World Hog news:

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Friday, December 16, 2011
Pigs May be Relocated; Govt to Curb Imports
INDIA - Stung by the disclosure that 20 per cent pigs are Japanese encephalitis carriers, the government is in a firefighting mode.


"We are going to send another 100 samples to the National Research Centre for Equines at Hisar for testing. Depending on results, we may have to relocate local pigs and restrict imports from other cities to check spread of the disease," said Dr V K Monga, chairman, MCD health committee.

He also said sanitary conditions around piggeries had to be improved and the breeding of Culex mosquitoes, which carry the virus, curbed through anti-larval measures.

Dr R P Vashishtha, state surveillance officer, said pigs are hosts of the disease.

"JE is a fatal disease transmitted by mosquitoes which affects the brain. It spreads through germs carried by mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites an infected pig and then a human being, the virus enters the body of that person," said Dr Vashishtha.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Reminder: Don't Feed Swill to Pigs
AUSTRALIA - As we enter the festive season with its focus on food and travel, pig owners are reminded that food scraps (also known as swill) must not be fed to pigs.


Department of Agriculture and Food livestock veterinary officer Skye Badger said the feeding of swill to pigs was illegal in Australia.

“Swill is any food that contains meat, blood or bone such as animal carcases, or any other food which has been in contact with meat, such as bakery, and fruit and vegetable waste,” Dr Badger.

“Food which is not known to be free of meat or free from contact with meat products is also considered to be swill.

“New requirements under the Veterinary Chemical Control & Animal Feeding Stuffs Regulations 2006 have enhanced the penalties. Anyone found guilty of feeding swill to pigs could be fined $2000 per offence.”

Swill feeding was linked to the devastating Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 which cost the UK an estimated A$30 billion. It is estimated a similar FMD outbreak in Australia could cost upwards of A$15 billion.

The department conducts regular checks of pig owners to monitor for swill-feeding practices.

“In addition to table scraps, waste from restaurants, bakeries and fast food outlets must not be fed to pigs,” Dr Badger said.

“Pet pig owners, animal nurseries and farm stay operators need to be aware of their legal obligation not to feed food scraps to their pigs. This obligation includes ensuring family and visitors comply with this requirement.”

Contact your local Department of Agriculture and Food office for further information, or to discuss issues relating to pig feeding or swill disposal.

Pig owners should report any signs of unusual illness or unexpected deaths in pigs to a veterinarian or call the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Quantifying and Understanding Tail Biting in Pigs
Complying with EU legislation on tail docking is made difficult because of the intractability of tail biting in pigs, according to Laura Boyle of Teagasc.

Tail biting is an aberrant behaviour performed by pigs and strongly linked to intensive production methods.

The behaviour consists of two stages: stage 1 involves a pig manipulating another pig’s tail in its mouth, often with little or no reaction from the recipient; and, stage 2 is the often frenzied cannibalism of the tail. While stage 1 is common under intensive conditions, the behaviour only progresses to stage 2 sporadically. Risk factors include tail length, stocking density, diet, ventilation, complexity of the housing environment and health status.

This multifactorial aetiology makes tail biting an intractable problem, which causes pain and poor welfare for thousands of pigs and considerable distress for the people looking after them. Additionally, tail biting is often associated with infection, leading to abscesses on the spine and, ultimately, the condemnation of carcasses at slaughter, which has significant economic implications.

Tail Docking
Tail docking (removal of a portion or all of the pig’s tail, usually within a few days of birth) is widespread in the EU (European Food Safety Authority, 2007) and has traditionally been used to reduce the potential for tail biting. However, docking is not a panacea and if circumstances are stressful enough (e.g. blocked feeder or drinker in an overcrowded pen), pigs may still bite docked tails or else resort to biting the flanks or ears. Thus, docking does not address the causes of tail biting, only the symptoms. As pigs are rarely anaesthetised for this procedure it is also an issue for pig welfare.

Complaints to the EU
A recent report on tail biting concluded that improvements to the pig’s environment, e.g. provision of substrates such as straw, can reduce the risk of tail biting (European Food Safety Authority, 2007). Tail docking is regulated under the European Communities (Welfare of Farmed Animals) Regulations 2010, which was brought into Irish law under Statutory Instrument 311 in 2010. Thus, routine tail docking is no longer permitted, and ‘other measures shall be taken to prevent tail biting and other vices taking into account environment and stocking densities’. If these measures fail and there is evidence that injuries to other pigs’ tails have occurred, then non-routine docking is permissible. In July 2009, Compassion in World Farming lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission in light of Ireland’s failure to ensure that routine tail docking is not carried out. However, in the case of tail biting, the welfare and ethical concerns associated with docking are arguably less of a problem for the pig than tail biting is later in life.

