Saturday March 6, 2010

Keen to hold onto their supply base

By Dan Day

It doesn’t take much these days to push the finished pig trade in any particular direction, and with sterling continuing to weaken it was hoped a positive effect would be felt in the finished pig market.

With pig numbers still on the tight side and DAPP moving up to 141.34p/kg the contract market was definitely the place to be selling pigs this week. By the end of the day all pigs were placed, and most processors appeared to be happy with their day's work.

There is a definite opinion in the trade that numbers will continue to be under pressure as we approach the summer, and this is keeping the majority of outlets keen to keep hold of their current supply base.

The spot bacon market again stood-on. However, it is very apparent that quality counts in today’s marketplace. Good lean bacon pigs certainly were able to demand a better price in places, whilst others in some cases struggled to find a home, but as with the contract market, the vast majority of pigs found a home by the end of the day, confirming the underlying trend of tight supplies.

Smaller fresh meat pigs continue to hold their own, however many processors continue to complain of a very slow trade with little or patchy demand at best. This we expect will change very quickly as we approach the Easter break.

Cull sow quotes have continued to reflect the ongoing quiet market place throughout mainland European Union. Even with the benefit of a weaker pound, the price for a cull sow in the United Kingdom this week has stood-on. Numbers seemed to be relatively in balance with demand, however the feeling from the trade was little change would materialise in the coming week or so.

The AHDB average weaner price this week for a 30 kilo pig stands at £52.69, a touch up on the previous week. There is still good demand in the market place for all classes of weaners, but in particular for 7 kilo pigs. — Dan Day, Meadow Quality.

Rare hospitality

By Cantering Crichton

For those who like standing in muddy fields and watching their hopes and fivers hit the deck, I am sponsoring a race at Ampton (near Bury St Edmunds) Point-to-Point meeting this Sunday, 7 March. All clients, customers and rivals are welcome to enjoy some (rare) Crichton hospitality in The Master’s Marquee from around 1.30 pm onwards. Good luck — but remember the downfall of many a good man has been slow horses and fast women.

Traffic Lights

A good start to the month with DAPP nudging ahead to 141.34p (139.24p a year ago) and by noon most pigs had been sold with no sign of any carry over to the following week at a time when cold weather is continuing to hit growth rates and availability. The forecast is for more price rises in the weeks ahead also reflecting firmer demand normally encountered in the early spring. Continued.

But not for John Bridge...

By Old Ebb-Watcher

With margins and profitability returning to the British pig industry, now might be the time for BPEX to consider some really active point-of-sale pigmeat promotion, suggests Traffic Lights.

A bolt-on levy to cover the costs, which at 50p/pig would generate a weekly revenue of £80,000, could be usefully spent on advertising.

But the industry would need a cast-iron guarantee the money would not be appropriated by Mr Ebb (Empire Builder Bridge) at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (aka chairman John Bridge).

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

News Digest for NPA members

The latest issue of News Digest for NPA members was emailed tonight. Further details.

Two-minute survey

The last of the tail-biting meetings was held last night. Please help NPA by completing the brief survey below. Thanks.

• Tail-biting and enrichment are this year's big issues so NPA needs more information from you.
  
  
• If you have attended one of the current round of tail-biting meetings please complete this two-minute survey.

Thank you for completing the above form. The results will inform the next round of NPA producer meetings and the NPA Manipulable Materials Working Group.

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.

Lupins' limitations

Research in Northern Ireland has found that including lupins in pig diets reduces feed intake and growth rate, therefore its potential as an alternative to soya is limited.

Elizabeth Ball, of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute at Hillsborough, reports...

Soyabean meal is the main source of protein in diets for pigs and poultry due to its high crude protein content and its good profile of amino acids. However, as soyabean meal must be imported, home-grown protein sources such as lupins have been considered as alternatives.

