Friday March 12, 2010

Manipulable materials could help maintain the British premium

Increasingly continental pig farmers are convincing British retailers they can match British welfare standards, Martin Barker warned this week’s meeting of NPA Producer Group.

He said British pig farmers would begin to see their premium slip away if they did not take action soon.

The growth of large cooperatives on the continent, and the recent acquisition of pig farms in Spain by a large-scale United States producer posed threats for English pig-keepers, he said.

“We could find ourselves selling pigs on the same playing field as these large conglomerates. We have got to maintain our differentiation so we can keep our premium.”

He urged the British pig industry to see the new emphasis by Brussels and Defra on manipulable materials as an opportunity rather than a problem.

“There is an opportunity here for us to monopolise this issue, to actually get into the spirit of it rather than just play lip service to it.

“Let’s get some funding, even from people like Compassion in World Farming, and really go for it,” he proposed.

Martin Barker was speaking in a debate at NPA Producer Group on maintaining the British premium in the run-up to the European partial stalls ban in 2013.

Marketing opportunities to be investigated

“It worries me that we are not doing enough to maintain the premium. We must take action soon. It will be too damn late once our price is down where the European price is,” said outdoor free-range producer Jimmy Butler at this week's NPA Producer Group meeting.

He proposed a special levy to pay for a big step-up in the industry’s marketing effort.

“The likes of Coca-Cola and Kellogs will spend about four percent of turnover on marketing. In the pig industry we do about 8m pigs which at £100 a pig gives a total turnover of £800m, and four percent of that would be £32m a year on marketing.

“Obviously we are nowhere near that but I do think we have got to do something. We have got a premium of roughly 20p over the European Union price because of our higher welfare standards but now they are catching us up.”

Currently BPEX spends £4.2m a year — half of the levy — on marketing. Following the debate at this week's NPA Producer Group meeting BPEX will investigate marketing opportunities that might benefit from extra funding, and report back.

Jimmy Butler said the industry’s new voluntary labelling initiative presented a terrific marketing opportunity to drive up pork consumption and get shoppers to choose British.

“I don’t think the drive should be at the supermarkets because they are only concerned about their customers and their shareholders and we are just one of a thousand suppliers.

“I think we need a clear, clean, simple campaign with Union Flags and Red Tractors and I do believe we should promote our lower carbon footprint.

“We should appeal to shoppers’ patriotism and they will respond. Morrisons have gone all-British and I am led to believe their fresh meat sales have gone up by about 16 percent, and I don’t think that is an accident.

“If we sell our product to the consumer then they will demand it from the supermarket.”

He proposed a specific levy be put in place for marketing over and above what BPEX is already doing.

“Personally I would love to see us put in 80p a pig and the processor put in a little bit as well. If we did that we could soon end up with a £10m pot to help us with our marketing.

“I just feel that our future is in our own hands. There is a bit of money in the industry at the moment for the first time in in a long while and I do believe we would be irresponsible if we don’t take this opportunity and move ahead by creating some further marketing for our industry."

Whilst some members of NPA Producer Group supported the principle behind Jimmy Butler’s proposal they were concerned that Britain could supply only 40 percent of the home market for pork and pork products, so a large marketing campaign could mainly benefit continental producers.

“We seem to have this elastic band attached between our price and the European price, and when our premium gets to over 20p the whole thing starts to strain,” said Richard Lister. “I just wonder, when our product is in limited supply, whether we can push that 20p any further.”

Charlie Allen said he would support Jimmy Butler’s idea — but not by as much as 80p.

“You are right in everything you say but the fact is we haven’t got the pigs. We can only go so far with our price and then the retailers and processors go over the water, and the last thing we want to do is to put money into marketing that ultimately will end up promoting imported pork.”

Jimmy Butler accepted that currently British pig-keepers could supply only 40 percent of the home market but he saw a large marketing campaign helping the industry expand to the level it had been at eight to ten years ago, when it could supply nearly 80 percent of the market.

Peter Rollings said the idea of a special levy would have to be put to the country’s four or five biggest producers and if they did not agree the idea would not succeed. He felt they would probably rather spend the money in their own supply chains.