Factory Survey
The Teagasc authors measured the actual extent of tail docking in Ireland and the prevalence of tail biting in pigs with tails of different lengths. Six abattoirs (in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) were visited for three consecutive days each during summer 2010. The herd identification number (i.e., ‘slap’ number), sex, tail length (long or docked) and tail injury score of all the pigs killed in each factory on those days was recorded.

The scale used to score the severity of tail biting was as follows: 0 – no evidence of tail biting; 1 – healed or mild lesions; 2 – evidence of chewing or puncture wounds, but no evidence of swelling; 3 – evidence of chewing or puncture wounds with swelling and signs of possible infection; and, 4 – partial or total loss of the tail with signs of severe infection. Inspections were conducted after the pigs came out of the scalding tank and prior to de-hairing.

High Levels of Tail-Directed Behaviour in Slaughter Pigs
Of the 36,963 pig carcasses inspected, less than half (41.2 per cent) had normal (score 0) tails. The remaining 58.6 per cent were broken down as follows: 52.5 per cent (score 1), 5.1 per cent (score 2), 0.62 per cent (score 3) and 0.43 per cent (score 4). These figures reflect an alarmingly high level of tail-directed behaviour in slaughter pigs. Admittedly, most tails received the relatively mild score of 1, which probably reflects superficial damage caused by stage 1 tail-biting. Arguably, scores of 1 could also be attributed to the washing (scalding) procedure post mortem. However, the fact that male pigs had a higher proportion of score 1, 2, 3 and 4 tails than female pigs suggests that score 1 tails were not mechanically induced. This also supports the theory that males are more susceptible to being bitten. There is no disputing the aetiology of scores of 2, 3 and 4, and the fact that six per cent of carcasses were affected by these severe injuries is of serious concern.

Does Docking Work?
Almost all pigs had docked tails (99.1 per cent). Although only 347 carcasses had undocked tails, a higher proportion of these received scores of 1 (59.9 per cent versus 52.4 per cent; p<0.01) and scores greater than 1 (29.9 per cent vs. 5.97 per cent; p<0.001) compared to docked carcasses. This indicates that tail docking prevents tail biting to some extent and lends support to producers’ reluctance to abandon the practice. Producers cannot, however, afford to be complacent, and the high number of docked animals affected by tail injuries suggests that there is a lot of room for improvement in housing and husbandry practices.

 
left: Undocked pig with tail injury
right: Under EU legislation, pigs must be provided with manipulable materials. Ideally ‘toys’ should be supplemented with straw, compost or wood shavings to help prevent tail biting
Experience with Undocked Pigs at Moorepark
In a trial at Moorepark (224 undocked pigs in 16 pens), there was a persistently high level of tail-directed behaviour (around 1.2 incidences per pig per hour or 16.8 incidences per pen per hour) and there were at least 12 acute outbreaks of stage 2 tail biting over nine weeks. These resulted in 35 per cent of the pigs suffering some degree of tail amputation by the time they reached 60kg liveweight. This was in spite of excellent housing conditions, a strict intervention protocol (removal of the biting pig(s) and treatment of tail injuries) and the provision of ‘toys’ and chains to go some way towards meeting the environmental enrichment requirements of the pig. The experience suggests that under existing housing and husbandry conditions, tail biting could become more prevalent if tail docking is abandoned.

Casualty Pigs
The tails of pigs from the Moorepark trial were also inspected for damage at the factory after slaughter at approximately 100kg. In spite of the high level of tail biting earlier in the production cycle, none received scores higher than 2, and there were no carcass condemnations for abscessation. In contrast, 161 pigs inspected (0.43 per cent) in the factory survey received a score of 4.

For injuries to become this severe, it is unlikely that the affected pigs had been isolated from the biter(s) and/or received any treatment. Such serious tail damage is entirely avoidable, as demonstrated by the Moorepark study. Even more worryingly, although scores of 4 were only detected in 0.43 per cent of pigs, they were spread across 34 per cent of the 231 farms sampled. Pigs with such severe injuries should not knowingly be presented for slaughter as they represent a threat to food safety and in any case, they are likely to be condemned for abscesses. Furthermore, transportation of such animals is likely to cause additional suffering. These pigs should be considered as casualty animals and euthanised on farm.

Future Research
Given that routine tail docking is now prohibited by law, more effort needs to be made to prevent the causes of tail biting. Although challenging under current production practices, there is great potential for improvement of the pigs’ environment. Additional changes in the way in which condemnations are communicated to producers could play a huge role in improving the on-farm treatment of badly bitten pigs, i.e. indicate that carcasses that were condemned were also tail-bitten.

Further work in this area will develop the issue of carcass condemnation as a welfare outcome for pigs, determine the costs of carcass condemnation arising from tail biting, and examine the implications of tail-directed behaviour for meat quality.

Reference
European Food Safety Authority. (2007). The risks associated with tail biting in pigs and possible means to reduce the need for tail docking considering the different housing and husbandry systems. The EFSA Journal, 611:1-13.

