European Hog News:

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Deals with China Show Why Farming Matters
UK - Farming took a leading role on the international stage this week when three major deals were signed as part of the UK’s biggest-ever trade mission to China.


Business Secretary Vince Cable has put pen to paper on an agreement worth an estimated £45m which will allow the export of British breeding pigs to China, currently home to half of the world’s pig population. A second deal saw formal agreement of the health certificate for pig meat exports from the UK to China, opening up a huge market to approved UK plants.

And in a third move worth tens of millions of pounds, Chinese and British authorities struck an accord to ensure only whisky produced in Scotland will be marketed in China as Scotch. That agreement is expected to act as a catalyst for sales of home-grown barley.

An £80m Chinese market for Scotch is forecast to double in size during the next four to five years thanks to today's geographical indication registration.

Mr Cable is in China along with Chancellor George Osborne and 50 British business leaders as part of a high-profile UK government and trade mission. Up to 50 deals are thought to be on the table and the Prime Minister David Cameron will join the party today.

NFU comment
"We are delighted to see farming take such a central role in government talks with the world’s fastest-growing major economic power.

"This is very much in keeping with the messages of our The Recovery: Why Farming Matters document, which stressed the important role agriculture has to play in helping the wider UK economy towards recovery. It also clearly demonstrates why efforts to reduce costs must not damage the productivity of British agriculture."

[mikey]

British Production Still Lags Behind
UK - Despite improvements in daily liveweight gain and pigs finished per sow, Britain still lags behind its European competition in the production stakes.

 

The latest figures from the BPEX publication on international cost of production show Britain produced 1643kg pig meat per sow in 2009 – the lowest of all the EU countries.

Though this is two per cent better than 2008, it is still well below the target in the Two-Tonne Sow campaign aimed at bringing us into line with our major competitors by 2013.

The report, Cost of Production in Selected Countries, shows the cost of production for Britain’s pig producers fell by four per cent compared with a three per cent fall across Europe.

BPEX Director Mick Sloyan said: "The exchange rate has given us something of an advantage but the benefit of InterPig is it reveals strategic detail of our position relative to our competitors.

"We are narrowing the gap but our competitors are not standing still so we must continue to seek improvements.

"The report once again highlights not only that we need to continue to improve performance at farm level but also the precise areas on which we need to focus. It is those areas which are the key to the Two-Tonne Sow campaign.

"Trying to drive improvements at a time when feed costs are so volatile is obviously a challenge; but if we can improve our performance it will help to overcome the exposure to those volatile input costs."

The cost of pig meat production in Great Britain decreased by four per cent in 2009, to 131.4p/kg, while the EU average was 131.7p/kg dw, down three per cent.

BPEX Senior Analyst James Park said: "Feed prices decreased following high quotations during the previous year and, as a result, this helped member countries control costs of production.

"The cash costs of production, those which exclude finance costs, were 115.5p/kg in 2009, about five pence lower than in 2008."

"At the same time producer prices increased notably during 2009 which resulted in positive net margins for producers. However, recent increases in feed prices have turned these positive net margins back to negative."

In performance terms the overall average number of pigs weaned/sow/year in the European InterPIG countries increased from 23.98 in 2008 to 24.32 in 2009 while the number of pigs weaned/sow/year in Great Britain, increased to 22.25.

The average number of pigs finished/sow in Great Britain increased for the sixth consecutive year in 2009. At 21.0 pigs/sow, average performance was 0.15 pigs higher than in 2008 and 2.2 pigs higher, an 11 per cent improvement, compared with 2004.

[mikey]

EUROTIER - How China Could Save 17.5MT of Sow Feed
GERMANY - Pig specialists from China and the West came together yesterday (17 November) for the 2nd Chinese-European Pig Summit held in conjunction with EuroTier 2010, writes Jackie Linden. If the productivity in China could be increased from the present average (13 piglets per sow per year) to 20, the same output of pork meat could be achieved with 17.5 million fewer sows, said one of the speakers.



The 1st Chinese-Europe Pig Summit two years ago at the previous EuroTier was considered such a success that a follow up event was organised in conjunction with EuroTier 2010 in Hanover, Germany.