But like Jimmy Butler and Martin Barker he was concerned to see British producers finding ways to maintain their premium price over continental producers.

“Europe will begin to catch up with us on the things that have given us a lead, so along with any increased marketing we have got to think about that.”

James Hart said he would be reluctant to pay a special marketing levy unless he could see a wider range between the continental price and the British price than 20p. “I don’t think we are going to get that. Retailers are not going to pay any more.”

Howard Revell, chairman of Producer Group, suggested the challenge could be to get a premium on a greater percentage of the British pork on supermarket shelves.

However he suspected most processors would rather spend the money in their own supply chains than in a special levy.

Stewart Houston said BPEX could be invited to investigate the business case for a greater marketing spend.

But he pointed out that a large marketing campaign had not been necessary to persuade the Co-operative and Somerfield to move to all-British. It could be as effective to meet retailers face to face and make a good case, including demonstrating to them that the product was available.

Mick Sloyan said the aim of a marketing campaign may not be to spend more money to get a bigger premium, but to defend the existing premium.

"That is going to be the hardest bit. I agree the points of difference we had are being whittled away."

But he drew attention to the encouraging fact that pork was now fashionable and producers had probably gained as much from that as from selling the British story.

Consumers were now wanting to eat more pork and were making decisions about which pork products they wanted to eat.

There was always a possibility that marketing British pork would also confer a benefit on imported pork, he acknowledged. It went with the territory.

"But we went through a phase five or six years ago when even though we promoted British pork we were up against a great tide of opinion where people were saying 'we don't want to eat the stuff'.

"Now we are back in fashion and it's not just that we're well-placed price-wise in the recession. I think people have genuinely got bored with chicken, and as a result pork has now got a momentum.

"Can we spend more on marketing? Absolutely. No problem. But I can't guarantee you what kind of return you will get. Marketing doesn't work like that."

BPEX will look at opportunities and report back to Producer Group.

Her indoors causes NPA soul-searching

By Digby Scott

The pig industry made some progress this week in its prolonged struggle to draw up a set of honest, transparent outdoor production definitions for the benefit of consumers.

Definitions for for Free-Range and Totally-Outdoors have been agreed, and the definition for Outdoor-Reared appears largely uncontroversial, as long as the sows are kept outdoors all the time.

This leaves just one problem — Outdoor-Bred.

This week NPA Producer Group decided, after a lengthy and difficult debate, to recommend that dry sows should only be indoors for a limited time — possibly 10 percent of the time but certainly less than 30 percent.

The background to this decision is that some producers farrow sows outdoors in arks, but keep the dry sows indoors in straw barns, or in tents on a hard standing.

As the farrowing is in arks, it is unrestrained, so such systems meet Freedom Food requirements, but there is some doubt as to whether consumers would expect ‘Outdoor-Bred’ to include an extended period when the sows are kept indoors.

In the most recent draft definition produced by BPEX, after consultation with producers, Outdoor-Bred sows could spend up to a third of their lives indoors where soil or climate are a constraint.

But this definition has proved deeply unsatisfactory to some producers who believe that Outdoor-Bred should mean the sows are outdoors all the time (see “Come Outside and Say That’ in March Pig World).

In an attempt to balance the needs of both factions, BPEX’s Mick Sloyan took the problem to focus groups, for the umpteenth time, to find out what the woman-in-the-street thinks.

And this week he brought his findings to NPA Producer Group, in the hope of getting a clear steer on whether dry sows should be allowed inside, and if so for how long.

He made it clear at the outset that whatever NPA Producer Group members decided, the final decision would rest with the retailers, as they were the ones who would be using the definitions.

Before reaching their decision that sows could spend some time indoors — but not as much as 30 percent — NPA Producer Group members learned that a new get-everybody-out-of-jail definition, ‘Outdoor-Born’, would be unacceptable to consumers.

Mick Sloyan said consumers understood the difference between Outdoors and Free-Range, so no problem there, and they understood that Outdoor-Reared was ‘better’ than Outdoor-Bred.