December 2011

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Christmas Cheer Comes Early for Global Pig Prices

By Chris Harris, Editor-in-Chief. Our snapshot of the ongoing global pig industry trends as reported in the December 2011 Whole Hog Brief. To read the full detailed analysis, including all the commentary and graphical data, subscribe to the publication.
 
Published monthly, Whole Hog Brief provides 10 pages of detailed analysis of global pig industry trends, summarising key data from all the major markets. If you need to keep up with global pig industry trends Whole Hog Brief is an invaluable tool.
 

Pig prices for the major pig meat exporters are continuing to move up and records are being broken, according to the latest edition of Whole Hog.
 
Whole Hog believes that year on year and week on week there is little sign of prices weakening, although the pre-Christmas market for meat is slightly distorting the market at present.
 
However, the pig price cycle has taken seasonality into account and export markets as the main driver for the longest ever upward phase in the price cycle.
 
In Europe, the Whole Hog reports that there has been a small increase of one per cent in the Dutch breeding herd and total pig numbers.
 
The number of weaners rose by 2.1 per cent and the number of piglets by 1.5 per cent.
 
While the numbers of sows in pig and sows with piglets was down, the number of gilts has risen by 18 per cent, on the back of a 23 per cent fall last year.
 
In Denmark, both Danish Crown and Tican have reported significant growth in sales and profits and this has given an increase in the bonus they pay to their farmers.
 
Danish Crown has seen sales up by 14.6 per cent and Tican a rise in sales of 13 per cent.
 
However, the Whole Hog reports that there has been a large fall in the Spanish breeding herd.
 
The census figures show a drop of 17.2 per cent in the breeding herd and piglet and weaner numbers fell by 2.9 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively.
 



Pig Market in Europe Sets a Firm Tone
 
Year on year pig prices in Europe have risen for the third consecutive month in all the major producing countries.
 
The Whole Hog forecasts that a drop in temperatures in Europe will also help to boost sales and prices.
 
Only Hungary has not recorded an upward trend in prices.
 
The FAO has reported rises on food and meat prices throughout the year around the world and it has seen a boom in international trade and a fall in supplies.
 
Whole Hog says the FAO meat price index rose 180 points earlier this year and although meat prices have eased, pig meat prices are still 18 per cent above last year's levels.
 
Disease in Asia has constrained production and China has also seen a slowdown, according to the FAO data.
 
Canada's Pork Imports Jump - Exports Grow
 
Stats Canada has shown that the country's pork exports have grown this year with sales up 3.2 per cent for the first three quarters.
 
Pig meat imports to Canada also showed an increase, up by 23.5 per cent in the year to the end of November.
 
US pig meat exports for the first three quarters of the year have shown a rise of 17 per cent and, according to the Whole Hog, this growth in overseas trade is having a knock-on effect on domestic sales and supplies.
 
Imports to the US in the first nine months of the year have fallen by 7.9 per cent.
 
Australia's pig meat industry is continuing to hold its own.
 
While exports fell by just over one per cent, imports also declined by 4.9 per cent.
 
In Asia, the US has continued to grow its market share in the Japanese pig meat sector, although Japan's imported pig meat stocks fell in September by about 16 per cent year on year.
 
Imports are rising slightly showing a 0.6 per cent growth.
 
In South Korea, the boom in pig meat imports in continuing, with the market showing a 76.4 per cent rise year on year.
 
However, Whole Hog says that a year on from the outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in South Korea, the boom in trade is now expected to start to decline.

 Chris Harris, Senior Editor

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Christmas Cheer Comes Early for Global Pig Prices
By Chris Harris, Editor-in-Chief. Our snapshot of the ongoing global pig industry trends as reported in the December 2011 Whole Hog Brief. To read the full detailed analysis, including all the commentary and graphical data, subscribe to the publication.
 Published monthly, Whole Hog Brief provides 10 pages of detailed analysis of global pig industry trends, summarising key data from all the major markets. If you need to keep up with global pig industry trends Whole Hog Brief is an invaluable tool.

Pig prices for the major pig meat exporters are continuing to move up and records are being broken, according to the latest edition of Whole Hog.

Whole Hog believes that year on year and week on week, there is little sign of prices weakening, although the pre-Christmas market for meat is slightly distorting the market at present.

However, the pig price cycle has taken seasonality into account and export markets as the main driver for the longest ever upward phase in the price cycle.

In Europe, the Whole Hog reports that there has been a small increase of one per cent in the Dutch breeding herd and total pig numbers.

The number of weaners rose by 2.1 per cent and the number of piglets by 1.5 per cent.

While the numbers of sows in pig and sows with piglets was down, the number of gilts has risen by 18 per cent, on the back of a 23 per cent fall last year.