This time, the event attracted even higher attendance by representatives from government, equipment, feed and genetics companies, research and academia on both sides for the one-day Summit focussing on global trends and opportunities for China's pig production and pork processing markets.

Organisers, DLG and the China Animal Agriculture Association (CAA) highlighted that pig production in China is soaring, even as the global feed industry tackles the challenges of serious diseases and poor grain harvests. Regulators are also focusing more than ever on animal welfare in relation to pig housing and management, they stressed.

Also in association with the European Pig Producers (EPP) and moderated by Peter Best, the Summit aimed to address issue of mutual interest relating to pig health, animal welfare and regulatory concerns as well as China's goal of self-sufficiency in pork.

Welcome addresses were given by Carl-Albert Bartmer (president of the DLG), Clemens Neumann (Department Head at the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection) and Dr Shen Guang (Secretary General of the CAAA).

Dr Andrea Gavinelli, head of the Animal Welfare Unit on the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, gave an overview of the the animal welfare and animal health policies in the EU. He stressed that these two issues are key for improving the sustainability of pig farming. Among the coming regulations is the one, much discussed, of the ban on stalls for housing pregnant sows (between four weeks after service and one week prior to expected farrowing) from January 2013. In answer to a question, Dr Gavinelli confirmed that all EU Member States must comply with this regulation by the stated deadline.

China's policy of moving towards self-sufficiency in pig meat was the topic covered by Dr Ma Chuang, deputy secretary of the CAAA. In his presentation, he said that if China could raise the average productivity of sows from the present 13 to 20 piglets per sow per year, the same output could be achieved with 17.5 million fewer sows, offering savings of around 17.5 million tonnes of feed and 10.5 million tonnes of maize.

Future-orientated animal health programmes were discussed by Dr Gerald Behrens, head of Marketing Food Producing Animals for Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. He explained for sustainability can be achieved in the industry profitably.

The final session in Summit was on the regulation of pig production in China and Europe. The present and coming regulations in the EU were described by Dr Robert Hoste, agricultural economist with the LEI, Wageningen University, and the practical view of a pig farmer was given by Erik Thijssen (piglet producer and president of the EPP).

Finally, Dr Wang Lixian of the Chinese Institute of Animal Sciences (CAAS) described

[mikey]

European Union Faces Pig Meat Shortfall
EU - European Union production of pig meat could fall by nearly 3m tonnes over the next three years, according to the National Pig Association.


Following a survey of producers and producer representatives in member countries, it forecasts production will be:

-4 per cent in 2011, down approx. 880.000 tonnes.
-5 per cent in 2012, down approx. 1,060,000 tonnes.
-5 per cent in 2013, down approx 1,007,000 tonnes.
The falls will mean higher prices at retail, particularly for countries that are net importers of pig meat, so British retailers and processors should start working more closely with British producers to improve supply chains, says NPA.

NPA’s forecast is the first serious attempt in Europe to analyse the effect of a number of bearish influences on pig production, which will come to a head over the next three years. These include low prices, high feed costs, the European stalls ban (due to come fully into force in January 2012), currency volatility, and nervousness among banks about the sustainability of continental pig production.

NPA has sought the views of pig farmers and industry representatives in a number of countries, particularly Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Poland, which combined produce more than two-thirds of European Union pigmeat.

Many continental pig-keepers have been producing at a loss for nearly half a decade and are poorly placed to survive the next three years. At least a third of them will have difficulty converting from stalls to loose-housing by 2012, in compliance with European Union law. It costs over £400 per sow place to convert to loose-housing and the 1999 stalls ban in the United Kingdom caused the national herd to almost halve during the following ten years.

“In making our forecast, we have been at pains to study relevant data-sets and to survey producers and producer representatives in the main pig-producing countries of the European Union,” said NPA general manager Barney Kay. “We have also considered the views of European Commission officials and revisited our own data on the effects of higher feed costs and converting from stalls to loose-housing.

“Nevertheless, we acknowledge we may have understated the problems facing the European industry, because many continental producers do not know themselves yet whether they will convert to loose-housing by January 2013, or cease production by that date, or continue to use stalls and hope to avoid detection. Their decision will be influenced by several factors, including the size of next year’s wheat harvest, exchange rates, the economic outlook for the eurozone, and the attitude of banks to lending money.”

