Canadian Pork Producers:

[mikey]

Monday, May 12, 2008Print This Page
APAS Calls for Change to Better Reflect Origin of Food Labelled "Product of Canada"
The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan is calling for changes to the definition, "Product of Canada" when labelling food to better reflect the origin of the food actually contained in the package, 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. 
Under existing federal legislation a food product qualifies as a Product of Canada if 51 percent of the cost of preparing that product for the market place is incurred in Canada.

Last week the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food completed a series of public hearings which examined the labelling of food products in Canada and will now prepare a report and provide recommendations for improvement to the federal government.

Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Glen Blakley says we need to be able to inform our consumers that this product is actually grown in Canada under the stringent guidelines that Canadian farmers grow it under to allow consumers to make informed decisions on what they eat.

Clip-Glen Blakley-Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan
I think the Canadian consumer definitely would support the Canadian producer but the challenge they have is they're being misled by the labelling, by the regulations and the guidelines in regards to the labeling and, if it says it's a product of Canada, then the product that's in the container should be grown in Canada and developed in Canada, processed in Canada.

It gets a little bit iffy in some situations where you might have a small amount of spices or something involved in the processing but if the largest percentage, 90-95 percent of the product, was grown in Canada then it should be labelled as such.

But something that's grown outside of Canada should be labelled to make the consumer aware that that's where it's grown also so they can make an informed and educated choice of what food they're actually eating and what they're buying in the supermarkets.

The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food is expected to present its recommendations to the federal government early next month.

[mikey]

Wednesday, May 14, 2008Print This Page
Prairie Swine Centre Suspends Barn Operation
CANADA - PSC Elstow Research Farm Inc., a subsidiary company of Prairie Swine Centre Inc., will be suspending operations due to the unprecedented losses in the pork business.



The farm, a 600-sow farrow to finish barn designed to support research work in a commercial-style barn, opened in April 2000.

The mandate of the facility is to address the needs of the pork industry for research work using a size and scale typical of the commercial industry.

Research to address these needs will continue to be the focal point at the facilities of the parent company, Prairie Swine Centre.

The barn located at Elstow, Saskatchewan, and the associated feed mill, will wind down operations in an orderly fashion over the next few months in an effort to lessen the impact on employees, and the many stakeholders including pork producers, and agencies and companies that have counted on the farm to deliver practical and useful research results.

Dr. John Patience, President and CEO of PSC Elstow Research Farm, acknowledges the magnitude of the disappointment and distress this decision has on its employees, as well as on the staff at Prairie Swine Centre, and indeed on the broader Canadian pork industry.

"The fact that all pork farms in Canada and virtually every other pork producing nation in the world are being devastated by the current market conditions is little solace to the many people who have worked hard to operate the farm and have come to rely on the knowledge generated from the research conducted there.

"We have long-term confidence in the future of the Canadian pork industry as a favoured supplier to meet the growing demand for the world's most popular meat protein; however the particular circumstances of this barn make it unviable in the short-term. From the beginning, the strength of this business was its mirroring of real commercial production conditions. In the end, these parameters such as debt structure, the devaluation of the US dollar upon which Canadian pork prices depend, unprecedented increases in grain and protein meal prices and underestimating the impact of research functions on an operating farm has resulted in this business decision to suspend operations until conditions improve."

Dr. Patience concludes: "Although it is very sad to be temporarily losing the capacity of the Elstow facility, that barn and business design was the right thing to do when the facility was constructed. However, the barn’s operating costs and debt load predicts that it will be unprofitable for many months to come based on projected feed and pork prices."

The Prairie Swine Centre is a separate business entity and will continue its research, graduate student and technology transfer programs.

In spite of this setback, a new initiative started over two years ago is underway to complete a C$2 million renovation at the original barns located at Prairie Swine Centre. This redevelopment has been made possible with a grant from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the province of Saskatchewan. These renovations reduce operating costs, making the farm a more competitive pork producer and will be opened in June 2008. Prairie Swine Centre Inc., located near Saskatoon, is a non-profit research corporation, and is recognized globally for its contributions to practical, applied science in pork production in the disciplines of nutrition, engineering and applied animal behaviour.

[mikey]

Wednesday, May 14, 2008Print This Page
Pork Commentry: Hog Prices Rocket Higher
CANADA - Hog prices rocketed to 78¢ lean in Iowa-Minnesota last Friday – up 5¢ lb from the previous Friday (+$10.00 per head), writes Jim Long.

 

On March 21, Iowa-Minnesota lean price was 48.89. Since then we have had the miracle of a $60.00 per head increase. With a Canada-USA weekly slaughter of 2.5 million, that’s a cash flow improvement of $150 million a week for the production sector. The latest Iowa-Minnesota average weights were 263.7. This is 4 lbs lower than a year ago and 0.9 lbs lower from the week before. No heat, no humidity – we are pulling hogs ahead. All factors are bullish for further price increases.