In Denmark, both Danish Crown and Tican have reported significant growth in sales and profits and this has given an increase in the bonus they pay to their farmers.

Danish Crown has seen sales up by 14.6 per cent and Tican a rise in sales of 13 per cent.

However, the Whole Hog reports that there has been a large fall in the Spanish breeding herd.

The census figures show a drop of 17.2 per cent in the breeding herd and piglet and weaner numbers fell by 2.9 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively.


Pig Market in Europe Sets a Firm Tone
Year-on-year pig prices in Europe have risen for the third consecutive month in all the major producing countries.

The Whole Hog forecasts that a drop in temperatures in Europe will also help to boost sales and prices.

Only Hungary has not recorded an upward trend in prices.

The FAO has reported rises on food and meat prices throughout the year around the world and it has seen a boom in international trade and a fall in supplies.

Whole Hog says the FAO meat price index rose 180 points earlier this year and although meat prices have eased, pig meat prices are still 18 per cent above last year's levels.

Disease in Asia has constrained production and China has also seen a slowdown, according to the FAO data.

Canada's Pork Imports Jump – Exports Grow
Stats Canada has shown that the country's pork exports have grown this year with sales up 3.2 per cent for the first three quarters.

Pig meat imports to Canada also showed an increase, up by 23.5 per cent in the year to the end of November.

US pig meat exports for the first three quarters of the year have shown a rise of 17 per cent and, according to the Whole Hog, this growth in overseas trade is having a knock-on effect on domestic sales and supplies.

Imports to the US in the first nine months of the year have fallen by 7.9 per cent.

Australia's pig meat industry is continuing to hold its own. While exports fell by just over one per cent, imports also declined by 4.9 per cent.

In Asia, the US has continued to grow its market share in the Japanese pig meat sector, although Japan's imported pig meat stocks fell in September by about 16 per cent year-on-year.

Imports are rising slightly showing a 0.6 per cent growth.

In South Korea, the boom in pig meat imports in continuing, with the market showing a 76.4 per cent rise year on year.

However, Whole Hog says that a year on from the outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in South Korea, the boom in trade is now expected to start to decline.


Chris Harris, Senior Editor

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Friday, December 30, 2011
Russia Bans Import of German Pork Consignment
RUSSIA - Specialists of the Rosselkhoznadzor Administration detected law violations at temporary storage warehouse "Sirius" during border veterinary control.


When inspecting a consignment of frozen pork and frozen pork fat imported from Germany (19.9 tons) it was determined that some labels attached to frozen pork had a name of the plant that was not mentioned in the veterinary certificate.

The whole consignment imported with violations of the Veterinary Law was sent back to the consignor with a non-manipulation declaration.

It is the second time when an imported consignment has been sent back to Germany over recent days. As reported, a consignment of poultry meat was sent back, since a part of the consignment was produced by the plant subject to temporary restrictions on import.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, December 29, 2011
Barbecued Rats Fetch More Than UK Pork
THAILAND - While on a recent trip to Thailand, Stephen Curtis, chairman of international pig breeding company ACMC, spotted rat carcases hung up for sale at the roadside, fetching more in price than British pork.
 

They are caught in the wild and must be pretty daunting, he says, since they weigh 2-3 kg each. Apparently, they are quite popular barbecued and are seen as a cheap form of protein.

However, Mr Curtis draws an interesting comparison with the price paid for pigs by UK processors. The Thai rat-catcher is paid around £1 more per kg — about 125 baht (£2.50) per kg liveweight, compared with around £1.50 live paid to British pig farmers for their pigs who are currently losing money on every pig produced. The Thai rat carcases fetch around £5 per kg at the roadside stall.

He says he declined to try these and he will stick to pork, consumption of which is growing very fast as living standards in Thailand improve.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Friday, December 30, 2011
November Pork Export Volume Steady, up in Value
BRAZIL - The volume of pork exported in November was the same as a year before but the US$-value was up more than 13 per cent.


The latest figures from ABIPECS reveal that Brazil exported 43,039 tons of pork in November, which was marginally up on the same month last year. The average price per ton in US dollars – $3,035 – was 13.4 per cent higher than a year ago. The value of export sales in November was US$130.6 million, almost 13.5 per cent more than in November 2010.

For the year-to-date, the total volume of pork exported was 479,487 tons, down 5.0 per cent compared to a year ago. The value of those exports, however, was 6.6 per cent higher at almost US$1.331 billion. The average price of pig meat over the year to date was $2,776 per ton, up 12.2 per cent from a year ago.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, January 05, 2012
Pigs from Indore May Have Carried JE Virus
NEW DELHI, INDIA - Pigs brought to New Delhi from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, could be behind the spread of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the city.


The Times of India reports that this is what the latest report on the screening of blood samples collected from the swine and subsequent investigations carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has revealed.

According to the civic body, at least three pigs transported to the city from Indore by local traders for slaughtering have tested positive for the JE virus.