Lupins can contain up to 44 percent crude protein and previous research elsewhere has shown they can be included in pig and poultry diets with no adverse effects on performance provided the diets are supplemented with expensive synthetic amino acids.

There is a lack of information on the use of low levels of lupins in pig and poultry diets as a direct substitution for soyabean meal, without additional amino acid supplementation. The aims of studies conducted at AFBI, Hillsborough and Newforge and funded by the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development were to investigate the effect of substitution of a proportion of soyabean meal with lupins on pig and poultry performance.

The effect of lupins on pig performance
Four diets were produced to contain 0, 4, 8 and 12 percent lupins and offered to a total of 240 pigs in pens of 10 from 10 to 15 weeks of age.

Feed intake and average daily gain decreased with increasing lupin inclusion (Table 1) with the result that pigs offered the 12 percent lupin diet were 4.7 kg lighter at 15 weeks of age.

Feed conversion ratio tended to increase as the level of lupin inclusion increased, although the differences were not significant.

Thus, the reduction in daily gain and live weight at 15 weeks with increasing lupin inclusion may be attributed to reduced feed intake, most likely caused by low levels of alkaloids in the lupins which impacted on palatability.

Tuesday March 2, 2010

English herd up, European herd down

The English pig breeding herd increased over 3 percent last year and is still growing, according to the latest Defra survey.

Total breeding pigs are up 4 percent and the female breeding herd is up 3.3 percent, December 2009 compared to December 2008.

Sows in-pig are down -0.4 percent, but — indicating the herd was still growing at a significant rate at the time of the census — gilts in-pig are up 12.6 percent.

Meanwhile the European breeding herd continues to contract in response to poor returns — although Holland and Denmark have seen an increase, as weaner producers send more animals to Germany.

The European breeding herd (total sows) was down 0.8 percent, December 2009 compared to December 2008.

Standard operating procedures

A Defra classical swine fever group that is contingency-planning for any future outbreak, has asked NPA’s Zoe Davies to draw up standard operating procedures to assist Animal Health in the event of compulsory culling of pig herds.

To get help with this, she recently met with a small group of owners and managers who were all actively involved in kill-outs in the classical swine fever outbreak of 2000.

“It was a very productive meeting,” she said. “I certainly have enough first-hand information now to draw up a standard operating procedure on culling pig herds that I am sure Animal Health will find useful.”

The owners and managers at the meeting have also offered themselves as advisers should another outbreak occur, to help officials understand all the issues involved and to prevent some of the mistakes from last time being repeated.

NPA northern region meeting

Bioenergy will be the theme of NPA’s northern region meeting on April 15 at The Crown Hotel, Boroughbridge. The speakers will be:

• Tom Spilman, of Yorkshire Energy Solutions, will talk about German anaerobic digester company Planet Biogas.
  
  
• Tony Hales, of Xebec, will discuss the potential for supplying biogas into the gas pipeline.
  
  
• Jon Abbatt, of ADAS, who will cover opportunities for photovoltaic solar panels.

The meeting will also include an update of NPA affairs and Andrew Knowles of BPEX will look at the pigmeat market and prices going forward.

The meeting starts 6.30pm and will end 9.30pm. Your invitation is here.

NPA East Anglia meeting and hog roast

NPA’s East Anglia regional meeting on April 20 will focus on how pig-keepers maintain their premium in the face of increasing pressure from government, retailers and continental producers who are raising their game.

After a short update of NPA activities, Barney Kay will set the scene for the rest of the meeting, followed by Mick Sloyan and Simon Brookes from BPEX who will discuss current market trends and outline work BPEX is doing with retailers. Rick Sanderson, of Gate to Plate Solutions, will explain how producers can identify their unique selling points. Finally the group will divide into smaller groups, to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the British industry.

For the first time, this will be a joint meeting with Ladies in Pigs so that NPA members can learn more about their activities and celebrate their support for British pig producers. They will end the meeting with a cookery demonstration to be followed by a Peter Havers hog-roast.

