Canadian Pork Producers:

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Air Filtration: Efforts to Control PRRS Advanced
CANADA - A Minnesota-based swine veterinarian says new developments in air filtration are among the key advances in the battle against Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in swine herds, writes Bruce Cochrane.





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Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork

Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council
and Sask Pork. 
Resulting in an estimated 560 million dollars in losses to the US swine industry each year Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome is considered be the most expensive disease affecting swine.

Dr. Scott Dee, with the Swine Disease Eradication Centre at the University of Minnesota, notes, over the past two years major advances have been made in sampling oral fluids to determine a herd's PRRS status, in tools for coordinating areas such as GIS, in new ways to use existing vaccines and in ways to prevent disease spread with filtration.

Dr. Scott Dee-University of Minnesota
The big problem we've had to deal with is area spread of the virus.

That's the virus moving from farm to farm.

For along time we've known we can clean it up from a farm but when a farm gets re-infected with a new virus it's very disappointing and very economically devastating.

Our work with air filtration, I think, has been one of the important steps forward in understanding how to protect farms so they can clean themselves up and they can remain free of infection even if they live in very dense regions of their country.

I think that's going to be an important advancement.

We have to test that more, we have to assess its sustainability, we have to evaluate its cost benefit but I think over time it's going to prove to be one of the important factors in herd to herd biosecurity.

That will propel the industry very quickly once people understand the cost benefit of air filtration combined with these other tools that have been so important in the last few years.

Despite the pessimism Dr. Dee is convinced PRRS can be eradicated.

He says it may take 20 years or more to get it done and researchers will need to move slowly and carefully but we've got important tools that we didn't have a couple of years ago.

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H1N1 Virulence Typical of Seasonal Flu
CANADA - The Western College of Veterinary Medicine reports, although the window of infection appears different, the virulence of the H1N1 flu appears typical of normal seasonal flus, writes Bruce Cochrane
 
Earlier this month the World Health Organization raised the influenza pandemic alert in relation to the H1N1 flu from phase 5 to phase 6, recognizing the world is now in the earliest days of an influenza pandemic.

Dr. John Harding, an associate professor with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon stresses a pandemic doesn't necessarily mean devastating mortality but rather reflects the number of countries and proportion of population infected.

Dr. John Harding-Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Conditions are much different today in 2009 than they were in 1918, just different social issues, end of the war, lack of penicillin, lack of hospital facilities so I really, in my opinion, don't think we'll ever see mortality like our forefathers saw back in 1918.

It is world-wide, there's no question, a growing number of people are infected with it but it remains really just a flu of more typical seasonal virulence.

The one characteristic which is different with this is that we're now seeing mortality extend beyond the traditional flu season.

That may indicate the strain is somewhat different but it also could be explained by just difference in the timing of the outbreak.

Typically flu season starts in the fall and runs for about six months through to the spring on a seasonal basis.

This particular H1N1 started in April and by rights we would see a normal six month course of infection so it should take us into the fall.

It'll be interesting to watch this over the summer to see whether it gets worse and again see whether things continue in the fall or whether this strain peters out in the fall and the next seasonal flu comes in.

Dr. Harding concedes it's too early to say but scientists will be watching with interest.

[mikey]

Pork Commentary: Hog Markets Continue to Languish
CANADA - This week's North American Pork Commentary from Jim Long.

Jim Long on ThePigSite

Jim Long is President &
CEO of Genesus Genetics.
Hog markets continue to languish. Producers continue to lose money and faith. The H1N1 issue, high feed prices, market access, and domestic and global economic issues continue to drag down our industry. On that happy note:

Some Observations:
Last week we were watching CNN. Kitty Pilgrim (nice name) was interviewing two virologists about H1N1. Of course all the time she called it the swine flu and the caption was swine flu. She did her best to get the two experts to talk about dire consequences of H1N1. They on the other hand would not take the bait, both saying it was a mild flu. The best part was when Kitty breathlessly asked what about the fall, we won’t know until then how bad H1N1 (she called swine flu) will be. We had to laugh both virologists said and agreed its fall – winter conditions in the Southern Hemisphere now. Australia, and South America have H1N1. If it’s going to get worse in the fall – winter conditions they will see it now. So far – so good.