Other Observations
Last Friday, the USDA came out with a corn crop prediction of 12.7 billion bushels, down 7 percent from a year ago. Let’s hope weather gets better real soon. Rain seems to be hitting too many spots in the Corn Belt, delaying planting. This is leading to increased concern about total acreage and yield potential. The only good thing you can say about the weather is we are not having a drought.

If you look at Argentine and Brazil corn production, the USDA is projecting an increase of 6 million metric tones over the last crop year, while the Canada-Australia wheat crop combined is a projected 49 million metric tonnes versus 33.2 last crop (increase of approximately 16 million tonnes). We believe that the world’s high grain prices will lead to more acres planted and higher yields in every country. Statistics Canada, for example, has projected 64.97 million acres in 2008 in grain and oilseeds, a 4.2% increase over 2007 (+2.657 million acres). Some US data we have seen has projected an increase of 7 million acres in grains and oilseeds combined. Give farmers profits, they will plant more, fertilize more, herbicide more, etc. We expect, at the end of this crop year, the world will have produced the largest grain and oilseed crop in history, barring some major drought. At the same time, world meat protein production is decreasing, cutting grain and oilseed demand.

It appears that the Danish swine herd is declining. On April 1st, it was 11% lower than a year ago. A combination of low hog prices and high feed prices has lead to liquidation. There were approximately 15 million sows in the European Union in 2007. If the EU countries decline similar to Denmark, which we believe is plausible we could see 1.5 million sows liquidated (the same size as all of Canada’s production).

An EU decline of this magnitude will cut 25-30 million hogs from production. Last week, we read reports from Great Britain that speculated English prices could reach 2 pound sterling per kilo, $4.00 US per kilo, $1.81 US per lb. That would work, wouldn’t it? All of this is about supply relative to demand. Global pork meat availability is declining, hog prices are trending up globally. We are on the beginning of where prices could go. The higher feed prices go, the higher ultimately hog prices will be. $6.00 bushel corn is over $10.00 in some other countries. Prices ration supply. How high can prices go is directly related to the feed prices. $6.00 corn will probably make $1.10 - $1.20 lean hogs. $7.00 corn $1.20 to $1.30. No one knows for sure where this will end up. We got 80¢ lean hogs now, never before has a price this high been around breakeven. Breakeven prices and fear of $8.00 corn is going to lead to further sow liquidation.

Country of Origin Labeling – Some Canadian producers have benefited from COOL. Canadian producers who put hogs on feed in the United States have not been able to forward sell their market hogs over the last few months to packers. Packers have been afraid of COOL legislation. The big benefit for Canadian producers is because they could not sell ahead. They have to take cash bids. On Jan 4, May lean hog futures were 68.92, last Friday, 80.27. Canadian producers, because of COOL are ending up better off by at least $20 plus per head. Go figure.

Check out the Genesus Newsletter this week. We are proud of our customers’ results on Swine Management Services Yearly Benchmarking Summary. Genesus had 8 of top 10 herds out of 900,000 plus sows. Gratifying to see the huge efforts we do genetically being recognized in the marketplace.

Summary
Domestic and international breeding herd liquidation continues. Prices have increased $60.00 per head in seven weeks. We expect summer cash hogs have further upside. Beware of the fall; every year, seasonality leads to large marketings. Lean Hog Futures in October-December might not have much more upside. 2009, we will see $1.00 plus lean hogs.

Genesus Dominates Swine Management Services 2007 – 52 weeks Summary
Swine Management Services (SMS) of Fremont, Nebraska is the world’s swine benchmarking service. SMS 2007 data was benchmarked on 467 farms with 901,764 females.

Genesus once again dominated results, 8 of top 10 farms were Genesus, 12 of the top 15 Genesus. Genesus had the only two farms over 30.

2007 – 52 weeks
901,764 females
   SMS  GENESUS 
No. of Farms  467  44 
Top 10% Avg.  27.12  29.97 
Average All  22.94  2655 


SMS Total 467 Farms - Genesus 8 of Top 10
SMS 52 weeks
RANKING  FARM  P/S/Y 
GENESUS  SMS 
1  1  Camrose  31.12
2  2  Woodland  30.29 
3  5 Riverview  29.54 
4  6 New Haven North  29.43 
5  7 Fairhaven  29.22 
6  8  Milltown  29.03 
7  9  Suncrest  28.30 
8  10  New Haven South  28.10 

All genetic companies are represented in this database of 901,764 females.


Author: Jim Long, President & CEO, Genesus Genetics 

[mikey]

Thursday, May 15, 2008Print This Page
Manure Application More Economically Appealing
CANADA - The escalating costs of commercial fertilizers are making the application of livestock manure more economically attractive.





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 cost of most of the main commercial fertilizers have shot up this spring.

Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative executive director Brandy Street expects producers to begin looking at alternatives as commercial fertilizer prices continue to rise.


Brandy Street-Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative
For the livestock producer or the mixed farmer manure is a by-product of livestock production so the cost of sourcing manure is zero but for the crop producer the cost of sourcing manure will depend on how far away the manure is and if it is free or if it comes at a cost.

In areas where the land base is very limited manure has been free but it may soon come at a cost if the price of commercial fertilizer continues to rise.

The most distinguishing differences between commercial fertilizer and manure costs is the cost of transportation and application.

Because manure is mostly water and it can be upwards of 90 percent in some cases, application will cost around one or two cents per gallon and that quickly adds up.

It can be 50 to 100 dollars per acre if you're applying 5000 gallons.

Commercial fertilizer can be applied at seeding meaning there are less passes over the land so you're saving money on fuel.

Some producers still choose to have commercial fertilizer applied after seeding and that will typically run them about six or seven dollars per acre.

Because commercial fertilizer prices have gone up significantly people are starting to put more value on manure and, if the demand for manure goes up, then you may see a greater chance of getting dollars back for manure by selling it.

Street indicates the most cost effective is for the mixed farmer to use manure to fertilize his own crops, but it's an advantage to the livestock producer to supply the crop farmer to manage the manure sustainable and to the crop farmer because he doesn't have to purchase commercial fertilizer.

[mikey]

Friday, May 16, 2008Print This Page
Federal Cull Program Moves to Phase II
CANADA - The federal cull program for breeding swine is moving into a second phase to spread out remaining funds across all provinces, reports Canadian Cattlemen.



The Canadian Pork Council, which operates the $50 million program, said Thursday that in this second phase, funds will go only to hog farmers in provinces that haven't yet met the target of cutting their breeding swine herd by 10 per cent from Jan. 1, 2008 levels.

As of Wednesday, the council reported, Ontario had committed 10.4 per cent of its breeding herd, Nova Scotia 46.9 per cent and Prince Edward Island 37.5 per cent during the first phase, in which applications had been accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, according to Canadian Cattlemen.

Under the cull program, qualifying hog farmers will get $225 per breeding swine culled after April 14 or $225 per animal culled between Nov. 1, 2007 and April 13, 2008 less the selling price received. The program also reimburses costs of euthanasia, further processing, rendering and disposal.

[mikey]

Tuesday, May 20, 2008Print This Page
Livestock Manure an Environmentally Friendly Fertilizer Option
CANADA - Research conducted in Saskatchewan has shown, when applied in balance according to manure nutrient analysis and soil testing, livestock manure is an environmentally friendly fertilizer option, 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 University of Saskatchewan in collaboration with the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been conducting long and short term manure fertilizer trials at sites throughout Saskatchewan since the early 1990's.

Soil research scientist Dr. Jeff Schoenau says researchers have looked at several different aspects of the environmental impact of using manure fertilizer including nutrients, metals and salts and what it really comes down to is a matter of balance.


Dr. Jeff Schoenau-University of Saskatchewan
What we've found in these trials is that when you apply manure nutrients at a rate that is in balance with the crops requirement and removal over time that in fact you get maximum recovery of those manure nutrients, really no issues with buildup or loading in the soil and really no adverse effects on the physical condition of the soil either.

The organic matter, in soils of low organic matter, is of a benefit.

The thing to watch out for in some manure sources is the nitrogen to phosphorus balance.

If you're applying manure to meet all of the nitrogen and the manure is high in phosphorous you will end up over applying phosphorus year after year and you'll end up with some loading issues.

And it's under those circumstances, where you build up that available soluble phosphorus in the soil, that you can run into problems with water moving across that soil carrying the phosphorus into water bodies.

And that's why paying attention to the balance of all nutrients is important.

Dr. Schoenau suggests when applying manure that has a high phosphorus content relative to nitrogen you would apply that manure according to a phosphorus based recommendation and then look at supplementing with commercial nitrogen fertilizer.

[mikey]

Thursday, May 22, 2008Print This Page
Local Producers First To Enrich Pork with Omega3
ONTARIO - As the pork industry continues to face so many challenges, one area family is trying to put themselves at the top of the industry.



Paul and Rose Hill - who farm near Mitchell - are the first producers in Ontario to have Omega 3 and Organic Selenium enriched pork.

Rose says one day they sat down and decided they had to figure out what they were going to do to make their business profitable -- when this idea hit them.

They both took Omega3 supplements and thought if it could be in milk and eggs, why not in pork?

The Hills are now selling everything from chops, to sausages, to bacon out of their home -- all enriched with Omega 3 and Organic Selenium.

[mikey]

Saturday, May 24, 2008Print This Page
Swine Manure Cuts Fertilizer Costs and Produces High Quality High Yielding Crops
CANADA - Grain and oilseed growers are cutting their production costs by exercising the recycling option and using livestock manure to displace some of the commercial fertilizer normally applied to boost crop quality and yield.





