15/04/08
Crystal ball gazing...
• Is Tulip a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?
• Will supermarkets keep faith with British pork?
These haven't been a good few days for the British pig industry. When Tulip dropped its price on Friday and rolled pigs, it prompted a number of emails to this website, questioning whether Britain is being bled to ease the crisis among Danish pig producers.
Meanwhile BPEX internal forecasting figures show a probable downward trend in the size of the United Kingdom breeding herd, and a probable further tranche of above-average sow culling next year.
One concern must be that rather than redouble their efforts to pass price increases through the chain, supermarkets will lose faith in British producers' ability to supply sufficient quantities of British pork, and start seeking new European or even global supply chains.
But better news is contained in BPEX's forecast of slaughter pig numbers, which shows that this year the industry will produce almost the same number of pigs as last year.
BPEX chief executive Mick Sloyan has stressed for several years that drops in the national breeding herd do not have to mean reduced supply, and the chart below shows his predictions were right.
The current BPEX PCV2 campaign could be worth an extra half a pig per sow per year — or even an extra pig per sow per year (make your own guess).
"Our message to retailers and processors must be that they have got a short breathing space because the full impact of what is happening in the industry won't be felt for 12 months," said BPEX's Andrew Knowles today. "If you want us, let's sit round the table and come up with some pragmatic solutions."
That's the challenge.
NPA questions Defra's commitment to disease control
By Digby Scott
• It has fudged wild boar control.
• It probably doesn't know where livestock is.
• A levy at slaughter would unfairly penalise producers.
Ever since the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak, the United Kingdom government has wanted to make farmers pay towards the control of notifiable disease.
Over the past year or so Defra has been marketing this ambition as ‘responsibility sharing’.
At the end of last year it issued its consultation “Responsibility and Cost Sharing for Animal health and Welfare”. Defra says that in future the cost of disease control must be “shared equitably between government and all the livestock sectors”.
Defra’s plans will need to dovetail with Brussels’ cost-sharing strategy, which has not been announced yet. Brussels is also keen to offload cost onto livestock keepers.
In its consultation, Defra considers the following cost-sharing options:
Self-declaration Annual payment determined by species and numbers on a holding. The livestock keeper would complete a self-declaration form specifying the number of animals on his or her holding. The level of the payment could be influenced by the risk status of the holding.
Bank guarantee There would be an agreement with industry over its financial contribution for animal disease outbreaks for a specified period and this would be backed by bank guarantee which would be serviced by industry in whole or in part. Costs above the level of the guarantee would be met by government. A payment mechanism would be needed to secure contributions.
Tax A charge on a product or service bought or sold by all livestock producers – for instance a percentage or flat rate contribution on a holding’s public liability insurance.
Insurance Perhaps new private insurance policies could be developed. There would need to be further discussions between industry, government and the insurance industry to achieve this.
At slaughter A levy at slaughter is a simpler method of collecting payments but it can only be seen as collecting money from a sector/industry rather than all animal keepers within that industry, says Defra. Whilst the slaughter payment method is less sophisticated than a producer based system, it does have the advantage of being administratively simple.
Today, National Pig Association made its response to the Defra consultation.
It says it will not support any attempt by Defra to charge pig farmers for the cost of a disease outbreak if producers are unable to deal effectively with the outbreak due to government still controlling the actions industry is allowed to take - for example blanket livestock movement controls rather than industry being able to make local risk-based decisions in conjunction with relevant officials.
And it refutes Defra’s suggestion that “some of the costs falling on livestock producers may be passed on to consumers through product prices depending on market conditions”.
This is not borne out by reality, says NPA. “The pig industry is currently losing on average £26 on every pig it produces due to an inability to pass on the recent significant rise in its production costs due to unprecedented increases in feed costs.
“The dominant position of major retailers in the supply chain mean they dictate the price they are prepared to pay producers, rather than producers selling a product that covers their cost of production, and retailers then adding their own margin on top.”
If government believes this type of costs should be recouped at retail level it should explore a point-of-sale levy on pork products, says NPA.
It lays the blame for much of the £17m cost to the pig industry from the last foot and mouth outbreak at Defra’s door for failing to restart pig movements quickly enough.
And it doubts government’s commitment to effective disease control measures.
“In Defra’s recent, belated, announcement on its proposed policy towards wild boar control, it side-stepped its responsibility by placing the onus of control on local communities.
“Industry consultation responses overwhelmingly called for a national policy on the control and eradication of feral boar. This recent policy approach from Defra will not help convince producers that Government is firmly behind a meaningful partnership approach.”
