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June 12
We're going to make a pig industry film (and you could be the star)
Could you explain the pig industry’s problems to a film crew — and outline the solutions?
Of course you could. So please drop an email to Ekta at esopal@goodrelations.co.uk or Anna at aterrell@goodrelations.co.uk today. They are waiting to hear from you.
The Pigs Are Worth It Campaign is looking for volunteers from across the country to be presenters in a documentary-style film on the feed price crisis and how the pig industry has responded.
Each producer will be provided with a film crew and director for the day plus a script outline. The idea is to produce several regional mini films, then edit them together to produce one national film.
If you are chosen, you will be asked to talk about the issues the pig industry faces and perhaps to interview other producers and members of the public. (Don't worry... you’ll be in the hands of experts who will guide you every step of the way.)
The aim is to get the films played on local and national media and also to get coverage about the making of the films.
This sort of media coverage has been essential to the campaign’s progress so far, so be assured the time you give to the project will be very, very well spent.
As usual it will be hard to find volunteers from the non-piggy areas. If this includes you, email Ekta or Anna this instant. Your industry needs you — a new career beckons!
June 11
What if...?
Pig producers still don't know who to blame, what with the retailers protesting they have passed on price rises to processors, and processors swearing on their mother's life that the retailers are lying. Whatever. The chart above shows prices against an index of 100 set on July 2. It is interesting to speculate how many more producers would still be in pigs today if the blue DAPP line had matched the rises in the red retail line. — D.S.
Producers picket Lidl
A Lidl supermarket in County Kildare is being picketed by the Irish Farmers Association today in protest over the sale of imported pigmeat. The Association says Lidl is selling no Irish pigmeat at all. Other retailers will be targeted in due course.
'It's about how good you want to be...'
New man at the helm of Pig Veterinary Society is Derek Armstrong, who succeeds Jill Thomson.
Derek Armstrong, currently BPEX advisor on veterinary matters, qualified in Dublin in 1983 and gained experience in veterinary research and practice in Ireland and New Zealand.
For his theme during his year of office he has taken Paul Arden's advice: "It's not about how good you are, it's about how good you want to be."
"The pig industry is in crisis and Pig Veterinary Society members have a key role to play in turning things around," he said. " Vets are trusted advisors at farm level and better health to improve performance is vital part in reducing costs of production.
"Farm assurance has shown us how good we are in looking after pigs but vets must help farmers realise the opportunities to improve pig health and performance.
"Welfare remains important to consumers and the retail sector needs to recognise this by rewarding producers.
"The BPEX analysis of foreign imports clearly shows that there simply isn't enough pigmeat produced to United Kingdom specifications in other countries to meet the volume that is imported here."
Pig Veterinary Society believes consumers would welcome a clear "Welfare-of-origin-labelling" system.
Soil and climate change
The European Commission will host a high-level conference in Brussels tomorrow on soil and climate change and on the possible role of soil management in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The conference aims to inform the debate at European level on the best course of action for supporting its Soil Thematic Strategy and its accompanying legislative proposal adopted by the European Commission in September 2006.
Ladies in Pigs at Newark Show
Article by Julia Blant here.
Pork price drops in China
China’s pork wholesale price has been dropping for seven consecutive weeks. Other farm produce prices are also stabilising. The Chinese ministry of agriculture expects prices to drop further after the county’s three-day dragon boat festival.
IPPC update
As reported here earlier, the Environment Agency will next week notify IPPC units where emissions have been over-estimated (by 18 percent). Some units will find, when they get their letter, that they no longer need to produce an ammonia emissions reduction plan. The advice from Nigel Penlington at BPEX is to hold off producing your reduction plan until you have received your letter confirming the revised situation.
Feed survey
In Britain, producers have generally been comfortable, since Pig Fair in May, that the pig price will continue to rise. But they are not confident enough to lock into feed contracts, even though compounders are urging their customers to at least take cover on a percentage of their feed. Feed Survey.
Nominations sought for David Black Award
"There are a host of people out there who have worked tirelessly for the pig industry over many years because it is something they have a passionate belief in," said BPEX chief executive Mick Sloyan today.
"People like this are not those who will easily push, or even be pushed, into the limelight but their contribution deserves recognition."
The pig industry is in crisis and many people are going above and beyond the call of duty in the fight for its survival. Most have been working tirelessly for the industry over many years.
Do you know someone like this? If so, you should nominate him or her for a David Black Award. It is easy to do. Go here for the form.