[mikey]

EU Reflects on Pig Industry Situation
EU - Representatives from all Member States and stakeholder groups were invited to a 'Reflection Day' on the EU pig industry in Brussels today with the view to seeking long-term solutions to its present difficulties.

 

At October's meeting of the Agriculture Council, French Agriculture Minister, Bruno Le Maire, highlighted the need for immediate EU action to resolve the difficulties currently experienced by the European pig meat sector as feed prices are rising at the same time as pig meat prices are falling.

The Commission was made well aware of the challenges facing the livestock sector as shown by the recent Commission decision to release cereals from intervention storage to the market to keep feed ingredient prices down and help livestock farmers. Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Ciolos has stated his determination to tackle speculation in the cereal markets and his desire to include anew mechanism to counteract income volatility in the forthcoming reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

Furthermore, the Belgian presidency of the EU is also keen to discuss the EU pig meat market situation before its tenure of the office comes to an end. Consequently, Member State representatives were invited to participate in a 'Refection Day' in Brussels today at a meeting entitled 'The pig meat sector towards 2020'.

Belgium aimed to bring together experts across the pig sector form all Member States to explore good practices in this area with a view to extending these at EU level with a long-term perspective.

It was hoped that Commissioner Ciolos would attend, as well as members of Defra and National Pigs Association to represent the UK.

[mikey]

EU Pig Production to Fall
Pig production in the EU is expected to fall in the second half of next year and through into 2012, writes ThePigSite senior editor, Chris Harris.

Karsten Flemin, economist with the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, predicts that there will be a slight rise in production in this current last quarter of 2010 and output will rise slightly across Europe in the first half of 2011.

However, the rise in production will slow in the second quarter of the year and will start to fall in the second half of the year.

Mr Flemin said the virtually stable production next year – with increases mainly in Germany and Poland – will be the basis for better prices.

However, he said that production is likely to be affected by the new regulations that are coming in on loose housing and the ban on stalls and tethers in the EU and prices will also be dependent on volatile feed costs.

While production will rise and then is predicted to level off and fall in the EU next year, global production of pig meat is expected to rise.

Mr Flemin said that pig weights are expected to rise increasing the amount of pig meat on the market.

China, which this year is expected to see an increase in pig production of two per cent on 2009 from 48.905 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes, is forecast to continue production growth by another three per cent next year to 51.5 million tonnes.

EU production is expected to fall next year by one per cent from 22.25 million tonnes to 22.12 million tonnes.

However, the US, Russia and Brazil will all see rises in production of between two and three per cent.




Mr Flemin said that the rise in consumption demand in China will largely be met by increases in its own production. However, he predicted that its production will not be able to keep pace with demand because of the shortage of grain for feed.

"It is a question of whether they will import feed or meat," said Mr Flemin.

"If they take the steps towards GMO for crops, then they will be able to increase production of feed."

Mr Flemin added that while Brazil will be increasing its pig meat production, it will be hampered by the fact that many markets are not open to Brazilian pig meat.

"Russia is also increasing production but demand in Russia is increasing at the same rate as production," Mr Flemin said.

He said that Canada is reducing its production, but imports are fairly stable showing just a small increase.

He added that there will be a fall in production in Canada in the second half of 2011, but 2012 and 2013 will show the biggest dip.

Mr Flemin said that the US is forecast to have more meat to export in the second half of next year and there is generally expected to be a slight increase in pig meat trade.

However, he added that much depends on the fluctuating exchange rates and the fall in the value of the US dollar and the Japanese yen will affect pig prices.


"Demand in the EU is going down because of the tightening of the belt on the EU economy," Mr Flemin said.

"Because of these changes, poultry is going to be the big beneficiary worldwide.

"If the harvest fails again in some countries, then feed prices are going to stay up and this will affect pig meat production.

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EU Pig Sector Calls for Key Changes
EU - The representatives of the European farmers organisations, the meat industry and the feed industry COPA/COGECA, UECBV, FEFAC highlighted the case for a comprehensive action plan seeking to move the EU pig sector out of the present crisis situation at the Reflection Day organised by the Flemish Minister President Kris Peeters this week.


