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tuesday july 13 2010

Arseoles and earoles in Chinatown

NICK GREEN: What Nuffield did for me

Sometimes it's difficult to justify taking a day away from your business. So imagine trying to justify eight weeks away on a Nuffield scholarship.

Luckily there is no longer an expectation that you will travel the world in a continuous two-month stretch, says Nick Green, operations director at farming company Alvis Brothers.

"It is encouraged if you can afford the time, because continual study allows an individual to really immerse himself or herself in their subject, but no-one will think ill of you if you break the study into parts and return to base in between."

A Nuffield scholarship has three main components, he explains — a period of travel and study, the submission of a written report and the presentation of a paper at the annual Nuffield conference.

"Whilst the thought of delivering your research findings to an audience of 200 scholars may be daunting the upside of the rest of a scholarship far outweighs 15 minutes of presenting," he says.

For his subject he chose "The opportunity for innovation in the pig industry', a theme which made a visit to Hawaii essential.

"Not for a holiday!" he protests. "I spent six days as a guest of the Hawaii Pork Board and was exposed to an extremely well-run island industry that ensured pig farmers had a good market for their pigs and enjoyed consistently good returns.

"It was a world-class demonstration of demand-and-supply economics with a group of producers and processors working together to safeguard and make profit in their individual businesses."

He was also taken on an early morning visit to Chinatown. "It was a place I would never have set foot in without a chaperone. Lots of dark corners and bubbling cauldrons with bits of pigs you would never think were edible.

"Rectums, ovaries, the bladder. You name it they were cooking it. Everything except legs and loins, which are the lower-value cuts and have to be saved for the tourists!"

"The opportunity for innovation in the pig industry" is a broad subject so from the start Nick Green decided to concentrate his efforts on the supply chain.

He was encouraged by the Nuffield selection panel to particularly consider looking at consumer promotion and consumer education.

His studies took him round the world, an experience he will never forget.

After spending the equivalent of a week looking at various aspects of the United Kingdom pig industry, he went to Japan to look at anything but pigs.

"The Japanese are the acknowledged masters of lean supply and just-in-time management, so I set myself up to look at car manufacture, clothing and sushi — nothing to do with pigs but all with aspects of their supply chain that could be transferred to the pig sector.

"Japan was an education in itself. No western influences, a language that bears no resemblance to any tongue of the west and food that you had to guess what you were eating.

"No-one in Japan was aware of Nuffield when I originally made contact but they embraced what it was about and my host for the week — a senior government official — set me up to meet senior executives of numerous businesses, government officials with the direct ear of the prime minister, agricultural consultants, and my personal highlight, the president of the Tokyo Meat Trading Corporation.

"He had a fist of steel, was immaculately presented and had the power to control the whole of Japan's meat industry."

Nick Green's next port of call was Canada, where he looked specifically at promotion and education. He arranged contacts before leaving home and on arrival was well looked after by, amongst others, Bernard Peet.

"One particular highlight of my time in Canada was a visit to a Hutterite colony. The Hutterites are a religious organisation that set themselves up in colonies based on farms. They have strict lives and confine themselves mainly to the farm.

"Bernard managed to arrange a visit for the both of us and for the price of twelve doughnuts and a newspaper we were shown around the farm, workshops, bakery and even their houses.

"We could have stayed for supper but that came after an hour and half's church service all delivered in German, so we decided against it."

Nick liked Canada's approach to consumer education and it encouraged him, when he returned to Britain, to set up the charity FarmLink at www.farmlink.org.uk.

"In the years since my scholarship the model has developed and we play host to over 10,000 primary school pupils on our farm and we have two other businesses involved, each having contact with 4,000 pupils a year. We have a long way to go to match Canada but we are making a start."

The United States was the last country on his itinerary, where he saw large-scale pig production.

"I had no wish to replicate what they were doing with regards to size but I did want to pick their concept apart and see how it might fit our business.

"This worked and within four months of my return we had established a supply chain for West Country pork for deli-counters for a major retailer. This added value to our pigs and provided an element of security for those involved."