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. 
With strong prices for most crops, growers are anxious to maximize yields. However, dramatic increases in the cost of commercial fertilizer, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, have tempered that enthusiasm. Many growers are considering trimming application rates to save dollars while others are looking more favorably at using the nutrients contained in swine manure.

Bruce Dalgarno, who runs a grain and oilseed operation near Newdale, Manitoba, accesses liquid hog manure from a sow barn located on land adjacent to his. The sow barn operator covers the cost of hiring a custom applicator to apply the manure to land owned by Dalgarno and other neighbors according to the nutrient requirements of the crops to be planted.


Manure: Cost Effective But Requires Higher Management
“We pay a percentage of the nitrogen that’s put on and then he pays for the application cost so, in our instance, yea, we’re saving some money compared to commercial fertilizers,” says Dalgarno.

However, he points out, “You have a little bit more management that’s required.”

On Dalgarno’s farm the manure has to be applied in the fall. Attempts at spring application of manure were unsuccessful due problems with soil compaction.


Commercial Fertilizer offer Greater Flexibility than Manure Fertilizers
“Depending on mother nature,” Dalgarno observes there’s not a very big window for fall application. A lot depends on the availability of the custom applicator, where he is and how much work he has.

“If the hog producer doesn’t get there in the fall then you have a problem in the spring. You’ve got to go back and put commercial stuff on in the spring.”


Crop Rotation Considered Crucial
As well, Dalgarno notes, you have to know what crops will be planted on the manured field to allow the custom applicator to apply the correct amount of manure to meet the crop’s nutrient requirements.

Bryan Karwal, the Iowa Pork Producers Association District Five Director, feeds out about three groups of 1,500 to 1,800 head of feeder pigs each year on his operation located in southwestern Iowa. Most of the manure generated by the operation is used to fertilize crops grown by his brothers.

Depending on how much is needed, the liquid manure is injected into the soil in the spring and in the fall with most of it being applied to row crops and the rest applied to pasture land.


Manure Use Provides Cost Savings
“It definitely is a savings in fertilizer,” Karwal observes.

“If you had more gallons to put on then, of course, you could do more acres and it would be a larger saving.”

He concedes his operation isn’t large enough to justify tremendous numbers of acres but it’s a benefit to get the manure spread and it saves his brothers a little fertilizer.

“I think they cut back all of the P and K (phosphorus and potassium) on the corn and they may add just a little bit of nitrogen but not too terribly much. On some years they don’t need to.”

Sinnett Pork Farm at Leroy, Saskatchewan is a 2,600 sow farrow to finish operation which finishes half of the pigs it produces, generating around 6,000,000 gallons of manure per year. The manure is applied in the spring and in the fall using drag hose lines which can move the manure up to three and a half miles from the site.

General manager Jay McGrath explains, “Typically we try to put it on where we’re going to seed oilseeds. The rotation is a three year rotation which works good for our oilseed rotation as well because we have three years before we go back to that crop. Six thousand gallons an acre is what we’ve typically been going at and that seems to be working quite well.”


Manure and Soil Testing Key to Maintaining Proper Balance
Manure and soil analysis help ensure proper nutrient balances are maintained.

“We do soil samples and we also do samples per field of manure so, as they’re applying the manure, they’re collecting a sample for that particular field.”

The samples are then sent away for analysis.

Manure nutrient analysis and soil testing not only ensures the crops will have access to the nutrients they need. Testing also helps avoid the over application of certain nutrients.


Potential Phosphorus Loading Raises Environmental Concern
“The thing to watch out for in some manure sources is the nitrogen to phosphorus balance,” says Dr. Jeff Schoenau a soil research scientist with the Department of Soil Science at the University of Saskatchewan.

“If you’re applying manure to meet all of the nitrogen requirements and the manure is high in phosphorous you will end up over applying phosphorus year after year and you’ll end up with some loading issues. And it’s under those circumstances, where you build up that available soluble phosphorus in the soil, that you can run into problems with water moving across that soil carrying the phosphorus into water bodies. And that’s why paying attention to the balance of all nutrients is important.”

Brandy Street, the executive director of the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative (MLMMI) notes, “Like any system, when managed properly, you minimize the potential for problems but improper management techniques can lead to environmental risks.”

She explains, most of Manitoba soils are low to medium in phosphorus and will benefit from manure application but the risk of phosphorus loading has increased in areas of the province where livestock concentration is dense. In those livestock dense areas if manure is applied to meet nitrogen requirements of the crop, more phosphorus ends up being applied than the crop can remove and that results in a buildup of phosphorus and it could increase the risk of phosphorus loss to surface water. So for that reason the Manitoba government has introduced new regulations that will require, at high soil test phosphorus levels, manure application to be based on phosphorus removal by the crop.