They insisted on the need to take a long-term approach to reinforce the long-term viability of the pig sector enhancing its capacity to supply sustainable, competitive pork to consumers in the EU and on world markets.

They are proposing a series of short-term, mid-term and long-term measures to maintain and develop the EU pork sector’s position as a world leader.

In the short term they want to see a key focus on reduction of production cost and effective market manegment measures.

The organisations say there are basically three categories of feed materials rich in protein: - Grain legumes (protein crops): peas, beans, lupins, soya and Co-products from the processing of oilseeds and grains: soybean meal, rapeseed meal.

Short-term actions to overcome the present market crisis include:

Strengthen effective market management tools and put measures in place to reduce excessive price volatility for the pig sector both for feed and meat and meat products.
Implement an EU wide protein plan to ensure adequate supplies of protein-rich feed to pig farmers at competitive prices, including o incentives to increase vegetable protein production in the EU, o the adoption of a GM “technical solution” o the lifting of the feed ban for processed animal proteins in pig feed
Don’t hamper competitiveness by imposing restrictive measures that EU cannot impose on third countries.
The mid-term actions to improve competitiveness and profitability of the pig sector include:

Grant pork “sensitive product” status in any ongoing or upcoming EU trade negotiation
Ensure a level-playing field with third-country competitors.
Increase efforts to capture and increase market share for EU pork exports in growth markets, particular in South-East Asia.
The long-term actions to ensure sustainability and viability of pork production in the EU include to:

Foster product innovation and modernisation in the pork production value chain
Focus on private and public R&D programmes seeking to improve the knowledge base and
Develop & adapt new technologies and their dissemination in the EU pig sector.

[mikey]

British Pork? Use It or Lose It
UK - Two successive rises in the DAPP which now stands at 136.85p helped to put buyers into a more positive frame of mind, although sadly none of the big players were bold enough to put up their weekly shout prices which have all remained at stand-on levels, writes Peter Crichton.



Although the icy grip of winter has eased a shade today, there are forecasts of more freezing weather next week and this will continue to affect pig growth rates.

Despite the upcoming Christmas/New Year holiday there could almost be a shortage of pigs on the horizon, which is not what generally happens at this time of year.

As a result although some spot abattoirs were looking to buy at circa 134p there were reports later in the day of offers of 2–4p above this, but generally on a tighter spec.

Producers selling spot cutters should be able to command prices of 145p and more in places, especially if some of the smaller fresh meat wholesalers do some last minute Christmas shopping.

Unfortunately the euro seems to be travelling in the wrong direction and has dropped from 85.16p last week to close at 83.6p this week.

Because of this drop in the value of the euro cull sow quotes drifted a penny easier and it was difficult to get more than 95p for large loads delivered in, with smaller lots or ex-farm prices not much more than 90p and this is certainly hitting the pockets of those producers who have decided to cull larger numbers of unproductive sows in the face of soa

[mikey]

Voluntary End to Surgical Castration of Piglets by 2018
EU - The European Commission welcomes the announcement made earlier this week that several main actors in the pig meat chain have agreed on a plan to voluntarily end the surgical castration of pigs in Europe by 1 January 2018.


As a first step, from 1 January 2012, surgical castration of pigs, if carried out, shall be performed with prolonged analgesia and/or anaesthesia.

A European partnership will be established in order to develop the tools necessary to reach the goals and to make sure that eventual costs are shared in a fair way.

At the invitation of the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency and following a workshop on alternatives for pig castration, representatives of European farmers, meat industry, retailers, scientists, veterinarians and animal welfare NGOs met in Brussels to discuss the issue of pig castration and its possible alternatives.

The parties signed a European Declaration on alternatives to surgical castration of pigs, which sets the basis for the voluntary cooperation between the actors. Surgical castration of pigs is an animal welfare concern. Castration is practised to avoid undesirable sexual or aggressive behaviour and the development of boar taint, the odour or taste that can be evident during the cooking of pork products derived from non-castrated male pigs. Different alternatives to the procedure are already being applied in the EU and elsewhere.