Nuffield really does open doors, says Nick. "The whole experience is one that will remain for a lifetime. It opened my eyes to what is going on around the world.

"I made contact with people I would never have met in any other way and now have a two-way network of people involved in agriculture around the world.

"I got to know my way around the United Kingdom government, the European Parliament and a whole host of industry organisations and government bodies.

"And much of this was put to use during my period as an elected member of NPA Producer Group."

Nuffield is an opportunity that should be grasped with both hands, he says. It isn't just about a two month study and report. That's just the start. "Nuffield continues to open doors long after the study has been completed."

Monday July 12 2010

Sights you never thought you'd see

By Digby Scott

A few years ago most people in the pig industry were too busy losing money to investigate new ways of making a profit. And this year everyone is too busy making money.

But there will never be a better opportunity for people up to age 45 to travel the world in search of profitable ways ahead for the British pig industry.

Before we dispatch our ambassadors to the four corners of the earth in search of good ideas to copy — and bad ideas to avoid — let's take a few minutes to think about what we would like them to investigate on our behalf.

Here are some ideas...

• How are Dutch and Danish producers managing their super-litters? Do large litters reach a level at which they fail to be cost-effective, and if so what is that level?
  
  
• How will environmental and welfare considerations impact on pig production in the United States and Brazil over the next ten years? Will these countries be able to flood Europe with cheap pigmeat as trade barriers come down, or are their costs going to go up too?
  
  
• According to one marketing expert, packaging is the final opportunity to dramatise a brand's core unique selling proposition, create a connection and make people pick up the pack — and to keep on doing this 24 hours a day in people's homes. Okay... so what can British producers learn from the high streets of Japan, China and the States?
  
  
• As United Kingdom MPs become increasingly irrelevant, how are pig-keepers to become really effective lobbyists at the European Commission and the European Parliament?
  

All the above is achievable with Nuffield farming scholarships. Assuming that you, like me, are way too old to apply for a Nuffield scholarship yourself, please let me have YOUR ideas for suitable subjects. Remember Nuffield opens doors all over the world.

And if you have an idea about who would make a good job of carrying out your suggested project — well include his or her name as well. For instance I think Zoe Davies would be excellent at investigating effective European lobbying.

Email your ideas to:
Too-old-and-decrepid-to-go-myself@pigworld.co.uk.

TVC report

The major processors were again keeping numbers tight and, for the second week running, both Tulip and
Woodheads reduced their contract prices by 1p. TVC report.

Pfizer Trainee of the Year Award

A reminder: deadline for entries is July 30.

News Digest

The latest issue of News Digest for NPA Members is published today and may be downloaded from the Members Area.

Wasted survey

You might think it would be one of the most engaging surveys we have ever run on this site, but no. There have been only three reponses to the Waste Survey so far, definitely an all-time low. But all three responses are useful and will help shape the work of the NPA Regulation Review Working Group. Everybody else — the survey is still running, if you have a change of heart.

sunday july 11 2010

Agency halves IPPC 'determination' time

Above: IPPC permit applications (click image to see high-resolution copy.)

The chart above shows how applications for pig and poultry IPPC permit variations increased last year and this.

Some of the increase in pig sector activity is attributable to investment in the industry's housing stock which was run down and an impediment to economic production.

Up to January 2009 an average five applications a month were received by the Environment Agency. Between January 2009 and the present this has increased to 29 a month.

The Environment Agency set up a 'Zap' team in October after which applications for permit variations were 'determined' (decided) at a faster rate than they were received. This reflects the extra work needed to reduce the Agency's backlog of applications.

Of the 627 IPPC permit applications received since November 2007, 554 have been for poultry, 64 for finishers and 9 for sows.

Since the introduction of its 'Zap' team the Environment Agency has reduced the time it turns round applications for permit variations from an average 6.8 months to an average 3.6 months. The longest an application is expected to take now is down to 7 months from 1.4 years.