Dalgarno uses a combination manure application and commercial fertilizer applications to address the environmental concerns.

“We try to do this application once every two years or once every three years so you’re doing commercial fertilizers in between. You’ve got to make sure that you’re not going to end up with a high level of one type of nutrient over the other,” he says.

“We’ve got two or three fields that are right close to the hog barn so they essentially do one field every year. You can rotate your crops on it accordingly.”


Manure Offers Results Equal to Commercial Fertilizer
As for the effectiveness of swine manure fertilizer compared to commercial fertilizer in terms of crop production, Dalgarno observed, “No difference in crop quality and yield.”

“We had applied some commercial fertilizers on that same field and had test strips and there really wasn’t any difference in build-up of nutrients. They (crops) had all used it according to what they should have so that worked out quite well,” he says.

“We’ve got a yield monitor on our combine and map the yield as we go across and there was no difference when we went across the area that had the commercial fertilizers applied compared to the manure that was applied,” he adds.

Dalgarno notes the economics will vary from farm to farm but he estimates displacing commercial fertilizer with hog manure saves dollars per acre on his farm.


More Manure Would Create Higher Cost Savings
McGrath agrees, “It’s very valuable. We could sell this to our neighbors but we want it because it’s good stuff.”

Sinnett Pork Farm actually buys as much manure from neighboring hog operations as possible in recognition of the value of it.

"We don't have enough manure to do all of our land. We have a fairly big size grain farm so it only does a portion of it."

Karwal says, in Iowa, the producer that is getting the manure usually pays for the hauling in exchange for the fertility value.

He notes, “There’s even some talk about possibly selling the hog manure because the price of fertilizer has gone up so much. It’s actually worth a little bit more than the hauling. I think the hauling probably is now running 45 to 50 dollars an acre for a full rate. It’s not cheap to haul it but then, your fertilizer is going to be over 100 dollars per acre.”


Livestock and Crop Partnerships Create Win Win Situation
Dalgarno considers the use of manure to fertilize crops to be a win win for the grain farmer and for the hog farmer. The hog producer is selling his weanlings out of the one end of the barn and he has another product, manure, coming out of the other end.

[mikey]

Monday, May 26, 2008Print This Page
Pork Revitalization Plan Presented to Producers
ALBERTA - The final draft report on the Alberta pork industry’s revitalization strategy is near completion and details will be presented to the province’s pork producers at two open industry meetings the week of May 26.
“This strategy is about leading our industry in a new way,” says Herman Simons, Alberta Pork chairman and Tees, Alta. pork producer. “It’s called ‘The Way Forward’ because our industry is in unprecedented distress and we believe that we need to develop new options if pork producers are to survive this distress and have sustained profitability in the future.”
"The Alberta Pork board has reviewed the draft document, but before we move through final approval, we wanted to give producers an opportunity for direct input. This will be important as we work together with industry stakeholders to implement this strategy." 
Herman Simons, Alberta Pork chairman and Tees, Alta. pork producer
The strategy was developed by Toma and Bouma Management Consultants and the George Morris Centre, who in turn consulted with appropriate resources both nationally and internationally. The first pillar of this broad analysis, a state-of-the-union report, has been completed and made available to producers. The report, entitled “The Way Forward, The Situation Assessment of the Alberta Pork Industry,” outlines the situation the industry faces and reviews developments from around the world as a basis for evaluating new options.

“The second pillar report, which is just being released, is the actual strategy for moving ahead with repositioning our product in the marketplace,” says Simons. “The Alberta Pork board has reviewed the draft document, but before we move through final approval, we wanted to give producers an opportunity for direct input. This will be important as we work together with industry stakeholders to implement this strategy.”

The strategy vision, he says, is a highly connected pork industry capable of delivering differentiated, high quality, safe pork products in a sustained manner, with the flexibility to respond to continually changing markets and market conditions. The strategy seeks to move the industry out of the highly competitive and unprofitable production of low-cost bulk pork products. Instead, the industry focus will be on producing high-value pork products in demand by consumers in domestic and global niche markets.

The repositioning strategy basically covers four areas, says Simons. First is to establish system integrity in production, processing and marketing to create a highly connected industry through proactively managed supply chains between the processing sector and producers.

Second is to develop new product marketing capability, the establishment of new business-to-business skill sets that develop long-term supply relationships with a set of targeted markets and customers.

Third is to address cost challenges by developing strategies to reduce the two major cost items facing pork production: feed grains and labour.

Finally, the goal is to create a favourable business environment, ensuring that the industry has the necessary public and private services, tools and instruments to successfully compete in a global meat industry.

“We realize this is not an easy path to the future for pork producers and that there are no simple solutions to our challenges,” says Simons. “However, the report has identified several strengths within our industry and we have confidence in the ability of our producers and processors to work toward capturing those in a realistic fashion.