The meeting is 4pm to 6.30pm on Tuesday April 20, at Peter Havers' Athelington Hall, Athelington, Horham, Near Eye, IP21 5EJ. Your invitation is here.

Tail-biting under the spotlight at NPA south-central meeting

NPA’s south-central regional meeting will review the ADAS tail-biting meetings, which end this week.

The NPA meeting is 6.30pm, Monday March 29, at New bury Rugby Club.

NPA’s Dr. Zone Davies will set out the background on manipulate materials and tail-biting — the law as it stands, where the welfare lobby wants to move it to, and what the NPA intends to do about it.

The meeting will then hear from Adelle Walker of ADAS, who has been touring the country talking to producers about tail-biting.

Finally, Dr Ruth Layton who is one of the directors of the Food Animal Initiative will talk about how this organisation is looking for practical commercial solutions for farmers.

The meeting will also include an update on NPA affairs and a look at the prospects for pig prices going forward, by Andrew Knowles, of BPEX.

Producer Group member Charlie Allen will be in the chair. Here is your invitation.

Supply chain failure

Irish primary producers are not getting fair play in the food supply chain and their viability is being seriously threatened, says the Irish Farmers' Association.

In 2009, average farm incomes were €13,000 (£11,700) with the average incomes of full-time farmers €16,000 (£14,500).

This collapse in farm incomes has seriously jeopardised the ability of farmers to maintain output levels and provide for their families, says the association.

Since 1995, the cost of on-farm production has increased by over 50 percent despite major
efficiencies at farm level. At the same time, the price paid to farmers has dropped 7 percent,
leaving real farm incomes at only 51 percent of 1995 levels.

There is market failure in the supply chain and it must be addressed, says the association.

Outlook 2010

Outlook 2010, 'A Changing Climate?' is jointly hosted by BPEX and EBLEX and takes place on Wednesday, April 14, at One Great George Street, Westminster. The cost for the one-day conference, which includes lunch, is £200 plus VAT. Speakers includ Tom Vosa of the National Australia Bank, Sion Roberts, chief executive of English Food and Farming Partnerships, Dr Duncan Pullar, head of research and development for EBLEX and Mark Driscoll of the World Wildlife Fund. To reserve a place: jacqui.emery@ahdb.org.uk.

Monday March 1, 2010

Wild boar survey

Update

Peripatetic pigs criss-cross Europe

Exports of weaners and finishers accounted for nearly half of total Dutch pig production last year. Weaner exports were up around 20 percent to more than six million and exports of finishers were up nine percent to nearly five million.

This raises the question as to what would happen to over ten million Dutch pigs if the country suffered a prolonged outbreak of classical swine fever.

The Dutch and Danish pattern of chasing better prices by sending live pigs to other countries — predominantly Germany — is transforming the face of continental pig production.

Fewer pigs are going into Dutch abattoirs and Holland is exporting less pigmeat — down three percent last year.

Dutch pig prices fell nine percent last year but pigmeat still dominates the country’s red meat output, representing well over 70 percent.

Last year Vion slaughtered 7.6m pigs inHolland, compared to 8.2m in 2008.

Farmers reduce nitrate leaching

Nitrate concentration levels in surface waters remained stable or fell at 70 percent of monitored sites, while quality at 66 percent of groundwater monitoring sites has remained stable or improved, according to a report by the European Commission on the implementation of the Nitrates Directive for the period 2004-2007.

This underlines the majority of farmers subjected to controls under the directive showed a high compliance, it says. But it notes shortcomings in record keeping by farmers on manure and fertiliser applications, and low awareness particularly on small holdings.

The report says the contribution of nitrogen loads from agriculture to surface waters is decreasing in many member countries, but the relative contribution from agriculture remains high, with agriculture responsible for over 50 percent of the total nitrogen discharge to surface waters.