The CME Meat Report last week explained very well our current price situation. We have about the same amount of pork last year but we have a decline in Russia, China, and Mexico exports mostly triggered by H1N1 issues. Consequently, about 7 per cent more meat is available than would have been expected. 7 per cent is a significant amount in a commodity business. The inelasticity in supply – demand rations explains the 20 cents lean plus low we are seeing compared to what would have been expected.


Retail price of pork is about the same as a year ago. Pork cut outs about 20 cents a pound less than a year ago. Retailers for all intents and purposes don’t care about producers just their bottom line. As one person told us, meetings with retailers are nice – they listen to our concerns, nod and smile and go back to maximizing prices in their stores. If there is one positive from this it is that despite retail prices that have stayed up, pork is moving domestically relatively well considering the increase in pork supplies. So despite how bad we feel about our industry, it’s good to note America’s consumers continue to pay strong prices for our products. We are producing something consumers want. That is long term positive.


Small pig numbers from Canada to US continue to decline with five weeks in a row below 100,000 per week (first time consistently under 100,000). As liquidation continues in Canada there will be less little pigs in the future.


Smithfield Foods is by far the largest hog producer in the world. They did not get that big without knowing the business. Last week Smithfield released their financial results. On the pork production (packing – processing) they made in operations $395 million for the year. On the hog production side for the fiscal year, Smithfield lost $521 million. Smithfield has give or take one million sows. About 1/6th of USA hog production. If Smithfield is a barometer of our industry, the $521 million loss times 6 would be a total hog industry deficit of $3 billion. Not much if you say it fast! Simple arithmetic about 6 million sows, $3 billion loss = $500 per sow loss or about $25 -$30 per head. In line from what we figured has happened.


One of the factors in the direction of our industry has been the equity of land based grain growing producers. Many can have pigs as long as they want. Case in point: Canada’s total farm assets are $317.7 billion – total farm liabilities $53.2 billion = Total Canada Farm Equity of $264.5 billion. Relative to any industry agriculture equity ratios are massive. Many producers can have hogs through any down turn.


Hog prices remain strong in Europe. Germany had 1.456 Euros per kilo; Spain had 1.560 Euros per kilo. That calculates 92 – 97 cents US per lean pound. European supplies are down, a consequence of 1.5 million sows leaving Europe’s production base.
Shoot the Messenger
Last week had several hostile e-mails from paid employees of pork organizations. They were outraged by our comments on their overall ineffective response to H1N1 and its portrayal in the media as swine flu. We had to laugh. Have they got nothing better things to do than to respond to us! If they were as aggressive going after the meat puppets that talk on television and continually refer to swine flu, the case would be closed. Of course all negative e-mails we received were from pork organization employees who don’t own hogs. No one who owns hogs came to any pork organizations defense. Look in the mirror cowboys – your stakeholders did not jump to defend your honor! Case closed. You have been mostly useless. Shooting the messenger is a sign of organizational failure.

It appears to us, US breeding herd liquidation is increasing. Smithfield is intending to ship about 27,000 sows from its Dalhart Texas operation. Overall sow slaughter is increasing while there are many reports of sows backing up. We have even heard of unconfirmed reports that Big Sky Farms – the world’s largest government owned hog operation is sending more sows to market. The US producer program that was attempted to buy out sows with a $20 per head fee has failed. Few have $20 per sow to contribute. We expect further liquidation in the coming months. We expect the US breeding herd has liquidated 50 – 70,000 since 1 March when the June Hogs and Pigs Report is released.


Lots of empty finishing barns in the mid – west. Less Canadian pigs and less American pigs make empty barns. One owner of a hog management company told us last week there are more empty barns than ever. Barn space has dropped to $25.00 per head. $4.00 in $4.00 out. Feed companies who made keep full contracts are sucking air paying for empty space and not selling feed. All in all not real pretty. The only upside is at some point empty barns mean less hogs. It can’t be soon enough. We are in a world of hurt.
Summary
The scenario is setting up – less hogs in the future. There are less sows every day. No new sow barns are getting built. Domestic pork demand is decent, we need export markets to open up and improve. We all know profitability will come back. Hog prices are in the lower 5 per cent of historical ranges. My grandfather told me “when everybody is selling, it’s time to buy!”


Author: Jim Long, President & CEO, Genesus Genetics 

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Cash Vital in Surviving Economic Crisis
CANADA - A director with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board says the pork industry has reached a crisis point where some method needs to be found to get cash into the hands of producers.
 