The Declaration, the first of its kind at EU level for animal welfare, is an open invitation for every actor in the European pig sector to join this voluntary initiative.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Many More Pig Farms Closed over Dioxin Scare
GERMANY - The agricultural ministry has announced that over 4,700 farms have been closed as a precaution after fears of dioxin contamination in animal feed. Many of these are pig farms, closed as a precaution. Egg products from contaminated eggs have been exported to the UK.


The German agriculture ministry has said that 4,709 farms are being closed as a precaution until it can be determined whether they are free from contamination from dioxin, reports Deutsche Welle.

Nearly all of the farm closures are pig farms in the north-western state of Lower Saxony.

This number is more than four times the previous number of farms that were being shut down after it was revealed earlier this week that an additive found in animal feed was tainted with dioxin in several German states.

Tougher EU regulation
Late yesterday, 6 January, German Agricultural Minister Ilse Aigner called for stricter, EU-wide regulation on animal feed to better protect consumers and farmers.

She also spoke with European Union Health Commissioner, John Dalli ,on the telephone.

"In the coming weeks, I will explore with our EU partners and stakeholders ways to further strengthen our monitoring processes of dioxin in feed," Mr Dalli said in a statement after the conversation.

Eggs spread beyond Germany
Deutsche Welle reports that the scare began when a German firm in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein allegedly supplied up to 3,000 tons of contaminated fatty acids – which are only meant for industrial use – to animal feed-makers.

The feed was delivered mostly to pig and poultry farms, and eggs from some of the suspect farms were exported to the Netherlands. As a result, around 8,000 chickens from German farms were culled.

Earlier in the day, it was revealed that some of the suspected eggs made it to the UK. But European Commission health spokesman, Frederic Vincent, said in Brussels that it was still unclear if those eggs contained dioxin.

However, tests of other eggs from suspected farms were found to contain up to five times the EU's limit for dioxin.

Dioxin is a by-product of burning rubbish and other industrial processes. It can cause health problems in humans, including cancer, and miscarriages, concludes the Deutsche Welle report.

Statement by EU Commissioner in charge of Health and Consumer Policy
John Dalli, Commissioner in charge of Health and Consumer Policy, has commented on the dioxin incident in Germany today.

He said: "The proper management of the dioxin incident in Germany is of utmost importance for the Commission and must be pursued with urgency and effectiveness.

"I have contacted yesterday afternoon Mrs Ilse Aigner, German Federal minister for Food, Agriculture & Consumer Protection and was given the latest state of play of the situation. My services and the German authorities are in permanent contact and the level of cooperation is very good. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed as well as the traceability mechanisms in place at EU level have shown their effectiveness.

"In the coming weeks, I will explore with our EU partners and stakeholders ways to further strengthen our monitoring processes of dioxin in feed."

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Dioxin Scandal Leads to Pig Cull as China Halts Imports
GERMANY - The dioxin scare continues to cause ripples around the world, with China taking the decision Wednesday to halt imports of German pork and egg products following the culling of hundreds of pigs in Germany.


DW-World.de reports that China joined South Korea on Wednesday in halting the import of German pork and egg products after high levels of the chemical compound dioxin were detected in German pigs and animal feed.

Chinese authorities said the ban would take immediate effect, and that all products shipped from Germany prior to Tuesday would now be screened before entering the Chinese market.

South Korea restricted pork and egg imports from Germany on Tuesday because of the affair, while Russia has said it may also take action.

The decision was taken after German authorities on Tuesday detected high levels of dioxin in pork from a farm banned from trading following the outbreak of the scare last week.

The dioxin find pushed authorities to order the cull of hundreds of pigs from the farm in the town of Verden in northern Germany, which was one of around 4,700 farms shut down while dioxin tests were being conducted. Most of the farms have since reopened, with only a few hundred still subject to restrictions.

The Verden farm was one of those supplied with animal feed containing ingredients made by a firm suspected of knowingly selling some 3,000 tons of fatty acids meant only for industrial use. Samples of the fat contained more than 70 times the approved amount of dioxin.

Dioxins are formed by burning waste and through other industrial processes and have been shown to contribute to increased cancer rates and affect pregnant women.

The scandal broke last week when German investigators found excessive levels of dioxin in batches of eggs and chickens, leading authorities to freeze sales of poultry, pork and eggs from thousands of farms.