They also accepted that sows in the Outdoor-Bred definition might spend some of their time indoors.

“They said they would find a limited amount of time acceptable, but if we pushed them too hard on what length of time would be acceptable, they simply came to a halt,” he said.

“So I can’t tell you whether 30 percent is good or not good,” he told Producer Group members.

“All I can say is that there is some acceptance of the sows being inside some of the time, but that they should be outdoors for as long as possible."

So how long was long enough, wondered Mick Sloyan. A meeting of the BPEX board the day before had failed to reach a decision. Perhaps NPA Producer Group would have more success.

East Anglia outdoor producers on Producer Group put up a strong case for Outdoor-Bred meaning outdoors all the time or possibly indoors for no more than ten percent of the time.

NPA chairman Stewart Houston pressed them on why they were so adamant.

“This is the first time I have come across an issue like this among producers,” he said. ”There are significant financial implications for anyone who ends up being the loser in this.

“What would be the economic disadvantage to you if you were to allow the 30 percent? After all this a minimum standard we are talking about.

You guys who are on soil all the time are above this minimum standard and can still get your premium. I must admit, that as an indoor producer I don’t understand why it is such a big issue.”

Jimmy Butler said that as a free-range producer he was not directly affected by the issue.

However he felt strongly that allowing outdoor sows to spend up to a third of their lives indoors muddied the water for consumers and devalued what outdoor producers were seeking to achieve.

Here are some of the comments from outdoor producers on Producer Group...

• “I would love to keep my sows indoors for part of the time but it would be diluting a standard and it could become a negative point for the whole system.”
  
  
• “Nine out of ten people would expect the sows to be outdoors most of the time and if we allowed 30 percent that could easily drift to 40 percent or even 50 percent.”
  
  
• “As an industry we have always been quite clear and straightforward and I don’t think that having the sows indoors for up to 30 percent of the time would be clear and straightforward.”
  
  
• “You have got to look at the people who have made a big commitment to an outside system and they could be damaged financially if it were adulterated.”
  
  
• “They will have a lower cost of production and they will be competing with us, so the processors are going to love it as it means they can pay less and still put Outdoors on their labels.”

Stewart Houston warned that if Producer Group voted against 30 percent, at least three big pig production companies and a number of smaller producers would be affected. “It is going to financially disadvantage people who are important to our industry.”

A vote found three members in favour of sows not spending any time indoors, four in favour of up to ten percent, one in favour of up to 20 percent, and three in favour of up to 30 percent.

“So that is the message I will take away,” said Mick Sloyan. “Some period of time inside would be acceptable, but there is little support for 30 percent.”

A less urbane individual might have added, “Gee, thanks”.

Thursday March 11, 2010

Are we good assurance scheme ‘citizens’?

Are British pig-keepers good assurance scheme citizens? Independent inspection body Integra thinks not.

So it will introduce one-day training sessions this spring for assurance scheme members. The aim is to motivate pig-keepers — and the vets who inspect them — to raise their game.

Integra is the auditing company that checks pig farms supplying Tesco.

It would like to persuade pig-keepers to do more than pay lip-service to the Genesis Quality Assurance and Assured British Pigs assurance schemes.

Its views are important because most other major supermarkets accept Integra audits as being at least as good as the Genesis and Assured British Pigs standards.

This means the standards that Integra audits to (on behalf of its client), have the potential to become a backdoor ‘Malton Code’, which would place an extra burden on pig-keepers.

To prevent this happening, Integra wants to work with pig-keepers and the two main assurance schemes to help pig-keepers become better, more willing assurance scheme citizens.

Integra carries out audits for Tesco internationally, so is in a position to compare the standards of Tesco’s continental suppliers with its British suppliers.

There was a time when many considered pig assurance in Britain to be too demanding and a threat to the future of the industry, which is why Genesis was founded.

But now there is a view in some quarters that the industry may have swung too far the other way and is not doing enough to stay just in front of our competitors on the continent.