The David Black Award was first presented in 1960 and has since been won by people from a wide range of disciplines including producers, consultants and scientists. Once the nominations are in, a panel of independent judges, chaired by Mick Sloyan, will select the winner.
June 10
GMO approval overhaul
Following a proposal from France, European Union environment ministers have agreed to review the approval process for GMOs. They are particularly keen to look at the environment risk assessment procedures. Detailed proposals will be drawn up by the end of the year.
Last week the European Commission’s health department stated that its promised ‘technical solution’ to the issue of low level presence of GMOs in imports will merely be a clarification of definition rather than of substance. As a result it is unlikely we will see any sort of workable level called for by the animal feed sector. — NFU.
Can we serve two masters?
By David Turton. In my opinion British pig farmers have been trying to serve two masters: 1. The welfare lobby, the chattering middle class. These people tend to be on the socialist side of life, high on idealism and moral indignation. 2. Supermarkets and the catering trade - vulgar capitalists. It is impossible to economically serve these two masters at the same time. That is why there has been such huge shrinkage in “Pigs GB”. See David's Blog.
Strike action will hit filling stations
Strike action by tanker drivers at Hoyer and Suckling from Friday to next Tuesday will mean Shell-supplied filling stations will run dry.
Russian fertiliser soon to be available
Last week the European Union's anti-dumping trade committee supported the Commission on allowing limited European Union market access (limited in volume and at a minimum price) for Russian fertilisers. Currently they are excluded under anti-dumping legislation.
Meat and bonemeal in pig diets
Brussels has today proposed an updating of the rules that cover animal by-products.
Currently the rules ban the feeding of meat and bonemeal to animals, as a result of health fears following the BSE crisis in Britain in the 80s. But scientific research commissioned by Brussels has since shown poultry meat and bonemeal could be fed to pigs and vice versa without risk.
Details are not available yet, but today’s proposal should allow a resumption of meat and bonemeal in animal diets as long as appropriate safeguards can be met.
Retailers may be minded to discourage such a practice on the farms they buy pigs from — but the new world order means Europe's pig producers cannot ignore valuable new sources of animal feed proteins.
According to the European Commission, the proposal will mean farmers and other sectors producing and using animal by-products will benefit from a more coherent legal framework for the collection, use and disposal of animal by-products.
The Commission's proposal will now go before the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. It will be about 18 months before the new rules come into force.
The proposal maintains the principle that only materials from healthy animals, which have been subject to veterinary inspection before being slaughtered may be used for the production of feed for farmed animals.
It will maintain the current ban on feeding of (treated or untreated) catering waste to pigs.
Brussels says the potential risks, especially to animal health, largely outweigh the benefits from such practice and such waste would better be used in biogas plants or for the production of biofuels.
The Brussels proposal will maintain the exclusion of products which are unfit for human consumption from the feed chain for farmed animals. It will also maintain the ban on feeding meat and bonemeal cannibalistically.
Slaughterhouses and other food producing establishments may find the proposed new rules improve coherence with other legislation.
The proposal also clarifies when and how environmental legislation applies to operations involving animal by-products. For example, if the application of manure to land as fertiliser affects soil and groundwater, environmental legislation will apply.
The proposal will also clarify when animal by-products can be burned as a fuel, thus allowing more energy to be generated sustainably.
Why British producers must monetise farm assurance
Farm assurance is becoming globalised. In the future there may be a single set of standards, recognised by everybody, and policed by only handful of international assurance companies.
This is the prediction of Martin Barker, managing director of British company Genesis Quality Assurance, which is now providing assurance services to more than half the world’s leading pig and poultry producers.
He sees this development as a major challenge to British producers but believes they can stay ahead of the game if they start planning now.
“The rest of the world is catching up with the British standard,” he said. “We can sit back and let it happen or we can keep moving forward.”
Rather than push British pig-keepers into ever more complex and demanding assurance standards, he proposes that assurance schemes become more interactive, so that specific areas, such as environment and welfare, can be measured and scored.
"My belief is that what we need to do is differentiate farms so that those that are far exceeding the standard can actually get a commercial benefit for doing so,” he said.
He warned that the British pig industry needs to start thinking seriously about how it is going to stay ahead as global welfare standards start to improve.
There has been a misconception in many countries, he said, that the British standard is so high, it is anti-commercial and therefore not worth aspiring to.
“In the States, for example, they thought all our pigs were kept outdoors permanently or in deep straw. They thought they were two million miles away from our standards.”