Dr V K Monga, Chairman of the MCD health committee confirmed this fact adding that that MCD will issue a health alert to the concerned authorities in Indore and ask them re-ascertain the facts.

"The lab reports from National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, received by us on Wednesday, stated that out of 83 blood samples collected from pigs across the city three pigs from Sadar Paharganj zone have tested positive for JE virus. The traders claim that the pigs were brought for slaughtering from Indore," said Dr Monga.

He added that in December last year also, when 17 out of 83 blood samples collected from pigs across the city were found positive for JE, the traders had claimed that the swine were mostly brought from Indore and Gurgaon. Both the mega-cities have not reported any JE cases so far but health officials say that the infection may be present in pigs at a sub-clinical level.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Monday, January 09, 2012
Sales of Poultry and Pork Products Increase
ARGENTINA - Upward pressure on prices has seen beef consumption fall to 53.8 kg per capita per annum - the lowest levels in 91 years.


Reduced availability of products, increasing population size and higher prices are to blame.

The Chamber of Meat Trade and Meat Products (CICCRA) says that the consumption of beef fell 6.7 per cent over the last year. The lowest recorded levels of meat beef consumption occurred in 1920, at 47 kg per capita.

On the other hand, sales of poultry and pork products have increased. This is likely due to it being more price competitive rather than changes in consumer eating habits. Beef prices have increased by 130 per cent in the last year.

President of the Poultry Processing Companies (CEPA), Roberto Domenech said that in 2011 the consumption of poultry meat increased to 40 kg per capita, a 1.5 kg increase.

CIICRA reports that the consumption of pork products increased 9.2 per cent over the last two years.

Butchers and traders are saying that whilst they have seen slight increases in the sales of poultry and pork, these increases do not match the drop in beef consumption.

Economists from the Institute of Economic Studies of Rural Argentina said that between 2009 and 2011 prices rose by 80 per cent, whilst consumption fell 14 per cent.

Price increases can be put down to increased global beef prices, but also a decrease in the number of animals slaughtered last year.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Monday, January 09, 2012
Korea Forced to Import More Pork in 2012
SOUTH KOREA - Korea’s self-sufficiency rate of pork dropped to the lowest point ever last year due to massive culling of pigs in the wake of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease outbreaks, government data showed yesterday.


The self-sufficiency ratio of the meat stood at 60.3 per cent at the end of last year, down 20.6 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the data provided by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the sharp decline comes as Korea suffered a widespread outbreak of FMD, which hit the nation’s livestock farmers hard from November 2010 to April of last year.

About 3.3 million pigs were culled nationwide due to the disease.

The massive culling led to more imports of pork throughout the year, causing the country’s self-sufficiency rate to drop to the lowest level in history, the ministry said.

Korea produced 569,000 tons of pork last year, down 192,000 tons from a year earlier.

Pork imports, meanwhile, more than doubled to 374,000 tons over the same period.

Self-sufficiency ratios of beef and chicken also dropped to their lowest levels since 2003. Their ratios stood at 42.8 per cent and 77.4 per cent, respectively, the data showed.

The decline is attributable to their increased imports to satisfy more demand from consumers who sought to purchase beef and chicken rather than pork products.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Monday, January 09, 2012
This Week's Pig News Round-Up
ANALYSIS - FDA has announced it is to tighten the use of antimicrobials in farm animals, prohibiting the cephalosporins except in exceptional cases, writes Jackie Linden, senior editor. This has been described as "a modest first step" to cut overall antimicrobial use but industry bodies have not welcomed the decision without reservation. Also in the news this week: the EU has postponed its proposed rule on organic feeds, cutting food waste as a means of feeding the growing population and a new development in Strep suis control.

USDA Food and Drug Administration's recent decision to ban 'extra-label' or unapproved uses for certain antibiotics is a small step in the direction towards reducing the potential risk of antibiotic resistance in humans.

The order from the FDA, which comes into effect on 5 April this year, prohibits certain uses of the cephalosporin class of antimicrobial drugs in cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys.

The FDA says it is taking this action to preserve the effectiveness of cephalosporin drugs for treating disease in humans and prohibiting these uses is intended to reduce the risk of cephalosporin resistance in certain bacterial pathogens.

The Administration stressed that antimicrobial drugs are important for treating disease in both humans and animals. This new order takes into consideration the substantial public comment FDA received on a similar order that it issued in 2008, but revoked prior to implementation.

However, the new order only bans cephalosporin drugs at unapproved dose levels, frequencies, durations, or routes of administration and it prohibits using cephalosporin drugs in cattle, pigs, chickens or turkeys that are not approved for use in that species, e.g. cephalosporin drugs intended for humans or companion animals, and also bars the use of cephalosporin drugs for disease prevention.