This is a view that has been expressed recently by both Philip Richardson, chairman of Assured British Pigs, and Martin Barker, managing director of Genesis Quality Assurance.

They would both like to persuade British pig-keepers to take a more active interest in the two Red Tractor schemes, which share the same technical advisory committee.

There is one school of thought that Integra should be encouraged to work more closely with the two assurance schemes, to avoid the emergence of another set of standards.

One way of achieving this is by enthusing — not bullying — British pig-keepers to keep a nose ahead of continental farms, thereby safeguarding the British premium.

Like Genesis Quality Assurance, Exeter-based Integra is owned by the Leavesley Group of Companies. But accreditation rules mean there is a glass wall around its independence.

Unsung hero retires

One of the industry's unsung heroes retires on Friday. Tony Fowler has been the pig industry's economist for over 30 years, initially with the Meat and Livestock Commission and subsequently with BPEX and EBLEX.

"Because of him we are a respected authority in terms of market commentary and market information," Mick Sloyan told NPA Proeucer Group, "and I would just like to express my appreciation. To me he is one of the industry's unsung heroes."

Pig industry will strive to be greener

One of BPEX’s themes at this year’s British Pig and Poultry Fair will be how the pig industry can play its part in reducing carbon emissions.

The agriculture industry as a whole has entered into a voluntary agreement with government to reduce emissions by 11 percent by 2020 and the pig industry is keen to play its part, Mick Sloyan, of BPEX, told yesterday’s NPA Producer Group meeting.

“We have been looking long and hard at what we can do, but actually I believe that if the trends in productivity continue we will probably hit that 11 percent.

“And I think if we start doing the calculations on the pig industry’s contribute to greenhouse gases a bit more sensitively we will show a reduction anyway.

“To give one example, at present pigs’ contribution is assessed globally on the assumption that they are fed wheat and soya. But in this country the amount of co-products that are fed probably account for at least a third of the volume, maybe more, and just that alone makes a significant contribution."

Scottish herd static

The Scottish pig breeding herd was almost static last year, according to the December 2009 census results, published today. It fell just 0.4 percent.

David Black Award is 50

Get your thinking cap on, urges BPEX’s Mick Sloyan. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the David Black Award and to mark the occasions he would like a shed-full of first-class nominations.

The only criterion is that the person nominated has made a “significant contribution to the industry” — this year, last year or over the past 25 years.

Mick Sloyan would like everyone in the industry to be giving the matter some serious thought in readiness for when nominations open later in the year.

Pre-election jitters help pig price

Pre-election jitters will help keep the British pig price strong, reported Mick Sloyan, of BPEX, at yesterday’s NPA Producer Group meeting.

The prospect of hung Parliament and a consequent flight out of sterling was preventing sterling from making gains against the euro, which in turn was continuing to make pigmeat imports less attractive, he said.

And the European pig reference price was continuing to rise, preventing the gap between the British price and the continental price from becoming unsustainable. The British premium is currently around 16p. “That’s quite big, but it has been a lot bigger in the recent past,” said Mick Sloyan.

Retail sales across all categories apart from ham are showing a five percent increase year on year, which is quite remarkable, and excellent news for British pig-keepers, he said.

Are we good assurance scheme 'citizens'?

A series of one-day training sessions are being planned for this spring, in the hope of persuading British pig-keepers to be better assurance scheme citizens? The aim is to motivate pig-keepers, and the vets who inspect them in the assurance schemes, to raise their game. More about this later.

Producer to meet all party leaders

Richard Longthorp, Lantra's chairman for England and the driving force behind the AgriSkills Strategy, is one of a group of businessmen invited to meet and question all three of the United Kingdom's political party leaders when they visit Yorkshire, starting this week.

He will raise skills issues and the strategic importance of the land-based sector at each of the meetings with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Conservative leader, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, as part of the run-up to the Uniuted Kingdom general election this spring.

Richard Longthorp will meet David Cameron on Thursday 11 March, Nick Clegg on Friday 19 March and Gordon Brown at a date soon to be finalised.