The same had applied in Europe, he said, but now continental pig producers are facing the stalls ban in 2013, and increasingly they are coming under pressure to stop castrating without anaesthetic.
“They are beginning to realise that if they put in loose-housing and stop castration, they will comply with British standards and will be able to tap into Britain’s higher pig price.”
Furthermore, he said, those producers on the continent who are eyeing up the British market are not minded to fudge the welfare issue.
“They are aiming to comply fully with Britain’s no-stalls requirement and that means they won’t be putting in free-access stalls and they won’t be holding sows in stalls for the first week after service.”
He hopes if the British pig industry updates its standards in order to stay one step ahead, it will prove possible to monetise environmental standards.
“The environment is going to be one of the areas we have to look at. The challenge is not to introduce anything that is anti-commercial. We must be able to get a benefit from the market.”
Quality Standard Mark's future in doubt
Significant changes to farm assurance are taking place at a local as well as global level. Key among these as far as the pig industry is concerned is that the Quality Standard Mark is likely to be phased out in favour of the Red Tractor - although conceivably it could be saved if pig producers feel strongly enough about it.
Assured Food Standards wants to see greater consistency in the assurance schemes that come under the Red Tractor umbrella. These include the pig assurance scheme, which uses the Quality Standard Mark logo.
Assured Food Standards’ view is that improved consistency will help consumers, and will also lead to more efficient certification of mixed farms.
NPA Producer Group does not oppose, in principle, the replacement of the Quality Standard Mark with the Red Tractor. But members have stipulated that the other Red Tractor schemes must first meet Quality Standard Mark standards, rather than the Red Tractor standard being the lowest common denominator.
One of the pig assurance scheme’s biggest advantages at present, compared to some Red Tractor schemes, is that BPEX applied for, and was granted, state aid clearance from Brussels, which allows the levy to be used to promote the Mark.
State aid clearance will now be sought for all Red Tractor schemes. If the applications are successful it would allow the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to spend levypayers’ money promoting the Red Tractor, although no decision have been taken yet.
Nitrates Directive is flawed — but we're stuck with it, say MPs
Brussels’ Nitrates Directive is flawed — but for the time being we’re stuck with it, says the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, in a report published today.
The scientific justification for the 50 mg/litre limit for nitrates in surface and ground waters and the 170 kg N/ha whole-farm limit for livestock manures is at best unclear, says the committee after investigating Defra’s recent consultation on how to apply the directive.
Defra, says the committee, has the difficult task of convincing Brussels it is implementing the Nitrates Directive, whilst at the same time convincing farmers that its proposed new measures are fair and proportionate.
Unlike the Water Framework Directive, which provides a framework to achieve a common goal, but leaves much of the detail of implementation to member states, the Nitrates Directive imposes prescriptive rules in an attempt to achieve its aim of reducing water pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources, says the House of Commons committee.
In a few weeks Defra will announce legislation that translates the Nitrates Directive into national law. Some livestock producers fear the restrictions it will impose — particularly tight application windows and the requirement for six months’ storage — will make livestock farming untenable.
The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee says the European Commission should carry out post-legislative scrutiny of the directive to learn lessons about the way in which it was designed in the first place, the effectiveness of its results, and the difficulties member states have had in implementing it.
“However, for the time being at least, Defra must find a way of satisfying the Commission that it is complying with the directive.
“Defra’s plan to implement the 170 kg N/ha whole-farm limit is a sensible first step, given that this is one area where England is incontrovertibly in breach of the directive.
“Some of the proposals, such as the closed periods for organic manure and the storage provisions, need refinement, and the cover crops requirement should be dropped altogether.
“Defra must convince the Commission that it is implementing the Nitrates Directive while convincing farmers that the changes to the Action Programme are fair and proportionate. It is a difficult task but, as other member states have proved, not an impossible one.”
Feed taskforce
A taskforce has been set up by the National Pork Producers Council to look at new feed alternatives to help United States pig producers deal with the rising cost of corn and soybean meal. The council says it recognises that rising feed costs are not specifically an ethanol problem.
Salmonella surveySalmonella is present in one in ten slaughter pigs, according to a survey by the European Food Standards Agency.
The Agency looked at infection levels across the European Union in 2006-2007. Only one country reported no cases at all in its slaughtered pig populations for all salmonella types while others detected levels as high as 29pc.
The two salmonella types commonly found in infection cases in humans — typhimuriumand and derby — were detected in 4.7pc and 2.1pc of pigs slaughtered for human consumption, respectively.