An estimated 500 to 600 pork producers and industry stakeholders gathered Monday night in Morris, Manitoba to discuss the economic challenges facing their industry, explore options and interact with MLAs and MPs.

Sask Pork director Ross Johnson observes, while the Saskatchewan government has shown a lot of support by putting extra dollars into producer's hands, the federal response has been nil and he's been disappointed in the action Ottawa hasn't taken.

Ross Johnson-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board
The situation is actually dire right now from a cash flow point of view.

We're in a situation where we've got feed issues, we've got H1N1 issues, we've got issues that are related to the dollar and it's cumulative losses over a couple of years now and it's just coming to a crisis point now.

Options are both short term and long term.

Obviously cash is king.

We have to find methods of getting cash into producers hands.

What's the best methodology for that, obviously I think the avenues that the government has wanted to use through the current programs is not working and I think we need to come up with some other methods, whether we modify the current programs or we look for some ad-hoc payments but cash is king and we have to get cash into the producers' hands.

Mr Johnson suggests programs are needed that will allow producers to get out without walking away with just the shirts on their backs, we have to find ways to make the industry viable for those producers that remain and people in the general public need to realize the contributions the pork industry makes both to the economy and in supplying pork to the human food chain.

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Super-Heated Steam Improves Drying of DDGS
CANADA - A researcher with the University of Manitoba says superheated steam can be used to improve the safety and effectiveness of drying dried distillers grains with solubles, writes Bruce Cochrane.
 
Earlier this month, Dr Stefan Cenkowski, a biosystems engineering professor with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, delivered keynote addresses to two food processing conferences in Poland.

Dr Cenkowski, who is investigating the use of super-heated steam in food processing, says that when used instead of hot air drying to dry the co-products of ethanol production, super-heated steam reduces environmental impact, improves drying efficiency, reduces energy consumption and eliminates the risk of fire or explosion.

Dr Stefan Cenkowski-University of Manitoba
Companies that produce ethanol need to dry spent grain at the end and spent grain is dried in drum dryers which rotate and the wet material is introduced inside but it takes about two minutes only for that material to pass through the drier and the temperature of the air which is used in this process is in the range of 600 degrees Celsius plus and it frequently happens that the drum can catch on fire because of the overheating.

Then the way to stop fire is to flood the drier with water so you can see that this drier will be eliminated for a couple of days, maybe even longer.

When you use steam for that purpose there's no risk of catching on fire because you don't have oxygen, you just have water.

Dr Cenkowski adds, while ethanol production concentrates proteins, fats and fibres in the dried distillers grains, it also concentrates any mycotoxin that might be present.

He says, while hot air drying has no effect on these compounds, the use of super-heated steam reduced the amount of mycotoxins by as much as 50 per cent.

[mikey]

Pork Commentary: June Pigs and Hogs Report
CANADA - This week's North American Pork Commentary from Jim Long.

The USDA June Hogs and Pigs Report had no surprises. The USA has fewer sows and fewer pigs, but is it good enough for a bounce in this market? In the last year and a half, the US breeding herd has declined from 6.233 million to 5.967 million, that is a drop of 266,000 while Canada has decreased at least 90,000 according to Stats Canada. In total, the last year and a half there has been a USA–Canada breeding herd decline of 350,000. It's a lot but some claim we need to remove a further 300,000. If this is correct the pain to get there will be brutal.

The June US market hog inventory is down from a year ago two per cent or about 1.1 million head. If things were normal, this would be positive. Last year in the 3rd quarter, prices averaged 57 cents per pound difference with no more hogs. H1N1, export market challenges and the domestic – global commodity have obviously had a big effect on demand loss.

The National Pork Industry Conference will take place on 19 to 22 July 2009 at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Lake of the Ozarks, Osage Beach, Missouri (two miles West of Hwy. 54 on SR. KK). For further information, click here. Genesus is a Cooperating Sponsor.

Other Observations
The US marketed 2.032 million hogs last week – down from last year's 2.140 (five per cent). When we look at daily lean weights it appeared the US slaughter weights last week were about two pounds lower than the previous week. The first hot weather of the year is having its effect. We believe hogs were pulled ahead in the last few weeks due to cool weather and despite heavier slaughter weights. Hot weather will cut tonnage. A year ago the market jumped 15 cents a pound from now until the first part of August. Few expected that jump. Markets move when most least expect.