And having watched Defra’s peformance during the last outbreak of foot and mouth, it questions whether it knows where livestock it, who owns it and where it has recently moved from.
It is not convinced Defra Animal Health was able to effectively interrogate AMLS data, “which would suggest it was not fit for the ultimate purpose it was designed for”.
In its response to the Defra consultation, NPA says "those most affected by disease should play a greater part in the decision making process and contribute fully to policy making, in order to engender a sense of ownership, ensure realistic outcomes and better control."
It calls on government to recognise the pig industry’s existing biosecurity arrangements, such as the integrated movement of animals within distinct supply chains or pig production pyramids.
And it says that whilst industry should eventually influence policy making, the focus now should be firmly on devolving responsibility for decision making in relation to disease control to regional groups.
On the thorny question of how money should be taken from livestock producers, NPA says most large businesses would favour an incentivised scheme where the cost to the business would reflect its risk to the industry as a whole.
“However, the basis of allocation of High, Medium and Low risk to businesses would need to be agreed and undertaken at an individual level.”
A licence-to-operate may appeal to some as most producers are already assurance scheme members, “provided it does not add another layer of administrative bureaucracy.”
Insurance-based solutions have potential but NPA would not endorse pig farmers paying into a scheme and effectively subsidising another sector of the livestock industry if it suffered from on-going disease issues. “All contributions must be ring fenced by sector.”
NPA is clear that it does not support the idea of a collection of levy at slaughter. “This would unfairly penalise one end of the supply chain.”
It says the possibility of a retail levy on livestock products should be explored as a method of delivering Defra’s that “some of the costs falling on livestock producers may be passed on to consumers through product prices depending on market conditions”.
A farm level tax would not be viable as producers have been consistently unsuccessful in passing this type of costs back up the supply chain.
The full response is here.
Canada culls pigs
Canada's every-tenth-pig programme came into effect this week. Government has allocated £25m to pay for 150,000 pigs to be culled – or 10 per cent of the herd.
The programme comes amid soaring demand in China but Canadian farmers are not able to export enough pork to China to offset the decline at home.
Some Canadian stores are now stocking only imported pork because the lower United States dollar has made the price of domestic pork uncompetitive.
Suspend biofuels target say scientists
A group of 20 independent scientists who make up the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Environment Agency have called on the European Union to suspend the proposed 10 percent biofuel target. The committee says the “overambitious target is an experiment, whose unintended effects are difficult to predict and difficult to control”. The committee recommends suspending the 10 percent goal, carrying out a new, comprehensive scientific study on the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels, and setting a new and more moderate long-term target, if sustainability cannot be guaranteed.
No more help for the time being
At yesterday's Agriculture Council meeting ministers once again discussed the crisis in the pigmeat sector. France led the charge, supported by Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Poland, Ireland, Austria, Greece, Slovakia and Hungary. Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel acknowledged the concerns but said the Commission would not propose any additional measures in the immediate future.
Ian Campbell to deliver Royal Agricultural College
Fellowship Report at British Pig and Poultry Fair
Former NPA regions manager Ian Campbell will present his RAC/PIC 2007 Pig Fellowship Report Mapping the changes ahead in an expanded European Union marketplace, at British Pig and Poultry Fair.
You are invited to attend — 4pm on day one, at the Seminar Theatre.
In his report, Ian Campbell will outline the serious challenges facing British pig producers — he will also highlight the advantages of producing pigmeat in this country.
But In his conclusion he will stress that the industry cannot have a future unless genuinely sustainable supply chains to the consumer are allowed to develop.
"These cannot be sustainable if each link in the chain is not efficient but there has to be a recognition that each link has to be profitable if it is to be there for the future.
"As a way of life, pig farming has much to commend it, but alongside that satisfaction, the business has to be financially rewarding if it is to be continued.
"The phrase 'You can’t eat the scenery' has been used in another context but seems to me to be quite appropriate when applied to the pig producer in this country."
Positives outlined by Ian Campbell in his RAC report
• In the United Kingdom we have a well-developed and monitored pig assurance scheme which has further potential to add value and cut cost through its use as a basis for welfare and/or ‘carbon footprint’ labelling.
• We have health, welfare and pig industry environment strategies which, together with the many BPEX-funded research projects, are contributing to a pig industry that has the potential to compete robustly in European and perhaps more importantly in global trade.
• To underpin the progression of this work, the pig industry has developed its own strategy for continuous professional development, From Sustainability to Sustained Ability.