"All the political parties need to understand just how important our land-based sector is for contributing to the bottom line in the United Kingdom's economy. Particularly in times of recession and the need to have enough food to feed the nation in a sustainable way, we need to gain that recognition. What’s more, we must ensure we have the right skills to deliver this,” he said.

"If the United Kingdom economy is to grow, our land-based industries must be afforded priority status by governments along with other sectors of industry. Growth and sustainability don’t need to be mutually exclusive. We must ensure our vital rural economy is not consigned to the sidelines and is recognised as a real player in the nation’s economy. That's my challenge to all our political parties."

Tuesday March 9, 2010

Tail-biting meetings

NPA SURVEY RESULTS

Last week we asked those who attended the recent round of ADAS/Defra tail-biting meetings to complete a short survey on this page. Here are the results.

The survey responses represented 13.8 percent of the England female breeding herd, being made up of:

• 18,892 indoor sows.
• 32,500 outdoor sows.
• Total 50,592 sows.
  

It also represented:

• 104,400 finishers on slats.
• 204,350 finishers on straw.
• 10,200 finishers outside.
  

Do you have a tail-biting problem?

56% do not have a tail-biting problem.
44% do have a tail-biting problem.

Were the ADAS presentations helpful?

79% found the presentations useful.
21% did not find them useful.

Do you think Defra/Animal Health appeared supportive of pig producers?

72% found them supportive.
28% found them not supportive.

Do you think there is enough advice on which manipulable materials are suitable and acceptable?

85% not enough advice.
15% there is enough advice.

Do you find chains effective as a toy?

36% not effective.
64% effective.

Optional comment on chains

• No scientific evidence to prove that pigs get bored with them.
  
  
• Lose interest in them.
  
  
• If they once start nothing will really stop them.
  
  
• Nearly always enough on their own.
  
  
• Pigs use them.
  
  
• They have the advantage that they can be chewed and nosed around and are easy to keep clean.
  
  
• They have only a marginal effect.
  
  
• Screwing wood to them now.
  
  
• Chains when knocked are interesting to pig as they move and make a noise.
  
  
• Okay for short time.
  
  
• Yes, get dirty if not suspended.
  

Have you tried giving your pigs toys etc, if so what? Did they work? Which were successful?

Yes, ball salt licks.
They were not once tail-biting started on undocked pigs it is impossible to stop unless biters and bitees are separated.

Plastic drums, spray cans, wellies.
They all satisfy the auditor.

Yes balls/drums/wood on chains rubber conveyor belt on chains.
Wood/rubber conveyor belts on chains.

Yes, wellingtons and plastic containers which eventually are broken down by the pigs and end up in the slurry pit and bung up the outlet valve from the building. I have also had the slurry tanker pump blocked by scraps of plastic. If these bits of plastic end up on the land, we are polluting the land. Salmonella counts were higher when we tried toys two years ago. Since we have been using chains only, we have consistently had less than 10 percent salmonella scores.
Chains.

Plastic containers, old V-belts, wellies.
Anything hanging and not holding dirt.

Logs, plastic drums.
All.

At the first sign started with bags, balls, chains, wood, more salt in ration etc. The only thing that slowed them was fresh tree branches.
Once started only the fresh tree branches.

Yes plastic containers / pipe, wood all hanging on chains.
All the above.

Boots, plastic, balls, bags, chains etc etc etc.
All if they have stopped biting - none if they don’t.

Yes Ikaden Bite-Rite, plastic pipe.
Ikaden Bite-Rite.

Plastic drums, spray cans, wellies.
Yes balls/drums/wood on chains, rubber conveyor belt on chains.

Fodder beet.

Are you likely to review your management following the tail-biting meeting?

69% will review management.
31% will not.

If you are going to review your management what particular measures are you likely to take?

• I said review, not that I would make changes. In future it is going to be more difficult to keep pugs in a barren environment and get away with it by tail-docking.
  
  
• Yes, check all drinker flow rates, but I think everything else re ventilation etc is in order. I may try adding sugar beet pulp or soya hulls into our diets as digestible fibre.
  