Currently 102 poultry applications, 12 finisher applications and 2 sow applications have been received by the Agency and are being processed.

IPPC ammonia conditions may be relaxed

Almost 60 sensitive sites near IPPC pig and poultry units have now been surveyed for evidence of ammonia damage.

The good news for producers is that as a result of the survey a substantial number of IPPC permit conditions relating to ammonia emissions are now likely to be relaxed or removed.

Almost all of the sites surveyed showed some evidence of potential ammonia effects, for example in tree lichens.

But in a large number of cases these are not considered to be preventing the sites from achieving their conservation objectives, because the key features of the site are not showing signs of damage.

saturday july 10 2010

The case for Monday weaning

We should always be questioning the wisdom of our grandfathers, say south-west vets John Carr, Tony O'Loughlin and Jenny Smith.

Take day of weaning for example. It is contemporary wisdom that we wean on a Thursday (70 percent of the industry) or Wednesday (most of the rest).

The only farms weaning on other days are batching twice a week or perhaps every ten days, but these represent only a small number of farms in Europe.

Why do we wean on a Thursday or Wednesday? The primary reason is to allow breeding to occur during the working week, usually Monday and Tuesday, with a few sows on Wednesday or later.

"This made sense historically when only natural mating was used because it took so long to complete and thus weekends were to be avoided," say the St David's Farm Practice vets.

• Read their report in August Pig World.

European Parliament proposes emissions-linked payments

How should the European Union's farm policy be reshaped and how should it be funded after 2013?

Parliament set out its views in a resolution adopted on Thursday, ahead of the publication this autumn of the Commission's agricultural reform plans.

The big challenges facing the farming world include climate change, the need for secure food supplies, food quality and business competitiveness, say MEPs in a resolution drawn up by British MEP George Lyon, which seeks to influence the debate on how best to remodel the common agriculture policy in time for the European Union's next multi-annual budget discussions.

Since the Lisbon Treaty, the overall European Union reform plans and any European Union agricultural legislation cannot be approved without Parliament's agreement.

The European Parliament stresses that funds allocated to finance the CAP must be "at least maintained during the next financial period" (from 2013).

In addition, agriculture policy should not be "renationalised" (ie. returned to national control) and direct payments to farmers should be fully funded from the European Union budget to avoid any cofinancing by governments that could erode fair competition within the single market.

MEPs also believe that a European Union-funded top-up payment should be made available to reward farmers for reducing carbon emissions and increasing soil sequestration, on a per unit of production basis.

MEPs call for more objective criteria, partly to reduce disparities in direct payments, considering the current hectare basis inappropriate, and partly to reflect regional diversity.

The level of direct payments should be maintained for the sake of both farmers and consumers, they say.

The high standards of food safety, environment, social legislation and animal welfare that Europe's farmers must meet should be rewarded, say MEPs.

Imports from third countries should meet the same criteria, with due respect for World Trade Organisation rules, and traceability should be improved to allow consumers to make informed choices.

Food quality policy is also crucial to improving the sector's competitiveness, says the resolution. Geographical indications of origin need to be strengthened and enforced, so as to allow the European Union to keep its leadership in this area, using protection and promotion instruments.

To ensure fair revenues to the farming community, the European Parliament proposes strengthening producers' bargaining power with processors and retailers, and improving price transparency.

To take account of market developments and particularly of extreme price volatility and subsequent crises, MEPs call for a safety net mechanism, to include public and private storage and intervention, backed by instruments specifically designed to increase price stability.

They also propose new measures, such as creating futures markets or a harvest risk insurance policy to cope with extreme climate conditions.

To counter the abandonment of land, ensure the survival of European Union farming and promote green growth, rural development must remain a central aim of the future CAP and the current two-pillar structure (production support and rural development) should be maintained, says the resolution.

Agriculture urgently needs to attract young farmers and this could be achieved through favourable loans for investment to meet high start-up costs and overcome difficulties in accessing credit.