• There are exciting developments in disease control with vaccines for PMWS — a disease which just in its chronic state costs the United Kingdom pig industry £42 million a year.
• We have a big market on our doorstep, which we undersupply.
• We have adjusted to the weight of animal welfare legislation and compared with the Low Countries and Denmark, we have space.
• If we can raise the bar on health and productivity allied to home produced grain, we should be sufficiently competitive to secure the necessary share of the British market that will yield the return the product requires.
“We greatly appreciated comments from food and farming minister Lord Rooker when he applauded the British pig industry and retailers who work in partnership to promote British pig products but we also require government to work in partnership with industry when it comes to our other challenges dealing with environmental and other regulations,” says Ian Campbell in his report.
Challenges outlined in the report
• Disease risks are ever present – particularly classical swine fever and foot and mouth, which have devastated the industry and curtailed its export opportunities. They have also helped to open the doors more widely to imports of fresh and processed product to the United Kingdom.
• Rising feed costs are threatening the sustainability of high welfare pig production and processing. The futures markets indicate high prices will continue for the next 12 months.
• The only way the industry’s future can be secured is by a rise in consumer prices for pork, bacon, ham and sausage that is passed back down the chain.
• British producers are losing an average of £26 on every slaughter pig produced. Pig producers cannot automatically add a surcharge for increased energy charges, feed price hikes, and the cost burdens imposed by new environmental and welfare legislation.
• Our costs of production rise, but at the consumer end of the chain, food has become relatively cheap. This needs to change to secure the viability of United Kingdom producers and processors, and to ensure that production is not outsourced to farms outside this country, which do not meet those welfare standards.
New boar from JSR
A new boar from JSR is claimed to be the most feed-efficient pig in the world. The JSR Geneconverter 700 will be launched at this year’s British Pig and Poultry Fair. Compared to the national average, the Geneconverter 700’s 13.4 percent reduction in feed conversion ratio equates to a £5 feed saving per pig produced. Visitors to JSR's stand at British Pig and Poultry Fair will have a chance to win 25 free doses of Geneconverter semen a week for six months.
14/04/08
Matthew completes second marathon
Matthew Curtis, of ACMC, has completed the Flora London Marathon in an official time of 4 hours 15 seconds and has raised over £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
12/04/08
Salmonella platinum awards to be launched at Pig Fair
The first Platinum Pig Awards for pig units with low levels of salmonella will be announced at British Pig and Poultry Fair. The new awards are designed to act as an incentive to all pig-keepers to cut salmonella in the national herd to ten percent, or less. To win a platinum award a unit will have to be under ten percent for a year, as shown by positive and suspect reports from the new Zoonoses National Control Programme, which was introduced this month.
Mass gassing of pigs fear
Up to 25,000 weaners a week could be taken to a central point, gassed, and sent to a rendering plant, claims Andrew Dickson, general manager of Manitoba Pork Council. The crisis is emerging because some United States finishers are breaking their contracts with Canadian weaner-producers. They are worried they will not be able to sell the pigs as "Produced in the United States" when new country-of-origin labelling legislation takes effect in the States in September.
Pig health with a practical slant
Pig producers of all sizes will benefit from veterinarian Bob Stevenson’s workshop ‘Practical Pig Health for Smaller Producers’ at British Pig and Poultry Fair, May 13 and 14. This workshop will reinforce the theme of maintaining the health of pigs, with a very practical slant.
Bob Stevenson is consultant veterinarian to the British Pig Association. During a long career working with farm animals, he has taken an increasing interest in pigs becoming president of the Pig Veterinary Society before being elevated to the position of head of the British Veterinary Association in 1996. His interest in the pig as a species has run parallel with a desire to impart information to both veterinary and agricultural students.
He has taught at various agricultural colleges and was an examiner for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ Pig Veterinary Certificate. More recently his interest has shifted from involvement with the larger pig producers to the keeper of usually smaller numbers of pure-bred pigs. He has recently completed a country-wide round of workshops for the keepers of pure-bred pigs, promoting the prevention of disease and the maximising of pig health.
British Pig and Poultry Fair New Product Award
Entry form can be downloaded here.
11/04/08
Tulip rolls pigs
The market has been unsettled by Tulip reducing its contract price by 0.8p and rolling pigs. Traffic Lights Commentary.
'Buy up more pork' plea from United States producers
United States pig producers have asked the Department of Agriculture to buy up more pigmeat, to help stabilise prices.
The Department is empowered by law to do this, to support non-farm programme commodities such as beef and pork. The food is used in federal nutrition programmes, for instance in school lunches and prisons.