  
• Legally we are obliged to continually review our management with our vets. Vets understand the multifactorial causes but even in straw yards see tail damage and thus still 90% of pigs in Europe are tail-docked.
  
  
• Make sure that measures taken to control tail-biting are written into the health plan as the animal health people seem very keen to claw back single farm payment money and as they said it is simpler to do this than take somebody to court "who might have a very good defence lawyer". I found Animal Health very unhelpful at this meeting.
  
  
• Digestible fibre for more content animals. Less of a sugar rush after feeding.
  
  
• Look at micro environment on a pen by pen basis.
  
  
• Increase toys just to cover self, as not really have problems.
  
  
• Looking to see if we dare miss tailing the odd weanings.
  
  
• Tried everything suggested. Suspect some breeds prone to bite but I do not know how to find out which.
  
  
• I believe that tail-docking within the first 12 hours of life causes very little discomfort and is more effective than any other measure at reducing the incidence of tail-biting. None of the other measures discussed at the meeting are claimed to be 100% effective and so they should only be used in conjunction with docking since one badly tail-bitten pig suffers more pain than the cumulative amount suffered by possibly thousands of piglets during the docking procedure. I therefore consider docking to be a worthwhile "insurance premium" for every piglet to pay PROVIDED IT IS DONE PROPERLY... i.e within 12 hours of birth and only removing the last third of the tail.
  
  
• Record its incidence better.
  
  
• Focus on ventilation issues to prevent stress in the pig. Make more effort and investment in toys / materials etc. Lacking advice on manipulable materials for fully-slatted systems - mostly hear about mushroom compost and straw.

Was the tail-biting meeting worth attending?

93% found their meeting worth attending.
7% did not.

If you attended another tail-biting meeting, what issues would you like it to cover?

• Practical measures that could help prevent tail-biting.
  
  
• Evidence backed up by science about different toys. I think the toy issue is cosmetic and what some people think is right for the pig!
  
  
• Case studies.
  
  
• The big question is how do you balance the awful pain of very few bitten pigs and in severe outbreaks many with the small soon-forgotten pain of all having their tails docked. Tail docking DOES work.
  
  
• How tail docking should be performed so that it can be done ROUTINELY without causing unnecessary pain.
  
  
• The practicalities of stopping tail-biting consistent with good health and environmental controls.
  
  
• More of same, specific case studies on problem farms and successful changes undertaken.

NPA holds its first Manipulable Materials Working Group meeting next week, after which is should be possible to publish some definitive advice in this page.

Ireland practically Aujeszky-free

The Irish pig industry will soon start final testing for Aujeszky's Disease in its herds. This should lead to the European Commission declaring Ireland officially free from Aujeszky's Disease.

Irish minister of agriculture Brendan Smith said the two previous test rounds have shown Aujeszky's Disease has practically been eliminated.

The objective of the programme is to officially eliminate Aujeszky's Disease from the national pig herd. This will be of significant benefit to the whole Irish pig sector by recognising the health standard of the national herd and protecting Ireland's access to export markets.

Monday March 8, 2010

Don't get stung

Don't get stung by the "Exhibitors Directory for Fairs and Exhibitions". These scammers send an official-looking form to British Pig and Poultry Fair exhibitors.

Sign the form and it will cost you around £1,000 a year for the next three years. Make sure your staff know. Put the form in the bin where it belongs.

How Britain could lead the world
in pig production information

UPDATE ON THE PIG IMPROVEMENT VIA TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE

One day Britain could be the acknowledged global supplier of technical information from the pig production factory floor — with pig-keepers, academics, researchers and advisers all over the world logging-on to buy the management information they need.

The information will be amassed over the next decade by using broadband to stream data about what is really happening in pig houses, to a central computer.

It will be processed, to turn raw data into practical management information. This will then be available to site managers, to give them a better understanding of the health and welfare of their pigs, and to show them where staff skill levels can be improved to increase productivity.

Pig Improvement Via Technology (Pivit) is a multi-million pound project which will soon enter its pilot stage.

In due course it is expected to become self-funding by selling management information from what will become the largest bank of raw data on pig production in the world.