Implementation of Nitrates Directive.

Bankrupt Danish slaughterhouse may reopen

A bankrupted slaughterhouse in North Jutland, Denmark, may reopen under new ownership. The plan is to kill around 14,000 pigs a week. But this time there will be no further processing; the carcasses will be exported for further processing.

Views wanted on ombudsman role

NFU is looking for members’ views on a government consultation which considers how the long-awaited supermarkets ombudsman might work.

The publication follows the introduction of the Grocery Suppliers Code and government acceptance that, if it is to be effective, a body to monitor, communicate and enforce compliance with the code is necessary.

NFU members can read a briefing, including NFU's initial thoughts, by clicking here.

The Grocery Suppliers Code provides retailers with clear guidelines for dealing with suppliers and contains an over-riding principle of fair dealing. Its introduction followed two lengthy investigations by the Competition Commission and more than a decade of NFU lobbying.

More pigs slaughtered

Despite delivery problems in some areas, United Kingdom clean pig slaughtering in January were 11 percent higher than a year ago, at 907,000 head.

Ireland slaughters fewer pigs

There was a six percent fall in pig slaughterings in Ireland last year.

Cattle and sheep not the problem

If all cattle and sheep in the United Kingdom were eliminated it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 3 percent from methane, said Professor David Leaver at an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture.

More GM crops grown

World plantings of GM crops rose over 7 percent or 22m acres last year to reach 330m acres. This has been described as an unprecedented growth rate.

The number of farmers cultivating biotech crops globally reached 14m, an increase of 0.7m over 2008.

The largest increase was in India where an additional 0.6m small farmers planted GM cotton, which now accounts for 87 percent of total cotton planting.

Spain is the largest European Union grower of of GM crops with 80 percent the European Union total GM maize area.

Denmark chooses pig farker as farms minister

Denmark's new farms minister is Henrik Børge Høegh. The 57-year-old arable and pig farmer was only elected to the Danish Parliament as a Liberal less than three years ago, having previously
been an active member of the Danish Agriculture Council, including a period as Vice-Chairman of the farmers union (1998-2007).

No room for intensive pigs here

Pig producers in southern Holland are not making enough money to keep up with welfare and environmental regulations. They are calling for nearly £6m of government aid for an outgoers‘ scheme.

IPPC ammonia emission rules and the introduction of the European partial stalls ban in 2013 mean some producers need to quit pigs or downsize their herds by about 30 percent.

There is no room for industrial-scale meat production in this densely populated part of Hollabnd, according to Hans Huijbers, chairman of the Southern Dutch Farmers' Union.

It is estimated up to 40 percent of pig farms will not be able to make the necessary investments to comply with welfare and ammonia rules due to kick in in 2013.

If approved, the proposed aid scheme will form the second phase of the North Brabant intensive livestock outgoers' scheme and will be available to farms in nature protection zones. The provincial authorities expect 35-40 farms to take up the offer.

The first phase of the scheme was introduced 18 months ago. So far, 25 intensive livestock farms have closed and nearly £4m has been paid in compensation.

Quality logo

The European Parliament agriculture committee has asked Brussels to conduct a study into a new
European 'quality logo' which would be reserved "exclusively for agricultural goods resulting entirely from production in the European Union".

Cold comfort comrade

In pursuit of its plan to become more self-reliant in pork, Russia has just imported over a thousand Canadian breeding pigs. Russian experts believe that as Eastern Russia and Canada enjoy similar very cold weather, the Canadian pigs should adapt well to Russian conditions.

Unfair competition

Pig farmers in Brittany have complained of
increased competition from Germany, where abattoirs have easy access to cheap eastern European labour. An inquiry is to be ehld with a view to lodging a formal complaint with Brussels.

Less time in stalls

"There's no argument the pork industry has got the message and you'll see the time sows spend in stalls will dramatically decline," says Roger Campbell, chief executive of Australia's Pork Co-operative Research Centre. "The time could be reduced from 14 weeks to one," he said.