Last week, we attended the Ontario Pork Congress. The annual Ontario Trade Show. Ontario has approximately 370,000 sows. Only a couple of producers have over 10,000 sows. Many are family producers farrow to finish feeding their own grain. The mood was what you would expect – virtually no optimism. There is liquidation in Ontario. We understand some banks are squeezing even producers that have kept up their loan payments. Lots of hog farms are for sale but values are being discounted. If a market moves when bullish – bearish sentiment is extreme one way or the other. The negative is maxed. We have hit the low.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation out to destroy the hog industry?
The publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation continues to use swine flu instead of the official name H1N1. Read the letter below. We think this is a reflection of the overall insensitivity to the swine industry by several media outlets. The letter is a response to pork industry participant Dave Riachwho gave it to us. Maybe our pork organizations believe this type of twisted logic is acceptable. When we have pointed out their organizations lameness on doing something about media they attacked us. Read the article if you want to send your opinion to CBC. The e-mail addresses are: ssgai@tcc.on.ca and ombudsman@cbc.ca. Tell them your opinion. Fight for our industry. The condescending attitude that changing the name would be confusing is typical of media arrogance. Note the listed US media outlets group CBC uses to justify its ignorance.

Dear Mr. Riach:

Thank you for your email of June 3 addressed to Vince Carlin, CBC Ombudsman. Since CBC Radio falls in my remit, perhaps I can reply.

You wrote to draw our attention to a news story you heard that morning at 6:30am on CBC Radio in London. The story referred to 'swine flu' when in fact it is 'H1N1', you wrote. You added that the use of the term 'swine flu' is causing 'undue hardship' in the Canadian swine industry and suggested that its continued use was both irresponsible and a manipulation of public opinion. While I sincerely regret you are disappointed in CBC, I must tell you – and I do so with respect – that I do not agree CBC news is either irresponsible or manipulative.

We are continuing to use the term 'swine flu' for two reasons: clarity and accuracy. Let me explain. A little over a month ago now (April 30), the World Health Organization in Geneva announced it would stop using the term 'swine flu' and instead refer to the infection as 'influenza A (H1N1)'. It said the change came after pork producers and the UN food agency expressed concerns that the term was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to slaughter pigs.

Our senior journalists discussed it at some length, but after weeks of almost daily reports about swine flu, we felt changing the name at that point could be confusing. Particularly in anxious and emotional times, it is our goal and responsibility to Canadians to be as clear as possible in all our reports. Adding to the potential confusion, influenza A (H1N1) already exists. It is the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and in a milder version still circulates most years. One expert pointed out that by using the same name, public health professionals and researchers would be left without a way to distinguish between a garden-variety flu sub-type and one that may trigger the next pandemic

It is also our responsibility to be accurate. Experts around the world said it is called swine flu because six of the eight genetic segments of the virus are purely swine flu (the other two are bird flu and human flu but are said to have lived in swine for the last decade). Scientifically, they said, calling the virus swine flu was both accurate and in keeping with accepted nomenclature of influenza.

For those reasons – along with, among others, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The Times, the BBC and other Canadian broadcasters – CBC News will continue to use the term 'swine flu'. We will also continue to evaluate that decision in light of further developments.

I should emphasize, however, that we fully understand that we also have an obligation to continue to point out in our reports that eating pork cannot in any fashion lead to a flu infection. Although I think Canadians are now largely aware that is the case, during April and early May, CBC News repeatedly included that information in broadcast news stories.

Thank you again for your e–mail. I appreciate hearing your comments. While I realize my reply may not have changed your mind, at least I hope I have reassured you that this is a matter we have given some thought to and take seriously.

It is also my responsibility to inform you that if you are not satisfied with this response, you may wish to submit the matter for review by the CBC Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman, and independent and impartial body reporting directly to the President, is responsible for evaluating program compliance with the CBC's journalistic policies. The Ombudsman may be reached by mail at the address below, or by fax at (416)205-2825, or by e-mail at ombudsman@cbc.ca.

Yours sincerely,
Esther Enkin
Executive Editor
CBC News
Box 500 Station 'A'
Toronto Ontario
M5W 1E6
cc. Vince Carlin, CBC Ombudsman


Author: Jim Long, President & CEO, Genesus Genetics 

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Pork Producer Issues Appeal to Consumers
CANADA - An Ontario pork producer is urging the Canadian public to think about where they want the pork they eat to come from and to ask their grocers where it comes from, writes Bruce Cochrane.