“These meetings are another opportunity to hear directly from producers and industry. We will also be providing a summary overview of this report to all producers shortly, and welcome their comments at any time. Once the plan is accepted by our board we will work to develop operational and implementation details.”

[mikey]

Monday, May 26, 2008Print This Page
Public Input on Food Labelling in Canada
CANADA - The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food expects its report on the labelling of food products to form the basis of discussions aimed at revamping the definition, "Product of Canada," 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. 
Earlier this month the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food completed public hearings which examined concerns related to the definition, "Product of Canada" in food labelling and it's scheduled to present its recommendations next week.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister has opened public consultations to gather input on planned changes to the definitions of "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada."

Standing Committee chair James Bezan suggests, by focusing strictly on those two definitions, changes could be made within a matter of weeks after final decisions are made.


James Bezan-Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food
I think that we'll probably see things happen here over the next few months.

There's no doubt that we have to give industry time to adapt to the new guidelines and to changes their labels.

Definitely most of the fresh produce and red meats and even poultry products are already in compliance with any changes that are going to come into place because they are 100 percent Canadian.

The bigger concern is going to be what happens with processed food products and essentially how you deal with these imported concentrates of apple or orange juice coming from China or South America or India and then are reconstituted here and then are called "Product of Canada."

That is where it's going to take a little bit of time to allow industry to adapt their new labels and get them into place, as well as some of the other food processors that are making frozen dinners or pizzas and things along that nature.

Bezan notes Canadians can participate in the public consultations by logging onto the web site, healthycanadians.ca, which will be accessible until June 11.

 

[mikey]

Tuesday, May 27, 2008Print This Page
Stronger More Stable Hog Prices Projected
CANADA - The Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op is projecting stronger more stable live hog prices heading toward the end of 2008, 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. 
Over the past five weeks live hog prices have increased by about 60 dollars per 100 kilograms.

Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op general manager and CEO Perry Mohr credits the normal seasonal price increase combined with a tremendous increase in domestic demand as well as some phenomenal U.S. export numbers.


Perry Mohr-Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op
One of the things that we're experiencing right now is we're actually experiencing a lull in demand and, again, this is typical.

It's not atypical.

We've actually seen the market fall back about five dollars per CKG (100 kilograms) and it could fall back another five dollars per CKG before we take what I would call another run-up in the market place.

We're going to have a dead cat bounce here coming pretty soon and that will see the market respond favorably again.

Key factors to look for are again the demand equation, both domestically and the export market.

We've got record supplies in cold storage in the United States.

We need to continue to see those numbers decline as we head through summer if we're going to see the prices supported.

We're seeing a strengthening of our Canadian dollar which is having a negative impact on prices.

That's a factor that we need to keep our eye on.

I believe slaughter numbers in the United States are probably going to get down to that 2.1, maybe just under 2.1 million head on a weekly basis.

We need those to remain in that area in order for us to sustain this recovery.

And, if I didn't mention already, I meant to mention we need those export markets to continue to gobble up large amounts of pork.

Mohr notes live hog prices typically peak in the summer before dropping off into the fall and winter but he's optimistic, once prices peak this summer, that they'll dip slightly before stabilizing for the rest of the year.

He says liquidations are continuing on both sides of the border so there's fewer producers producing fewer hogs.

[mikey]

Monday, June 09, 2008Print This Page
Welcoming Alberta’s Long-Term Livestock Strategy
ALBERTA - Alberta Pork, the organization representing pork producers in the province, says the recent announcement by Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development George Groeneveld of a long-term strategy and $356 million in funding support for the province’s livestock industry, is welcome news.

 

“This announcement provides critical financial and moral support for our province’s industry at a time when producers are hard hit,” says Herman Simons, Alberta Pork chairman and Tees, Alta. pork producer. “More importantly, it lays the groundwork for working together to build a more competitive industry in the longer term.”

The pork industry is already taking steps to rebuild for the future, says Simons. It has hired independent consultants to develop a pork industry revitalization strategy. That effort, led by management consultants Toma and Bouma and the agricultural think tank, the George Morris Centre, was introduced to pork producers at two industry meetings a week ago.

The Alberta pork revitalization strategy vision, he says, is a highly connected pork industry capable of delivering differentiated, high quality, safe pork products in a sustained manner, with the flexibility to respond to continually changing markets and market conditions. The goal is to move the industry out of the highly competitive and unprofitable production of low-cost bulk pork products. Instead, the industry focus will be on producing high-value pork products in demand by consumers in domestic and global niche markets.

“While we recognize there are many details yet to be worked out to implement the government’s new strategy, we are very supportive of the intent of the effort,” says Simons. “For example, the goal to build around eight specific priorities such as enhancing the value chain and refocusing efforts to achieve a sustainable and competitive livestock industry, is in keeping with our vision.”