The German government has said so far that there is no immediate risk to public health, and that the dioxin levels detected did not threaten humans if consumed in small amounts. Officials added, however, that the contamination must be stamped out to avert serious long-term risks.

"The damage that has been caused is immense, not only financially but also when it comes to consumer trust ... This is a scandal, as consumers who expect safe food were duped," German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said on Monday. "This incident must and will have consequences."

German officials were due to brief their EU counterparts in Brussels on the latest developments on Tuesday, and were expected to face questions on the root cause of the incident and their response to it.

EU officials said Monday that some tainted animal feed had also been exported to France and Denmark.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Contaminated Pork Sold in Poland, Czech Republic
POLAND & CZECH REPUBLIC - Pork from Germany suspected to be contaminated with dioxin was sold in early January in Poland and the Czech Republic, regional health authorities in eastern Germany said Thursday.


Meat from 35 pigs sold to a firm in Poland and to two firms in the Czech Republic was likely to have already been consumed, said the authorities in Saxony-Anhalt, where the abattoir that slaughtered the animals is located, according to Food Safety Net.

On Thursday Japan said it had ordered importers to report all shipments of pork, poultry and eggs from Germany amid growing concerns over its dioxin scare.

The scare began last week when it emerged that a German firm may have supplied some 3,000 tonnes of fatty acids only meant for industrial uses to makers of animal feed late last year. The feed was then widely distributed.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

900 More Farms Closed as Dioxin Bill Reaches €100M
GERMANY - The latest dioxin scare has re-emerged as Germany closes over 900 more farms following delayed information from another feed manufacturer about sales of contaminated feed.


Germany's dioxin scare spread as 934 farms in four states were closed after receiving dioxin-laced animal feed, according to Deutsche Welle. The closures will add to the €100-million price tag the farmers' union attributed to the scandal.

Authorities in the state of Lower Saxony discovered a producer suspected of selling dioxin-contaminated feed had hidden deliveries to 934 farms, German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said on Saturday (15 January).

The farms have been temporarily shut, and Ms Aigner called for immediate consequences.

"This is a scandal," she said, adding that she expected a detailed report from Lower Saxony Premier, David McAllister, by the evening of 15 January.

Elevated levels of dioxin have been traced to one fats manufacturer. The numerous feed companies that buy its fat have faced testing all last week to prove their products met the European Union's dioxin standards of no more than one-trillionth part of food for human consumption.

Federal agriculture officials in Berlin said the latest feed-mixing company to be implicated had only just been spotted and that there was no indication it sold any tainted food.

Berlin officials said the Lower Saxony feed mixer had failed to inform authorities it had bought fat from Harles and Jentzsch, the company at the centre of the scare.

Prosecutors are now investigating whether the company's non-reporting was deliberate. It had supplied farms in Lower Saxony, as well as the states of North-Rhine Westphalia, Brandenburg and Bavaria, reports Deutsche Welle.

Hefty price tag for farmers
The discovery of the toxic chemical dioxin in animal feed has triggered a health alert and hit sales of German eggs and pork. Authorities are struggling to contain the scare, which began on 3 January, when German officials said feed tainted with dioxin had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs, poultry meat and some pork.

Damages from the ongoing scandal would be much greater than the immediate costs of testing, according to Gerd Sonnleitner, president of Germany's national farmers' union.

"The damage from the disruption in the market will be many times the direct damage," he said.

Deutsche Welle reports that Mr Sonnleitner put the price of sequestering farms, requiring laboratory clearance and destroying produce that failed dioxin tests would cost German farmers €100 million (US$130 million).

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, January 20, 2011Print
UK Slaughter Statistics - January 2011
UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs were released today, 20 January 2011. UK clean pig slaughterings for December 2010 were 896,000 head with pig meat production at 72,000 tonnes.
 

Key points
Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings for December 2010 were 189,000 head with beef and veal production at 83,000 tonnes.
Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings for December 2010 were 896,000 head with pig meat production at 72,000 tonnes.
Note that December 2010 is a five-week statistical month and therefore data are not comparable with December 2009.

Section 1. UK monthly slaughter estimates
This table shows monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United Kingdom. The survey is run according to statistical, rather than calendar months, the number of weeks in the statistical month is specified below.