Europe exports less pork

The European Union exported seven percent less pigmeat last year. In particular Danish and Dutch pork exports to third countries were down, 14 and 22 percent respectively.

Russia remained the largest destination for European pork but even here there was a 15 percent fall on 2008 levels reflecting much weaker demand. Japan, the next largest destination, took 22 percent less Europeanb Union pork.

Thursday February 25, 2010

RSPCA demands cameras in abattoirs

The RSPCA is calling for all abattoirs to have closed circuit television cameras installed, to improve animal welfare. It will be consulting with industry to ensure it becomes mandatory in all RSPCA standards and therefore in Freedom Food-approved abattoirs.

Change of tone at tail-biting meetings

There was a poor attendance at Tuesday’s tail-biting meeting at Daventry with only a handful of people turning up. However meetings in the east and north - the more pig-dense areas - have been well attended, so the pig industry has put up a creditable performance overall. Continued.

All-in, all-out – too hot or too cold?

Batch production is placing increasing strains on ventilation systems, particularly in older piggeries, says Tim Miller, environmental specialist with ARM Buildings.

As a result it can cause particular problems for pig producers in both summer and winter. Under the traditional continuous-stocking systems small pigs were added to a house when heavier ones went off for slaughter. Now, whole houses tend to be cleared within two or three weeks. If whole batches of young pigs are introduced in the depths of winter, they can be very cold unless the minimum ventilation rate is accurately controlled or supplementary heating is employed.

“At this stage the average bodyweight in the house is low compared with a continuously-stocked building,” points out Tim. “Conversely, when all the pigs are near the finishing stage, then the average liveweight is high and the heat output can be enormous.”

He points out that a finishing pig produces about 200 watts of heat. “In a building with 200 pigs this is equivalent to forty 1kW electric fires —a lot of heat for the ventilation system to extract, particularly in hot weather if an old building’s insulation is not enough to keep out the heat from the sun.”

This problem, he says, has been exacerbated by the increase in average finishing weight. Defra figures show that, over the last 10 years, the average carcase weight of finished pigs in the UK has risen from 69.2 kg to 78.5 kg — that’s nearly 10 kg over the decade. This equates to a liveweight increase of around 15 kg. The knock-on effects of this are now being felt on many farms, he says.

He advises producers with older buildings to have their ventilation systems professionally checked. “Batch systems would require around 30 per cent more fan capacity than the same building using continuous stocking due to the higher average bodyweight of the pigs,” he said.

Wednesday February 24, 2010

Vion to axe jobs at Haverhill

Vion Food Group is cutting nearly half the jobs at its Haverhill site. Staff have been told around 180 jobs must go. The Little Wratting factory, formerly the Grampian Country Foods site, currently employs 387 staff.

NFU election results

NFU president Peter Kendall has been re-elected for a third term after securing more than 75 percent of the vote from NFU council members today. Voting also saw Meurig Raymond re-elected as deputy president to serve his third term and dairy board chairman Gwyn Jones elected to fill the vacant vice president post. The new office holder team will serve the NFU for two years.

Tuesday February 23, 2010

IPPC audit scheme

The Environment Agency will be writing to pig and poultry producers this month to brief them on its new audits, which — for some — could see a cut in the number of inspections by agency staff.

The scheme has been put together as a result of lobbying from NFU, with input from NPA and BPEX, among others. It is claimed the net benefit to those who take part could be £500 a year.

The key date to remember is March 19, which is when pig-keepers will need to have an agreement in place.

Data from audits carried out by farm assurance company SAI Global will be assessed by a pig-keeper’s local Environment Agency officer. If all is in order the agency will only need to visit once every three years.

For an application to join the scheme call SAI Global 01908 249973.

Feast of Fiddles at Lincoln

Feast of Fiddles at Lincoln.