“We’ve said we need to lead our industry in a new way,” says Simons. “Government has indicated it will work closely with the livestock industry to implement these changes and we welcome that spirit of working together as stakeholders to rebuild for a realistic future.

"Minister Groeneveld has also indicated these changes will not be easy but they are necessary and our organization agrees on both points,” he adds.

[mikey]

Tuesday, June 10, 2008Print This Page
Re-Examination of Food Security and Availability Urged
CANADA - The executive director of the Food Banks of Saskatchewan is calling on governments to re-examine the matter of food security, food availability and the cost of food, 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. 
Last week, in observance of National Hunger Awareness Day June 5, the Battlefords District Food and Resource Centre unveiled a Wall of Hunger as a visual demonstration of the estimated 11 hundred people who go hungry in the region each month.

National Hunger Awareness Day is an observance designed to draw attention to hunger in Canada.

Food Banks of Saskatchewan executive director Bill Hall notes world leaders are now recognizing and attempting to address the crisis of food and food availability and the one billion people at risk of hunger across the world.

Bill Hall-Food Banks of Saskatchewan
Although it's a global problem certainly it has its impact here in Canada also.

I think one of the things that we have to worry about is the price of fuel and fertilizer.

Certainly around the globe I think we've seen news reports where certain countries are now shutting off exports of their food.

They're hoarding it for themselves because of this danger of losing supply and those countries who depend on food imports can no longer afford them.

I think what we're going to see here in Canada is something similar amongst those people who have very limited resources to acquire food.

As food transportation costs go up, food prices will go up in the stores and they're going to have to look at their food budget and decide to maybe buy less quality food and perhaps less food so it's a great concern for us.

Hall believes it's time for governments to re-examine the whole issue of food security and the idea that food is a human right, that people deserve to have quality food at an affordable price that they can feed their families.

He says for awhile numbers were going down but, with increased rents, fuel costs and food prices in stores, there is a concern that if this trend continues there will be more people coming to food banks.

[mikey]

Wednesday, June 11, 2008Print This Page
Prairie Swine Centre's Sow Research Unit Open
SASKATCHEWAN - “Reducing costs and improving efficiency is the most important aspect of pork production today, and applies as much to the research community as it does to commercial pork producers,” notes Dr. John Patience, President of Prairie Swine Centre.



“This new sow barn embraces that important concept in design, equipment selection and operational procedures.” Examples of the efficiency aspect in design include replacing four buildings constructed in 1980 with one building. In consideration of equipment, high efficiency gas heaters in all rooms, a new high efficiency hot water heater, and in the farrowing rooms low wattage heat lamps will all lower the annual utility costs. Combined these factors should reduce energy consumption by 25-30%. The largest savings however will occur in the daily operations of the pig barn. By having automated feed delivery to all pens, and self feeders for all nursing sows, staffing will be much more efficient. The design of the equipment means less time opening gates, handling and moving animals at breeding. “In total this barn should be at least 30% more labour efficient that its predecessor” notes Dr. Patience.

“Shannon Meyers, General Manager of Fast Genetics and a member of the Board of Directors of Prairie Swine Centre reinforces the importance of being efficient, “the industry is cyclical and regularly goes through periods of profit and loss, only pork producers that know their costs and focus on efficiency will be there to participate when the good prices return. This barn will meet head-on the need to be efficient. It is important to note however that in improving our efficiency we did not have to give up on the unique features required for an effective research design.” The barn has the ability to simulate standard production practices as well as incorporating features such as free-access stalls (designed in Denmark) so that comparisons of various management systems used in the industry can be compared within this facility. Looking ahead, the barn incorporates the industry trend of accommodating practices such as increasing the age at weaning.

The construction of the new Sow Research Unit was made possible through a Wedge Funding Grant, a joint initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture.

Participating in the Official Opening ceremonies at 1 pm today was Dr. Jim Basinger, Acting Associate Vice-President Research, University of Saskatchewan, Mr. Neil Ketilson, General Manager, Sask Pork, Mr. Shannon Meyers, and Dr. John Patience.

[mikey]

Saturday, June 14, 2008Print This Page
State-of-the-Art Sow Research Unit Officially Open
CANADA - The Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) officially opened its newly renovated sow research unit located at Floral, Saskatchewan on Tuesday (June 10) with an open house.





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. 
Next week, following a fumigation, cleaning and final equipment check the first pigs will be moved in.

The Prairie Swine Centre is one of several University of Saskatchewan (U of S) research facilities. Its primary focus is animal nutrition, animal behaviour and engineering.

PSC Research Internationally Recognized
“The Prairie Swine Centre is highly regarded by the local and regional producers but, if you were to talk to anybody across Canada regarding the swine industry they'd recognize the importance of the Prairie Swine Centre to their own activities,” observes University of Saskatchewan acting associate vice president research Dr. Jim Basinger.