Table 1. UK monthly slaughter estimates
United Kingdom October 2010
5 weeks November 2010
4 weeks December 2010
5 weeks
Steers 109 85 89
Heifers 77 66 73
Young Bulls 32 25 27
Cows and Adult Bulls 65 62 55
Calves 10 7 7
Clean Pigs 950 786 896
Sows and Boars * * *
* Data are confidential

Section 2. UK average dressed carcase weights
This table shows the monthly average dressed carcase weight of livestock slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United Kingdom. Longer term trends can be found on the Defra web site by clicking here.

Table 2. UK average dressed carcase weights
Kilogramme
United Kingdom October 2010 November 2010 December 2010
Steers 363.2 362.5 366.1
Heifers 318.9 318.4 322.4
Young Bulls 344.5 343.3 342.7
Cows and Adult Bulls 314.7 314.2 314.7
Calves 39.9 41.4 43.4
Clean Pigs 79.4 79.1 77.3
Sows and Boars 158.9 153.9 154.3

Section 3. UK monthly home-killed production of meat
This table shows the monthly volumes of meat produced in the United Kingdom. Data is shown according to statistical, rather than calendar months, number of weeks in statistical month as specified.

Table 3. UK monthly home-killed production of meat
Thousand Tonnes
United Kingdom October 2010
5 weeks November 2010
4 weeks December 2010
5 weeks
Beef 96 80 83
Pig meat 79 65 72

Section 4. UK average weekly slaughterings
This following table shows the average weekly slaughter figures for the last thirteen months. The monthly slaughter figures in section one are affected by the number of weeks in the statistical month. To get a clearer measure of trends weekly averages are calculated by dividing the number of livestock slaughtered each month by the number of weeks in the statistical month.

Longer term trends can be seen in the charts following this table.

Table 4. UK average weekly slaughterings
Thousand Head
United Kingdom 2009 2010
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Steers 18 17 19 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22 21 18
Heifers 15 14 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15 17 15
Young Bulls 5 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6 6 5
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 9 11 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13 16 11
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1
Clean Pigs 180 169 176 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 190 197 179
Sows and Boars 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 * * * * * *
* Data are confidential




United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Cattle




United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Pigs
Section 5. UK slaughterings by country
This table shows monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat in England and Wales, Scotland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Data are shown in statistical months, rather than calendar months. The totals for the countries may not add up to the Great Britain totals or the United Kingdom totals in section one, due to rounding.

Section 5. UK slaughterings by country
(Thousand Head)
  October 2010
5 weeks November 2010
4 weeks December 2010
5 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 64 52 55
Heifers 44 39 42
Young Bulls 22 18 18
Cows and Adult Bulls 49 46 41
Calves 9 7 6
Clean Pigs 736 608 698
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 24 19 21
Heifers 19 16 20
Young Bulls 4 3 3
Cows and Adult Bulls 6 6 5
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 57 47 54
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 87 70 76
Heifers 63 56 62
Young Bulls 26 21 21
Cows and Adult Bulls 55 52 47
Calves 9 7 6
Clean Pigs 793 654 753
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 22 14 13
Heifers 13 11 11
Young Bulls 6 5 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 10 8
Calves 1 0 0
Clean Pigs 157 132 143
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, January 20, 2011Print
Low Pork Prices Sparks Dutch Farmers' Protest
NETHERLANDS - Pig farmers are protesting at the low price of pork.


Pig farmers from all over the country took action on Tuesday (18 January) in protest at the low prices currently being paid for pork, according to Dutch News.

The national pig farmers association, NVV, has urged farmers to refuse to deliver any pig to abattoirs and to stop others from doing so by setting up temporary blockades.

The farmers say the cost of transporting animals to abattoirs has gone up 22 per cent over the past year while prices have been driven down by lack of demand following the German dioxin crisis.

In addition, the traditional supply and demand laws of setting prices have been distorted by the "market clout" of a few big players, the organisation said. "Everyone gets their costs covered and earns a margin except pig farmers."

They hope to pressure meat processors and supermarkets to increase their prices.

The association did not say what price producers are currently being paid for pork. Supermarket group, Dirk, is currently advertising one kilo of pork chops for €5, according to Dutch News.