Veterinarians will still be able to use or prescribe cephalosporins for limited 'extra-label' use in farm animals, provided they follow the dose, frequency, duration, and route of administration that is on the label. They may also use or prescribe cephalosporins for 'extra-label' uses in minor species of food-producing animals such as ducks or rabbits.

Even Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who is leading a campaign to prohibit the use of drugs that could cause antibiotic resistance in humans, described the FDA move at "a modest first step".

In the EU, there has been a very rare case of the authorities extending the derogation allowing five per cent non-organic feed ingredients in organic diets for poultry and pigs.

Until the end of last year, producers were able to feed five per cent of non-organic feed to organic pigs.

However, on 1 January 2012, European legislation was set to come into play which would have meant that all organic poultry and pig producers would have to have fed 100 per cent organic feed.

Instead, the European Commission has said that it will extend the derogation after the industry expressed concerns for animal welfare.

It is likely the extension will be until the end of 2014, giving producers another three years until 100 per cent organic diets are mandatory.

Cutting food wastage would contribute to feeding the growing human population, according to the UK Government's chief scientist.

In the next 25 to 50 years, food production will have to double to keep up with growing populations and rising consumption. However, if global wastage of food is cut, then production will not have to grow at such a rate to meet demand, the UK government's chief scientific advisor, Professor Sir Bob Watson, told the Oxford Farming Conference last week.

Sir Bob told the conference that recent reports, such as the Foresight Report and the study by Sir John Beddington's Commission on Sustainable Agriculture, showed that the current food production system is unsustainable.

He said there is huge wastage in present food production and there are growing concerns over the excessive use of nitrogen and fertilisers to produce food.


And finally, in the UK, a further step has been achieved towards improved control of Streptococcus suis. Moredun Scientific has recently completed the validation of a S. suis serotype 2 disease model in weaner piglets for use in vaccine and therapeutic efficacy studies.

David Reddick, Head of Animal Health at Moredun Scientific, commented: "We are pleased to extend our disease model portfolio to offer a highly effective model of S. suis infection to our animal health clients supporting their efforts to prevent and control the disease."


Jackie Linden, Senior Editor

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, January 12, 2012
UUAA Reports Losses in Pig Farms in 2011
SPAIN - Spanish Agricultural Union (UUAA) yesterday announced a "constant" yield loss in Galicia's integrated pig farms. The loss exceeded an average of €8,750 in 2011.


In an issued statement, UUAA said that this drop in revenue has resulted companies' requirement to increase the weight of pigs from 90 to 105 kilos.

According to ABC.es, the Union called for a contract similar to the poultry meat sector or nationally approved model contract for livestock integration in Catalonia, which specifies technical and economic conditions and responsibilities of each party.

The pork sector in Galicia has integrated a volume of 377,000 animals and 33 per cent of the Galician swine production.

Pontevedra peak production records, with nearly 39 per cent for Galicia, followed by Ourense with 25.95 per cent, A Coruña with 20.08 per cent and Lugo with 15.69 per cent.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Monday, January 16, 2012
This Week's Pig News Round-Up
With new outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) announced recently in Russia and South Africa, the disease is becoming a global threat, writes Jackie Linden, senior editor. Also in the news in the last week are issues over animal welfare during transportation in the EU and a forecast increase of 1.9 per cent in pig meat production in the US this year compared to 2011.

Recently announced outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in three regions of Russia have put Belarus and Kazakhstan on alert for the disease, and there have also been outbreaks in Uganda and in the last week, in South Africa.

At the end of last week, the Russian veterinary authority announced three new ASF outbreaks in different regions – Astrakhan region, Krasnodar Kray and Stavropol Kray – starting between 29 December and 6 January.

The Astrakhan outbreak involved one wild boar, which was destroyed. The case offers a warning, however, because it is a region not affected before and it borders Kazakhstan. Furthermore, many of the previous reports of ASF in Russia appear to have spread among the wild boar population and then to domestic pigs.

In December last year, Kazakhstan imposed restrictions on pork imports from Russia, and following the recent outbreaks, Belarus is also now on alert.

The other recent ASF outbreaks in Russia were in domestic pigs on farms in the Black Sea area of south-western Russia. They are notable for the extremely high toll of pigs that had to be culled. At one farm, at Timoshevsky in Krasnodar Kray, 167 pigs died and the remaining animals – more than 30,000 – were destroyed. The farm in Stavropol Kray was smaller but more than 4,000 pigs have been destroyed there.

To add to Russia's pig health difficulties, classical swine fever has been confirmed recently in two new outbreaks of classical swine fever, in the regions of Vladimir and Smolensk.

ASF is not only affecting eastern Europe. The veterinary authority in South Africa has reported an outbreak of the disease at a farm in Mpumalanga province. On 3 January, 35 cases were identified as sick at an abattoir in Gauteng. Of these, 28 died and the remaining 52 pigs in the herd have been destroyed. The source of the outbreak has is still under investigation as the outbreak occurred outside the country's ASF control zone.