Farm-Scape is sponsored by
Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork

Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council
and Sask Pork. 
The Canadian pork industry is entering its fourth year of non profitability resulting from high feed costs, the strong dollar, reduced access to credit, US Country of Origin Labelling and H1N1.

Southwestern Ontario pork producer Teresa Van Raay has written an open letter to all Canadian Consumers who eat which outlines the situation facing her and her fellow pork producers and appeals to consumers to consider the origin of their food.

She says sometimes it takes a crisis for people to stand up and be heard and the pork industry is at that critical point.

Teresa Van Raay-Ontario Pork Producer
What I ask of the consumers is to ask for Canadian pork, choose the "Buy Canadian" label.

If they're unable to read where it comes from to ask where the product is coming from.

Asking for truth in labelling to help our consumers make an educated choice and it's easy enough as long as the imported products follow the regulations and that the retailers do this at the grocery counter.

We just need to ask.

When we buy Canadian you know what you're buying.

Canadian has very high standards, we have a lot of protocols in place with regard to feeding and animal care and transporting animals, environment and very high food safety and quality standards.

There's a lot of economic connections to agriculture.

It's not just the farmer.

It's seed companies, the vets, genetic companies, the farm equipment dealers, retailers and that's just to mention a couple in there.

Ms Van Raay points out the pork industry represents 70 thousand jobs in Canada and it generates 7.7 billion dollars in economic activity, 2.1 billion in wages alone.

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Herd Health Key to Edge in Global Pork Markets
CANADA - The chair of the Canadian Swine Health Board says, despite the economic challenges, the health status of the Canadian swine herd gives the Canadian pork industry an edge in the global market place, writes Bruce Cochrane.

The forum is being held to help lay the ground work for developing a national strategy for dealing with emerging swine diseases, for identifying research priorities and for improving biosecurity on Canadian farms and will bring together pork industry stakeholders, practicing swine veterinarians, government representatives and producers to discuss disease issues.

Board chair Florian Possberg says we have significant resources in Canada for dealing with research, biosecurity and risk mitigation but we don't always coordinate them as well as we should and this forum will provide an opportunity to do that.

Florian Possberg-Canadian Swine Health Board
Canada does have a very sophisticated system for food safety and I don't think it's any accident that CFIA, our monitoring agency, is able to find avian, beef and pork diseases that no one else can.

That's just speaking to the level of efficiency that they have.

What we need to do though is to be more proactive with that information, we need to understand what our risks are and most of all we need to coordinate all levels of the industry from government to practicing veterinarians to producers to make sure that we get the best value for our industry that we possibly can.

Mr Possberg says, even though our industry is suffering great pain and loss economically, we do know that if we can have an edge in the health of our herd and the health of our pigs it really does give us an edge in the future of the global industry.

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Pork Commentary: Market Struggles Continue
CANADA - This week's North American Pork Commentary from Jim Long.

We keep losing money. It is no fun. Attrition is wearing us all out. July hog prices under 60 cent lean, no one saw this coming. Early weans under $10.00. The result is there will be less hogs, the combination of the corn ethanol insanity, H1N1 (swine flu), all tied to a global financial meltdown is a Molotov cocktail of destruction for our industry. It is destroying many good families destiny.

Some other Observations
Finally we got some break on slaughter weights. Iowa-Minnesota barrow and gilts dropped 3.6 pounds week over week (268.7 to 265.1). The first hot weather and weights dropped. The weight drop, despite 100,000 fewer market hogs for the week compared to a year ago. Less hogs, big weight drop. Positive if we have more empty finish barns than a year ago. Weights and numbers should come down.


USA sow slaughter was just over 65,000 for the week according to the latest data. That is a liquidation number in our opinion.


Reports in Canada indicate a possible Government program to fund sow purchases. Possibly better than the previous program with greater funding. Participants have to leave barns empty. Too bad the USA Government can’t figure out similar programs. They seem to figure out how to subsidize corn ethanol, and car companies. In the end, all the money goes to the creditors. We are surprised the US banks don’t lobby hard for this. Last week there was a rally in Toronto at the legislature of approximately 300 producers looking for Government support for the industry. We understand that no Ontario Pork Marketing Board representatives attended. This shows their insensitivity and disconnect from reality. One rally attendee told us it was Friday afternoon and Pork Board employees don’t work Friday’s in the summer. It is sad when they collect $7 million plus a year to represent Ontario’s producers and they are mostly useless. We deserve better.


