limit on the amount of antibiotics used in pigs, citing the importance of cephalosporin drugs for treating disease in humans.

But the Bush administration reversed the decision five days before it was due to take effect, after receiving hundreds of letters from drug companies and farm animal trade groups.

United States farmers are reported to be giving their pigs, cows and chickens about 8 percent more antibiotics each year, usually to heal lung, skin or blood infections.

Thirteen percent of antibiotics administered on farms last year were fed to healthy animals to make them grow faster, a practice now banned in Europe.

In recent weeks the hard-pressed United States pig industry has found it profitable to send loins to Europe, notwithstanding the European Union tariff on imported third country pork of about 40p a kilo.

Although pigmeat exports from the States to Europe will be from pigs that have been produced in separate batches to European standards, importers will need to ensure an audited chain is in place, to avoid denting public confidence in the wholesomeness of pork.