Concern is growing again over the way livestock is transported both for slaughter and as live exports.

In Europe, the issue seemed to have been put to rest when the animal welfare in transport rules came into effect in 2007. However, a report from the European Commission towards the end of last year called for more action to be taken, whilst while recognising the advances that have been made in the welfare of animals in transit.

The report then found that there were three shortcomings in the way the regulations were being applied: the poor enforcement of legislation; market distortions created by the divergent interpretations of the rules; and the potential of the navigation system has not been fully exploited.

Over the last week, further concerns about the transport of animals in Europe were raised over the export of livestock to Turkey. More than one million animals were exported to Turkey last year and out of checks on 158 vehicles, 67 per cent were found to have broken the EU regulations in terms of overcrowding, inadequate ventilation and/or lack of water.

The findings led to howls of anguish from animal welfare organisations and a call for live exports to Turkey to be suspended. The Commission has said that it is not possible for it to impose a suspension unilaterally, but it has started to take action and hold negotiations with the relevant parties.

CME has upgraded the economic outlook in the US in 2012. Economist, Blu Putnam, says US economic improvements in 2012 will start with real GDP forecast to grow around 3.5 per cent to 4.0 per cent.

USDA's January World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report was noted for its larger-than-expected estimate of 2011 corn production and 2012 ending stocks. March, May and July corn futures were down the limit last Thursday (12 January), according to Ron Plain of thr University of Missouri.

The report also raised USDA's estimate of 2011 and 2012 pork production, which is for 2012 pork production will be up 1.9 per cent from 2011. They are forecasting 2012 hog prices to average only $1 lower than in 2011, thanks in large part to a forecast 2.8 per cent drop in the production of competing meats.


Jackie Linden, Senior Editor

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, January 19, 2012
Viet Nam Hog Markets
VIET NAM - Throughout 2011, the large price increase in pork has been quite pronounced amongst the livestock product groups. From early 2011 until now, all prices for livestock products increased continuously, write Ron Lane, Senior Consultant of Genesus Viet Nam and Meggie Vo, Research Assistant.
 

Background
During the timeframe from 1996 to 2006, Viet Nam’s pork production more than doubled (132 per cent). This illustrates rapid growth- not mainly with large scale farms, but through constant growth from small farms, specialized pig households and the large scale farms.

The larger scale commercial farms are concentrated around the 2 largest markets—Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City and Hanoi.

Current December 2011
Pork increased sharply in May and June. The northern part of Viet Nam showed an increase of 54.1 per cent while in the southern part, this figure was up 71.2 per cent over the same period in 2010.

There are several causes attributed to why the price of livestock products increased in the first half of 2011. Two chief reasons can be noted. One is due to the imbalance in supply and demand. Many pork producers (of all sizes and scale) have mentioned that because of the impact of the disease occurrence of late 2010 and early in 2011, this caused the national herd to be pulled back by 3.7 per cent and that sow numbers were shrunk by 8.6 per cent (currently, new outbreaks out FMD have been identified in a Northern and Central province). Secondly, a recent and emerging niche live pig and pork export to China is showing huge growth. According to statistics, exports of meat across the border in the last four months in 2011 amounted to 2,800 tons. Specifically, in November, there was a large spike in the number of tons sent (more than 936 tons—this is more than three times higher than in May, 2011).

According to the Animal Husbandry Department, this year's production of meat for the country is estimated around 4.31 million tons, up 7.7 per cent compared to 2010. During 2011, Viet Nam imported about 107,000 tons of meat from various countries, but mainly from the US (about 3.5 per cent of total meat production), but this is up 30.5 per cent over 2010. This high amount was not forecasted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Imported meat, for the first 5 months of the year, was shown at 30,000 tons - with a total 2011 importation forecast being lower than the 83,000 tons imported in 2010. When the increase of meat imports exceeded forecasts by the end of June, then in July, the price of pork in the market increased as many businesses knew that they would have to import large quantities to meet market demand.

During the months of October and November, pig prices declined. In December pig prices showed signs of rising again as market hog prices were as high as 55,000 VND/kg to 57,000 VND/kg ($ 2.62 to $ 2.71 US/kg). On average, market hog prices rose about 10.8 per cent in December as compared with the previous month. Regionally, in the North, market pig price averaged 56,500 VND/kg ($ 2.69 US/kg). In the South, market pig prices were about 52,000 VND/kg ($ 2.47 US/kg)

In the near future, due to growing demand and due to cold weather which can cause more disease problems, pork supply could become very tight just before Tet. From this, pork prices could rise from 10 to 15 per cent during January, 2012.