“Beyond the borders of Canada the swine industry is of global importance. Many countries have tremendously strong industries.”

He suggests it would not be unlikely to drop into any major centre around the world that is concerned with swine production and find that they would recognize not only the name of the organization but they would know some of the researchers who are involved in anything from animal nutrition to animal behavior.

The approximately $2 million upgrade replaced infrastructure constructed by the university more than 25 years ago.

The original facility, built in 1979, consisted of four main buildings including two 100 sow barns, a small 50 sow barn and a grow finish barn.

“Basically what we did was we undertook a complete replacement of our gestation, lactation and breeding areas and gilt development areas; consolidated what was previously in four barns into a single barn,” says Prairie Swine Centre outgoing president and CEO Dr. John Patience.

Cost Reduction and Enhanced Research Capabilities Drive Renovations
“The main reason was to lower our cost of operation,” says Dr. Patience. "The secondary objective was to enhance our sow research capability.”

“This is a project we started about three years ago, in terms of evaluating how we were going to be a more efficient research centre,” says acting president and CEO Lee Whittington.

It starts off by being a more efficient pork producer. We were looking for ways to reduce our cost of production. We looked at our 30 year old buildings and decided that there was a lot of new technology out there that we could incorporate.

Dr. Patience adds, putting into one barn what was previously done in four different barns immediately leads to huge improvements in labour efficiency and there are some energy efficiencies that should save money as well.

Improvements Expected to Ease Staff Workloads
PSC operations manager Brian Andres recalls the labour inefficiencies were so great, with staff running between barns, that it was felt something had to be done.

He explains, the old facility, including the grow finish barn, required a compliment of five people to run production, breeding, farrowing and nursery as well as grow finish. That number can be reduced by one and a half to two staff members because of the increased efficiencies.

As well, Andres says, there are eight semi-intensive rooms where animals are all fed by hand.

“These rooms have five pigs per pen, approximately 100 animals per room and those all have to be fed by hand. The automatic feed systems put in grow finish as well as the automatic feed systems throughout the new facility will greatly improve efficiencies.”

Whittington estimates, “That, in itself, is going to save hours and hours everyday probably reducing the overall labour bill by somewhere around 30 percent.”

As well, he notes, replacing four buildings built in 1980 with one brand new 2008 building that boasts more efficient heating and lighting is expected to reduce utility costs by 30 percent. He believes that represents a huge opportunity as utilities have jumped into number three spot overall in terms of costs of production for commercial pork producers.

Gestation Housing Complies with European Standards
The new facility has several other improvements.

Dr. Patience notes, while the breeding area is very much like any other conventional breeding area, the gestation area is quite a bit different employing walk in lock in stalls, or freedom stalls. “They allow the sow to walk into the crate and there's a mechanism that closes the gate behind her and then, when she's finished eating and wants to leave the stall, she just backs up against the gate and it opens up again.”

The stall system was developed in Denmark to meet European standards.

In Denmark legislation requires more space footage per sow than is standard in North America says Helena Echberg, the North American regional Manager with Egebjerg International.

“Our farrowing pen seems to be a little larger than the farrowing pens in North America.”

She notes group based housing has been researched in Denmark for the last 20 years and there have been a lot of different systems.

“One of the systems that is recommended and preferred by Danish farmers is the free access stall where the sow can walk in and out as she pleases.”

“That was one feature we really wanted because it's an excellent model,” says Dr. Patience.

“It's popular in Europe therefore we can suspect that, as group housing becomes more common in North America, it'll at least be a system that will be looked at and we'll have the benefit of years of research to see how the system really does work.”

European and North American Standards Moving Closer
Echberg foresees a time when European and North American standards will come closer together.

“Over the last year, especially, there has been a lot of changes in the production in North America and you see it's going toward the same standards that we have in Europe.”

She believes, as North Americans start to talk more about housing sows in groups, it is important to see how this technology can be adapted into the North American way of producing sows.

PSC Moves from Three Week to Four Week Weaning
In the farrowing rooms the biggest innovation is the switch from three week weaning to four week weaning.

Dr. Patience says that was under the advice of industry who said there's lots of units out there that are weaning at three weeks. They can do that kind of research but, with industry moving more and more to four week weaning, they thought we should move to four week weaning to undertake research to support that change.

Ongoing Research Key to Ongoing Economic Viability
Saskatchewan Pork Development Board general manager Neil Ketilson believes research is always important to everybody.

“You always have to stay ahead of the game rather than just trying to stay even.”

If you fail to do research, if you fail to invest in new infrastructure over time eventually you become stale. Other more competitive areas of the world will take over and you'll lose your competitive edge, he says.

Dr. Patience agrees, we have to be looking to the future.

“I've often said that, if people were to analyze pork industries around the world in different countries, those countries that years ago gave up on research dealing with economic efficiency and competitiveness are those industries that we now see going into decline.”