Meadow Quality report

The relationship between input and output prices moved in the wrong direction yesterday, as contract prices eased by a penny. Sows were back by 1.5p. Fresh-meat plants at least stood-on. But forward prices for wheat moved up considerably, with £120 a tonne quoted for March 2011.

(See wheat futures on Traffic Lights page.)

The latter is due to hastily revised harvest forecasts, with the United Kingdom recording the lowest rainfall since January for over 80 years. If you haven't already taken forward feed price cover, you would be advised to do so as swiftly as possible.

The hot weather is also affecting carcase weights, which are dipping slightly, but we are starting to see P2 levels rise, so a review of feed energy levels should also be considered, as it tends to increase on a seasonal basis – peaking in October.

Demand overall remained fair, with a decent clearance of all pigs sold. It seems 'World Cup stocks' have been cleared and several processors were looking to re-stock again.

The medium term outlook still remains very positive. Latest consumption data over 12 months shows pork to have increased by a further 2 percent, beef down by 1 percent and lamb a considerable 20 percent drop. (Retail price increases will have masked some of these changes in ££s terms).

It is clear that consumers continue to recognise the excellent value pigmeat products offer and as there is little sign of an economic upturn anytime soon, the future for pig production remains favourable. — Greg Mowbray, Meadow Quality.  

Friday July 9 2010

It was a buyer's market today

A quiet day's trading with most contract buyers having enough pigs in the system to meet what was described as patchy retail sales and although the recent heatwave has boosted demand for parts of the pig, the loin remains hard to sell.

As a result the spot sector was more of a buyers' market and most of those out shopping were able to agree deals in the 142–144p range, but some warmer-hearted types were prepared to pay a penny or two more than this, but often on a tighter spec.

The DAPP has held almost unchanged at 147.27p but could ease back in the weeks ahead, although one bit of slightly more positive news is that pig numbers appear to be tight with the hot weather slowing down growth rates. Traffic Lights commentary.

Scotland launches health passports
for imported pigs and semen

The Scottish pig industry is introducing a health declaration form, to ensure all pigs and semen imported into Scotland come from a farm of known health status.

The form, which has been developed by a group Scottish pig industry advisors, requires the source herd of any imported animals to sign a health status statement for specific diseases, based on herd and abattoir inspections, and laboratory testing.

The recommendation will be that this form is provided with every transaction involving the movement of genetic material into Scotland, either in the form of live pigs – such as replacement gilts or weaners – or the semen trade for AI.

High health status is the gold standard for pigs, playing a major role in welfare, productivity, product quality and financial viability, says Quality Meat Scotland.

"Scotland has a strong history of good health in all its livestock, including pigs, and the penalty for disease introduction can be high.

"For instance, introduction of a disease such as enzootic pneumonia, could cost an average pig herd up to £30,000 a year."

Pig genetics companies currently provide information on health matters to their customers, but the group working on this project identified the need to provide all producers with a standard, informative declaration that describes health status as accurately as possible before material is imported into Scotland.

"The majority of our pig exports are as prime foods, and most of the small volumes of imports are live animals for genetics. These animals represent one of the highest risks of importing disease to the Scottish herd," said Jamie Robertson of Livestock Management Systems Ltd, Aberdeen.

"Whilst breeding stock tends to be relatively high health, the fact remains that the main route of pig disease transmission between farms is by live animals and their transport.

"Health declarations are a standard item in Denmark, with results from the four-weekly testing of all breeding herds being made available on open websites within 24 hours. The target in Denmark has been to provide transparency on disease issues.

"When producers are alerted early to health breakdowns in breeding herds it allows them to take early action to prevent or minimise the impact of any health issue on their own unit. The alternative is reaction when a health issue emerges on the unit, which is often too late to prevent significant losses or further spread."

A from has been developed by Jamie Robertson (LMS), David Strachan (Wholesome pigs), Jill Thomson (Scottish Agricultural College), Grace Webster (Meadows Veterinary Centre) and Allan Ward (Quality Meat Scotland).

For more information about the health declarations project visit the farming and processing section of www.qmscotland.co.uk.