With data from the Livestock Department, the 2011 year-end report indicated that the production herd size and the total supply of meat, increased compared to the livestock sector in 2010. Even though the production and thus supply had decreased in the early months of 2011, the overall livestock herd increased 1.6 per cent. From this meat output rose 7.7 per cent to about 4.31 million tons as compared to 2010. A breakdown of this total shows pork 3.2 million tons (up 5.7 per cent and 74.2 per cent of the total meat supply), chicken reached 708,000 tons (up 15 per cent and 16.4 per cent of the total meat supply) and cattle reached 406,000 tons (up 11.8 per cent and 9.4 per cent of the total meat supply). Pork is important in Viet Nam.

A quick assessment of the price of inputs for pig production will show many challenges for the producer during 2011. The first months in 2011, there was the impact from the increases of all fuel prices; gasoline prices increased again from 2000 to 2800 VND/litre ($ 0.10 to $ 0.13 US/litre) and this caused major disruption for many commodity prices and services; rice and vegetable prices increased during the New Year and these prices stayed high and electricity prices have increased more than 15 per cent since last spring. Farmers also faced large price increases for replacement breeding stock and weaner pigs; large increases in the price of feed; rising prices for water, labor, vaccine costs and transportation and disease still are major concern. All of the above causes that are mentioned, are also influenced by the shortage of capital and credit. Interest rates are too high (ranging from 16.5 per cent to 25 per cent per annum). The livestock sector investment is also considered too risky by most banks. Consumer Price Index (CPI) in 2011 increased by 17.9 per cent over 2010. The forecast for 2012 shows predictions of 0.5 to 0.7 per cent increases per month for CPI.

In previous years, demand for meat just before and during Lunar New Year usually increased from 15-20 per cent, but in recent years, this increase has declined. Specifically, as in 2010, meat consumption increased only by about 12-15 per cent. This indicates that the demand for meat is now spread throughout the year, not just focusing on the time frame around the national holidays.

As of 15 December 2011, the preliminary estimate for pigs on the farm is around 27.1 million pigs. This is a 317,000 decrease (-0.73 per cent) over the same period in 2010 and up 755,000 since April 2011.

In November, the price of some animal feed ingredients decreased slightly from October: corn 7,350 VND/kg ($ 0.35US/kg) (down 2.1 per cent), soybean meal 9,975 VND/kg ($ 0.47US/kg) (down 6.9 per cent), cassava 5,880 VND/kg (0.28US/kg) (down 3.4 per cent). While other ingredients increased: rice bran 7,875 VND/kg ($ 0.37US/kg) (up 7.1 per cent), fish meal 22,050 VND/kg ($ 1.04 US/kg) (up 5 per cent). Other materials were stable: Lysine 60,900 VND/kg ($ 2.90US/kg); Methionine 120,750 VND/kg ($ 5.74 US/kg). Feed and material imports in November were estimated at 160 million USD.

Three major sources of feed ingredients for Viet Nam are Argentina (23.4 per cent), India (21.6 per cent) and the United States (10.5 per cent).

Forecasting and looking at National Government’s plans for 2012, the first notion is that there will not be quotas or import restrictions on meat implemented, but that normal and self-regulating market supply and demand will be encouraged. Currently, the favorable weather conditions have improved breeding performance and that the disease factors that reduced the market pig supply during 2010 and the first few months of 2011, were not evident. Total improved livestock production has increased the output of the total meat supply by an estimated 7.7 to 8 per cent. This should be positive for the consumer prices as they increase their demand for meat, especially pork during Tet. Viet Nam's agriculture sector is likely to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2012, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In 2011, the sector grew at 5.2 per cent.

Development Plan for the Animal Herd to 2020
Animals Units 2011 2015 2020
Pig million 28.5 32.9 34.8
Sow million 4.4 4.8 4.8
Poultry million 350.5 356.0 450.0
Cattle million 6.5 9.5 12.5
Dairy Cow thousand 155.0 263.3 500.0
Buffalo million 2.9 3.0 3.0
Goat/Sheep million 1.4 2.3 3.0


Livestock Products and Commercial Feeds by 2020
Products Units 2011 2015 2020
Total Meat 1000 Tons 2,786 carcass 3,646 carcass 4,683 carcass
Pork 1000 Tons 2,258 carcass 2,768 carcass 3,495 carcass
Total Commercial Feed 1000 Tons 12,001 16,360 19,213




Genesus Global Market Report
Prices for week of 6 January 2012
Country Domestic price
(own currency) US$
(per pound liveweight)
USA (Iowa-Minnesota) 82.93¢
US$/lb carcass 61.36¢
Canada (Ontario) 1.55
C$/kg carcass 55.57¢
Mexico (DF) 26.08
MXP/kg liveweight 87.79¢
Brazil (south region) 2.69
BRR/kg liveweight 68.51¢
Russia 92
RUB/kg liveweight $1.32
China 17.62
RMB/kg liveweight $1.26
Spain 1.10
€/kg liveweight 63.79¢