The pilot stage of Pivit will seek funding from sources such as BPEX, the Carbon Trust and the European Union, to comprehensively monitor 50 United Kingdom post-wean sites.

Using broadband, the sites will stream back real-time information on the pigs’ environment, feed and water use, electricity consumption, and growth and other production parameters.

Experience tells Hugh Crabtree, of Farmex, who is one of the driving forces behind Pivit, that monitoring a pig building (in the same way that an industrialist monitors his production line) produces valuable management information, which can be used to cut costs and increase output.

But for as long as it remains as raw data, this information is not much use to shop-floor managers and workers.

So a critical factor in Pivit’s success will be recruiting the right people for the project bureau, says the Pivit scoping document, produced following a steering group meeting chaired by producer John Godfrey.

These will include a manager, and a software technician who is also good at communicating. Other skills, such as consultancy, will be outsourced.

The overall aim is to help pig-keepers improve their skills and to achieve higher growth rates. It should also be possible to reduce energy costs by 30 percent and water costs by around half.

There is wide variation in pig unit performance. This project plans to raise the level of poorer-performing units by providing management advice in a digestible form.

The proposed schedule for Pivit is as follows:

• April 2010 – start pre-pilot field trial. Seek full funding for the pilot stage.
  
  
• By the end of 2010 have two Pivit sites full operational and funding application(s) submitted or ready to submit; have first batch of Pivit sites selected.
  
  
• April 2011 – start pilot stage; recruit bureau staff.
  
  
• By the end of 2011 – have five nursery/grow sites and 15 finisher sites on-line with the Pivit system.
  
  
• By the end of 2012 – add further ten nursery/grow sites and 20 finisher sites.

Total pilot project costs will be around £1.1m.

New-look website

JSR has a new-look website.

Sunday March 7, 2010

Opportunities for early adopters

(Part three of a plain English overview of anaerobic digestion opportunities on British pig farms.)

When it comes to anaerobic digestion, you could say that what goes around comes around and that we have seen it all before — but this time there are some key differences, says BPEX environment specialist Nigel Penlington.

The science and technology is better developed — which means better control processes equipment — and we are all beginning to realise we cannot carry on with 'resource leaky' systems. 

“We have limited supplies of fossil fuels for making nitrogen and limited reserves of phosphate, potash — so we need to be more resource efficient,” he says.

Anaerobic digestion helps us improve nutrient management and unlike many other manure treatment processes — which are energy intensive — it offers the opportunity to produce energy as well.

You could argue anaerobic digestion is win-win-win, but some pig farmers have looked at the large continuous-flow systems and are put off by the scale of them.

At present pig-keepers are concentrating on modernising their housing stock so capital is not widely available for large-scale investment in digesters. 

Furthermore there is a caution about getting involved in grants because the process may be long-winded and bureaucratic, and because once awarded they may have an impact on subsidy payments. 

“One of the reasons digesters are so large is the dilute nature of pig slurry. All this liquid has to be heated and that means there is less heat left for other beneficial uses — thus higher dry matter products can be added to the mix.”

Large anaerobic digesters may continue to be the sensible route for large-scale pig enterprises.

But more modest-sized pig farming operations are beginning to look elsewhere.

Nigel Penlington highlights companies such as Marches Biogas of Ludlow, which specialise in smaller-scale, more affordable plant.

“I don’t know of any pig farmers who have one of their systems running, but I believe some are talking,” he says.

The company has been involved with the biodigester at Walford College in Shropshire, which is very likely the oldest farm digester in England. 

Others are looking at plug-flow systems, of the sort favoured by Midland Pig Producers for its current development in the West Midlands. But again, until one is up and running on a British pig farm, the jury must remain out.

One interesting system Nigel Penlington has been looking at, and one that one of the larger integrators may investigate further, is designed for straw-based manures rather than slurries.

With this system, the plant can be from very small scale to large, he explains. It is modular rather than fixed, and capital cost is lower.

It unlocks the potential of straw and the developer claims it overcomes some of the operational problems affecting large continuous-flow digesters.