Pork exports need to get better. We expect ham exports to Mexico will be improving. Slaughter hogs are currently about 18 peso per kilogram in Mexico or about 60 cents US live weight per pound. This is a reflection of restored confidence by Mexican consumers in pork and their economy after H1N1 (swine flu) debacle. More pork will go to Mexico now and in the future.


Memo to the Saskatchewan Government: If Canada’s Federal Government offers sow buyout, use it for Big (Fat) Sky Farms – the world’s largest government owned hog farm. No government should own hogs in a free enterprise system. It is immoral and damaging to taxpaying family owned hog farms. You don’t need to own 50,000 sows, there are enough hogs in Canada. Save the taxpayers of your province from the sinkhole created by your socialist predecessors.


Corn dropped about 40 cents per bushel last week. That is positive. Amazing that all the wizards of prediction were out almost 3 million acres compared to what the USDA came out with last Tuesday. Livestock obviously benefits from cheaper corn. All we need is $40.00 oil and let’s watch corn ethanol producers bleed like us.


Jackson’s death has taken over the media. Swine flu has dropped to the back burner for the talking heads. Too bad it takes someone’s death to give us a break.


As we write we are in the Chicago airport on our way to Russia. We will report next week our observations. Fortunately, Russia has decided to open up more US states and Canadian provinces for imported pork. This can’t be soon enough.
Summary
Slaughter weights are dropping fast, slaughter numbers are coming down. The pain has been widespread. We need lower production, domestic and export demand. It will come. The billion dollar question is when. Probably when no one expects!!


Author: Jim Long, President & CEO, Genesus Genetics 

[mikey]

New Flu Virus Detected in Pig Farm Workers
CANADA - A new type of flu virus has been confirmed in two hog farm workers in western Canada's Saskatchewan province, health officials said yesterday.



The virus was found when the workers were undergoing tests for A/H1N1 flu virus after they showed mild flu-like symptoms about two weeks ago, according to Moira McKinnon, the province's chief medical health officer.

Lab results revealed something different and unusual. Further examination determined that a new strain of flu had emerged, he said.

Mr McKinnon stressed that the virus was considered not pandemic and has been named "non-pandemic influenza A virus." The virus may have been a "one-off" event, he said, noting that laboratories have not come across any other examples of the strain detected.

"These events do happen, and they do happen occasionally," Mr McKinnon told reporters at a news conference in provincial capital Regina. "In the current heightened scenario, we've picked this one up. It will probably not transmit. It will probably go no further than it's gone already."

The two workers have totally recovered. A third worker may have also contracted the same new strain and is under test.

It is not clear how the workers came to contract the new virus, but they had not been outside of the country.

Mr McKinnon said that workers associated with the barns, which are located in eastern Saskatchewan, will be administered general flu shots. It was believed that the current seasonal influenza immunization would be effective against the new strain.

Saskatchewan's chief veterinarian Dr. Greg Douglas said there is no sign that pigs have been infected by the new flu. But bio-security measures include requiring workers to shower before entering barns, and monitoring the health of all workers have been put in place.


 

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Alberta Pork Producers Plan Industry Crisis Rally
ALBERTA, CANADA - Alberta pork producers that continue to face devastating financial losses and a country-wide collapse of their industry are planning a producer industry crisis rally in Calgary on Friday, 10 July, to push their plight to governments and the general public.

 

The event is also timed to bring the pork dilemma to the forefront of federal and provincial governments on what is at stake if the producer liquidity crisis is not addressed immediately. The Meeting of Federal, Provincial, Territorial Ministers of Agriculture is slated for 9 July 2009 in Ontario.

"We have asked Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, George Groeneveld to bring the issue of financial support for the pork industry to this meeting," says Paul Hodgman of Alberta Pork, the organization representing pork producers in the province. "The Minister’s office has also been asked to provide a first-hand report at the Friday pork rally to let our producers and the public know the results of their deliberations."

The reality is the current financial losses leave no time for pondering responses, says Mr Hodgman. Pork producers have faced continuous losses for three years due to a high Canadian dollar and skyrocketing feed grain prices, factors out of producers’ control. There was hope of returning profits this spring but this hope was wiped out with the announcement of influenza A H1N1.

The rally will be held on the grounds of the McDougall Centre in downtown Calgary from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Alberta Pork is prepared to serve 3,000 pork on a bun sandwiches from noon until 1:30 p.m. Anyone interested in showing support is welcome to attend.