Salmonella is the second most reported cause of food-borne diseases in humans in Europe with 160,649 people suffering from infections in 2006 — about 35 people in every 100,000.
The survey results will help the European Commission set salmonella-reduction targets.
'Some hurt out there'
“Ethanol is a new demand factor in the corn market, to the tune of about a third of our production going forward,” United States deputy agriculture secretary Chuck Conner told pig producers.
“Fortunately, we did produce 13 billion bushels of corn and so despite large quantities going to ethanol, we actually did feed more corn to livestock than in previous years, so we managed to grow that market for both feed and ethanol.
“We do recognise there is some hurt out there in the livestock sector and with 70 percent of the cost of pork production going to feed, we know that you are first in line to get clipped.
“That is why the United States Department of Agriculture is buying pork for food assistance programs, which is helping the pork industry while at the same time helping the needy.”
No MRSA in British pigs
A European Union survey of breeding pigs is in progress in Britain, to assess the prevalence of MRSA and salmonella. So far MRSA has not been found in pigs. The survey started January 2008 and will end in December, after which Defra will provide a representative picture of the situation across the British breeding pig population.
June 9
Minister to broker meeting on competition law
Hilary Benn and Lord Rooker are to broker a meeting between the pig industry and the Office of Fair Trading.
This is in response to a letter from BPEX chairman Stewart Houston, who is concerned that Office of Fair Trading rules (or rather their interpretation by some retailers) are not in consumers’ interests.
In response to the letter, farming minister Lord Rooker says he and secretary of state Hilary Benn are "very conscious" of the difficulties facing the pig sector as a result of the global increase in feed prices.
“Competition policy and the law is the remit of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Office of Fair Trading and your comments on whether it is adequately protecting the interests of consumers is really a matter for them.
“But I would be very happy to facilitate an opportunity for you to discuss the working of competition policy with officials from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Office of Fair Trading subject to their availability.”
The pig industry’s concern is that retailers such as Sainsbury’s, who may feel they have received unfair treatment at the hands of the Office of Fair Trading, are being too cautious in the subjects they are prepared to discuss with pig sector representatives.
Exports up, imports down
In the first quarter of this year United Kingdom red meat exports were up 22 percent compared to the same period last year. The strength of the euro versus sterling has been an important factor, but so too has the pig industry’s continuing decline. High sow cullings have been the key driver behind a 47pc rise in chilled carcase exports to Germany. Likewise trade with the Netherlands has also shown a significant uplift, driven by exports of chilled bone-in hams and shoulders. Pork imports were down by seven percent in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year. Imports from, Denmark were down three percent.
Nuffield Award for pig sector
From this year, the pig industry will have its very own Nuffield Scholarship Award, reports producer Richard Longthorp, who has been progressing the project.
The new award will be underwritten by BPEX. A commercial sponsor may also be found.
The new award will sit harmoniously with the industry's Trainee of the Year Award, providing a next step for bright young people who want to grow their knowledge and experience in the industry.
The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust awards study grants to enthusiastic people to further the practice of agriculture, horticulture, forestry and countryside management through travel. On their return, scholars impart their newly gathered knowledge widely and provide leadership for their industries.
More about Nuffield Awards: www.nuffieldscholar.org.uk
Slaughter pigs down five percent
At 132,000 head, clean pig slaughterings in Great Britain were down five percent in the week ending May 31, when compared with the equivalent bank holiday week last year.
French abattoirs don't meet hygiene requirements
According to an internal European Union report, over 40 percent of France’s cattle and pig abattoirs do not meet European hygiene requirements. The problem is mainly with the smaller abattoirs.
Ladies in Pigs
New Recipe of the Month: British Sausage Tart.
Biofuel co-products for pigs
Distillers Dried Grains and Solubles (DDGS) will be available late spring 2009 from the Ensus plant on Teeside. This plant, which is currently being built, will ferment up to 1m tonnes of wheat producing some 350,000 tonnes of DDGS. Whilst this material could be co-fired, or exported, both economics and politics strongly suggest that feeding is the most appropriate outlet.
The initial reaction by many is that this material would largely be destined for dairy and beef feeds and indeed this is a market for the material. However the cattle market is seasonal, largely based on the west of the country, and for feeder wagons pelleted material is preferred. There is a ready market for wheat DDGS on the doorstep for pig feeding.
See report by Mick Hazzledine and Phil Boyd.
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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