“This system actually composts the manure so it gives all the benefits of digestion and liquor is digested. The cost is, very roughly, around £100,000 for a 100kW unit, which compares favourably with a medium-scale wind turbine, where £100,000 will buy something producing 30-40kW.”

Another company, Bioplex, has systems that can be tucked into an existing farm building to produce a good composted manure and nutrient-rich liquor.

“I can also see it having a place on pig farms with a mix of slurry and straw systems. The slurry can be separated with the dry fraction being included with the manure in the Bioplex digester. The liquid can then be stored in the existing slurry stores,” says Nigel Penlington. “This gets over the scale issue of the big continuous-flow digesters.”

Another possibility for pig-keepers to consider is covering existing lagoons and sucking off the gas. It won’t generate much energy... but if you have to cover the lagoon anyway, why not?

In a decade, pig-keepers who want to put in an anaerobic digester will be able to look at working installations of various sizes before spending their money.

But for now, investing in one of these new systems will cast you in the role of an ‘early-adopter’. And not everyone relishes being one of those.

Another option for energy generation is to put up a modest-size turbine. Such installations can be a worthwhile investment, says Nigel Penlington. If you are interested, he can talk you through the issues and options.

Friday March 5, 2010

African swine fever is getting closer

The latest outbreak of African swine fever in Russia is only three miles from the Ukraine border.

The risk of it being introduced to Britain is still very low but as it can survive several months in meat, producers are reminded by NPA to be vigilant.

• Don’t allow anyone onto your unit who has recently visited pig farms in Russia or the former Russian states.

• Don't allow pigmeat products onto the unit unless you can be certain they haven’t been brought back from affected areas.

African swine fever is a notifiable disease and its presence in Britain would trigger the same stringent control measures used in outbreaks of foot and mouth and classical swine fever.

The European Union, and the United Kingdom, prohibit imports of susceptible animals and their products from Russia.

Nevertheless, as African Swine Fever moves closer to the European Union border the overall low risk of the disease being introduced to this country may have increased, says Defra.

It says the likelihood of introduction of the African Swine Fever virus by illegal imports is difficult to estimate but pig-keepers should maintain strict biosecurity and observe the ban on swill-feeding.

Meat Hygiene Service

The Meat Hygiene Service is going to be absorbed into the Food Standards Agency.

Northern Ireland pigs

After significant growth in 2008, the Northern Ireland pig breeding herd fell back in 2009 — but only very, very slightly.

Pork trounces beef and lamb

Retail pork sales continue to be the strongest of all the red meats. For the 52 weeks end January 24, fresh pork sales were up 5.6 percent in volume and 6.6 percent in value.

Bacon and sausages were also performing strongly with the former showing a 2.8 percent increase in expenditure while sausages were 6.6 percent up.

"Consumers are seeing more value in pork, bacon and sausages and they are taking up a greater and greater share of shopping trolley space across the range," says BPEX head of marketing Chris Lamb.

BPEX’s Quarterly Category Report is now available on the BPEX website and can be down loaded from this link. (If you are new to the site you will have to register but this is a one-off process.

Thursday March 4, 2010

Skegness abattoir will kill 3,000 pigs a week

The modern Skegness abattoir in Lincolnshire will be reopening soon, and will be looking for 3,000 pigs a week. Its young owners, Jon and Lucinda Seagrave, are planning to work closely with local producer groups in a transparent food chain.

The Skegness abattoir has always had a good relationship with local farmers but in recent years it has experienced difficult times as a result of its comparative isolation and the decline of local livestock markets.

Now under new family ownership, and with two innovative young directors who are passionate about quality, provenance and creating a sustainable supply chain with local producers, it once again has the potential to be a pivotal part of the regional meat industry.

The abattoir will be both British Quality Assured Pork and British Retail Consortium accredited. Jon (pictured above) and Lucinda Seagrave can be contacted at jonseagrave@live.co.uk, 01754 766040.

Feast of Fiddles at Lincoln

Feast of Fiddles at Lincoln.