"We hope to bring as many producers and others in the industry as possible from across the province out to emphasize the seriousness of our situation," says Mr Hodgman. "We are inviting the public from Calgary or anywhere else in the province to come out to enjoy lunch and show support for our Alberta pork industry."

Alberta is on the brink of losing its hog industry. The industry has already been reduced to less than 450 producers from 1,500 producers only five years ago; there has been a reduction of more than one million market hogs produced in the province. This rally will give the industry and the public the opportunity to demonstrate the need for our food to be grown locally, instead of relying on imported pork products from other countries which are currently on the rise.

"Alberta pork products ensure that consumers have continued confidence in the safety and quality of pork produced at home," says Mr Hodgman. "We encourage consumers to keep pork in mind as they shop at the grocery store and ask for Canadian produced pork."

[mikey]

Straw Based Sow Housing Offers Economic Benefits
CANADA - Research conducted at the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment indicates the switch from conventional slatted concrete floors to straw based group housing of sows offers certain economic advantages, writes Bruce Cochrane.

Animal welfare regulations originating in Europe have prompted several North American pork processors to voluntarily start phasing in programs under which they'll only source hogs raised in group housing.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists working out of the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment is comparing the feed consumption, conditioning and reproductive efficiency of groups of breeding sows housed on conventional partially slated floors to those housed on straw.

Dr. Gary Johnson, an associate professor with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences is evaluating the economics.

He says straw based housing is physically much easier on the animal.

Dr. Gary Johnson-University of Manitoba
So far we're finding that the partially slatted concrete floors definitely put a physical stress on the animal.

When we look at the research data from the two barns we see that there is more culling earlier for physical reasons in the conventional barn over the alternative barn where there's straw based.

It looks like, just looking at the barns and this still very preliminary, that the profitability is higher in the alternative barn than it is in the conventional barn.

Now we have to be somewhat careful with that because we need to expand that profitability to take into account that we have a different manure handling system between the two barns and that changes how you apply manure on the field, it changes your cost of handling the manure itself at the barn and so we need to start taking that into account and we haven't done that yet.

Dr. Johnson says it appears some of these welfare measures could potentially increase profitability so incorporating them into the design of new facilities may have a positive effect rather than a negative effect on both productivity and profitability.

[mikey]

Producers Await Govt Response to Recovery Plan
CANADA - Canada's pork producers are hoping for a timely response to the their request for government support for the implementation of a Canadian Hog Industry Strategic Transition Plan, writes Bruce Cochrane.





Farm-Scape is sponsored by
Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork

Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council
and Sask Pork. 
A request for government support for a hog industry transition plan was one of the top agenda items when Canada's federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Agriculture met last week in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

The plan, developed by the Canadian Pork Council, calls for refinancing of existing loans under the Advance Payment Program and access to a second draw under that program, a special H1N1 loan plan to address losses resulting directly from public response to the infection and establishment of a hog farm transition payment program.

CPC President Jurgen Preugschas says federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has assured him that government is looking at the proposal seriously and he is hopeful cabinet will approve some sort of a program in the near future.

Jurgen Preugschas-Canadian Pork Council
Producers are on the edge.

As we speak the melt-down is beginning so the need of getting the money to our producers immediately is critical.

Producers are going out of business as we speak so it's critical.

Timeliness is the number one issue right now.

As for the H1N1, when it broke, as you know the prices for our pigs North America wide collapsed and they have not recovered as we speak.

We estimate that we're some 50 dollars per pig below what we could have expected if H1N1 would not have hit the industry.

Preugschas suggests we have to remember that pork is the preferred protein around the world and all of the studies indicate an increased pork consumption in the future.

He says, with North America accounting for about 50 percent of the world trade in pork, the long term outlook is relatively bright for the Canadian industry.

[mikey]

Pork Commentary: Market Struggles Continue
CANADA - This week's North American Pork Commentary from Jim Long.
 
We keep losing money. It is no fun. Attrition is wearing us all out. July hog prices under 60 cent lean, no one saw this coming. Early weans under $10.00. The result is there will be less hogs, the combination of the corn ethanol insanity, H1N1 (swine flu), all tied to a global financial meltdown is a Molotov cocktail of destruction for our industry. It is destroying many good families destiny.