"Additional Section 32 purchases would help the pork industry at this critical time," said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest farm organisation in the States.
His request comes at a time when prices for live market pigs have plunged to levels not seen in nearly a decade.
Reduced supply
Danish slaughterer Tican is planning job cuts in response to an expected 15 percent cut in its pig supply from next month.
New BPEX website will drill down into DAPP
From Monday producers will be able to get more information about the DAPP. Monday is when the new 
website goes live. In addition to a tickertape display showing DAPP, it will give — for the first time — the top and bottom 20 percent of prices.
Minister asks supermarkets for help
Scotland rural affairs minister Richard Lochhead has persuaded the British Retail Consortium to ask its members if they can join with caterers, processors and wholesalers to look at further discussion on the long-term sustainable future of the pig sector. Richard Lochhead has also written directly to retailers to ask what they are doing to help support the future of the Scottish pig sector.
Vehicle Excise Duty
NFU has clarified the proposed Vehicle Excise Duty regarding large vehicles and 4x4s, and how much the proposed hike in costs will be.
Vehicles registered before March 2001 will largely be unaffected, increasing only by £15 in 2009, and by indexation from 2010. With effect from April 2009, vehicles registered after March 2001 will be reformed into new Vehicle Excise Duty bands.
In 2009/2010 the Vehicle Excise Duty on vehicles – registered between March 2001 and March 2006 – with CO2 emissions over 255g/km will increase from £210 to £440, and up to £455 in 2010. Those vehicles registered after March 2006 are already paying £300 Vehicle Excise Duty.
Given that the average Landrover Defender has C02 emissions of 280g/km, a large proportion of work vehicles will fall into this new banding, and as the proposals stand, if registered between March 2001 and March 2006, will be subject to a large hike in duty.
Also due to be introduced from April 2010 is the ‘showroom’ tax, which means a first year Vehicle Excise Duty rate of £950 for all high emission vehicles.
The NFU is concerned that measures largely aimed at 'Chelsea tractors' are retrospectively going to be applied. It is currently investigating the proposed system, and whether there are any practical alternatives that could improve the situation for works vehicles.
Discount on pesticide publications
NFU members can approach British Crop Production Council directly for a 20 percent discount on publications. So for example the UK Pesticide Guide - all the info on pesticides in one book, as carried everywhere by agronomists - would be about £8 less than list price.
BOOM-TIME ON BRITISH PIG UNITS?
Increasingly producers are reporting dramatically improved productivity (often with the rider "Just at the time when we didn't want it!"). Is this improvement common across the national herd, and if so what are the key drivers? I would like to take a snapshot of the picture across the country. Therefore I would be most grateful if producers, managers, vets etc will complete the very brief questionnaire above. I won't publish your name (or at least not unless I specifically ask your permission first). — DS
UPDATE I am grateful to those who have taken the time to fill in the form so far, particularly as it may take some time to do. The results so far have been painfully honest and show that although there may be a trend upwards, improved productivity is by no means apparent across the whole of the national herd. Pork Chain Solutions has offered to look at the data collected through the Pig Focus recording system and to add to the results by letting me have some merged figures (so that no individuals are identified). Favourite reason given so far by a contributor to the snapshot: "Hard work and the boss keeping out of the way."Favourite occupation given so far: "President of football club". (Who could that be, then?)
10/04/08
Grants up to £10,000
If you farm in a priority water catchment area, you could pull down up to £10,000 in grant aid towards a wide range of capital equipment and works.Eligible items include roofs for slurry and silage stores, concrete yard renewal, rainwater storage tanks, relocation of gates, yard works for clean/dirty water separation, watercourse fencing, fencing for buffer strips, pumps, livestock troughs, farm-track cross-drains, piped culverts in ditches, resurfacing of gateways, surfacing machinery and livestock tracks, roofing of manure storage. Contact details for your local catchment sensitive farming officer are here (page 18).
Agskills News
Download the latest issue of Agskills News here.
LIPS Recipe of the Month for April is here
New Product Award
Pig Fair New Product Award entry forms are here.
Pig Discussion Groups
It is useful for the industry to have a topical list of pig discussion group contacts. Please help by making sure your group is represented on the database that will appear on this site well before the next round of meetings. Complete the form HERE (or ask the appropriate person to complete it). Email addresses will be secured in the database so they cannot be robotically harvested for spam.
l NPA Trade Directory l Mechanical data l National Pig Association l Defra l BBC weather l
l Environment Agency l Food Standards Agency l Quality Meat Scotland l Scottish Executive l
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