Some other Observations
Finally we got some break on slaughter weights. Iowa-Minnesota barrow and gilts dropped 3.6 pounds week over week (268.7 to 265.1). The first hot weather and weights dropped. The weight drop, despite 100,000 fewer market hogs for the week compared to a year ago. Less hogs, big weight drop. Positive if we have more empty finish barns than a year ago. Weights and numbers should come down.


USA sow slaughter was just over 65,000 for the week according to the latest data. That is a liquidation number in our opinion.


Reports in Canada indicate a possible Government program to fund sow purchases. Possibly better than the previous program with greater funding. Participants have to leave barns empty. Too bad the USA Government can’t figure out similar programs. They seem to figure out how to subsidize corn ethanol, and car companies. In the end, all the money goes to the creditors. We are surprised the US banks don’t lobby hard for this. Last week there was a rally in Toronto at the legislature of approximately 300 producers looking for Government support for the industry. We understand that no Ontario Pork Marketing Board representatives attended. This shows their insensitivity and disconnect from reality. One rally attendee told us it was Friday afternoon and Pork Board employees don’t work Friday’s in the summer. It is sad when they collect $7 million plus a year to represent Ontario’s producers and they are mostly useless. We deserve better.


Pork exports need to get better. We expect ham exports to Mexico will be improving. Slaughter hogs are currently about 18 peso per kilogram in Mexico or about 60 cents US live weight per pound. This is a reflection of restored confidence by Mexican consumers in pork and their economy after H1N1 (swine flu) debacle. More pork will go to Mexico now and in the future.


Memo to the Saskatchewan Government: If Canada’s Federal Government offers sow buyout, use it for Big (Fat) Sky Farms – the world’s largest government owned hog farm. No government should own hogs in a free enterprise system. It is immoral and damaging to taxpaying family owned hog farms. You don’t need to own 50,000 sows, there are enough hogs in Canada. Save the taxpayers of your province from the sinkhole created by your socialist predecessors.


Corn dropped about 40 cents per bushel last week. That is positive. Amazing that all the wizards of prediction were out almost 3 million acres compared to what the USDA came out with last Tuesday. Livestock obviously benefits from cheaper corn. All we need is $40.00 oil and let’s watch corn ethanol producers bleed like us.


Jackson’s death has taken over the media. Swine flu has dropped to the back burner for the talking heads. Too bad it takes someone’s death to give us a break.


As we write we are in the Chicago airport on our way to Russia. We will report next week our observations. Fortunately, Russia has decided to open up more US states and Canadian provinces for imported pork. This can’t be soon enough.
Summary
Slaughter weights are dropping fast, slaughter numbers are coming down. The pain has been widespread. We need lower production, domestic and export demand. It will come. The billion dollar question is when. Probably when no one expects!!


Author: Jim Long, President & CEO, Genesus Genetics 

[mikey]

Coordinated Approach to Addressing Disease Urged
CANADA - An associate professor with Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon suggests the pork industry's experience with PCVAD has demonstrated the need for a coordinated approach to dealing with new animal disease threats, writes Bruce Cochrane.





Farm-Scape is sponsored by
Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork

Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council
and Sask Pork. 
Although new vaccines have largely brought Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease under control, devastating losses from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s have prompted the Canadian swine industry to reexamine strategies for dealing with new and emerging disease threats.

Dr. John Harding says there's a number of things we can do.

Dr. John Harding-Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Certainly there needs to be very good on-farm and regional surveillance and there needs to be a network of surveillance teams or some sort of national collaborative way that we can respond to new disease threats that may be out there.

I think the labs need to work together and closely with producers and their veterinarians and we need to talk and collaborate across the country.

I think thirdly what we need is a group of individuals that could respond in the event of a new emerging disease and I'm not thinking on foreign animal diseases because we've got a federal government that will respond in those but, for new diseases that just don't fit the clinical picture, I think we need a group of individuals that can get out and mobilize themselves and have good laboratory back-up that they could go to the farm, do an investigation.

They're rapidly mobilized to either diagnose it as something that we know of or embark on a trail of this is something new and hence be able to communicate that back to the leaders of the swine industry who really need to know it most.

Dr. Harding suggests, when the standard diagnostics fail to identify the cause of high rates of mortality, we may be dealing with a completely new virus, a new strain of virus or a combination of pathogens.

He says we need to keep one foot in the box looking at the regular stuff and one foot out of the box keeping in mind there may be other things out there.