NFA inaugrates third corn processing center
[12 October 2010] The Philippines National Food Authority's (NFA) third corn processing center commenced operations last week. The PHP 25.57 million corn processing center is in Echague, Isabela. The other two centers earlier established by the NFA are located in Wao, Lanao del Sur and in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao. The Agriculture department said that the corn processing center in Echague, Isabela is expected to benefit 6,000 corn farmers and traders. The center is capable of processing 150 metric tonnes of fresh corn on cobs per day. Isabela is among the top corn-producing provinces in the country, with average annual production of 15.01 million bags or 750,260 MT, the department said.

Small ruminants industry get support from government
[13 October 2010] The small ruminant industry in the Philippines is getting a much needed boost from the government, and was the focus industry of Agrilink 2010, in the Philippines. The industry, which is a source of meat, dairy and other products, is seen to help the Philippine government's drive toward food self-sufficiency. Although its potential remain largely untapped, the Philippine Department of Agriculture is pushing for its development with two new projects. The first aims to increase and upgrade the breeder base of goats by breeder stock infusion. The second aims to set up a network of genetic farms, both public and private, that will make the improved stocks available to farmers and enable them to upgrade their stocks.

Philippine restaurant to go public, expand
[13 October 2010] Mang Inasal Philippines Inc, a fast growing barbecue restaurant chain in the Philippines, is planning an initial public offering early in 2011. Edgar Sia II, Mang Inasal's Chairman and CEO, said the IPO will help the company raise capital and share profits with employees and other investors. The company, which opened its first restaurant inm December 2003, also plans to expand further in the Luzon, particularly in Manila, next year. To date there are 300 Mang Inasal outlet in the country. The restaurant chain is popular for its chicken and pork barbecue. With the company's rapid expansion, the number of its employees have grown from 20 in 2003 to the current 10,200.

What Alaminos has written is some sound advice for breeders.Having a breeding plan and the genetic pool to breed from can produce first place in the show ring.The value of this doeling has increased due to replacement value.All offsprings, both males and females will be of a higher value as the breeder can place a Breeders Premium on the sale of all its offspring.Taking first place has its privileges.

Congrats on your win.Excellent.

This might be of some help to you.When we ordered our day old laying chicks from a hatchery in Cebu,arrived with information on how to care and feed for the chicks and also how to build the cages.Four birds to a cage with a plastic angled floor to roll the eggs away from the chickens and easier to collect the eggs.

Maybe you could ask the hatchery that you plan to order your chicks from for any information related to egg production.

hope this helps

LM_HG206
Des Moines, Iowa                Fri, Oct 08, 2010               USDA Market News

IOWA/MINNESOTA DAILY DIRECT AFTERNOON HOG REPORT BASED ON STATE OF ORIGIN
PLANT DELIVERED PURCHASE DATA FOR Friday, October 8, 2010 (As of 1:30 PM)

                          CURRENT VOLUME BY PURCHASE TYPE
                      BARROWS & GILTS LIVE AND CARCASS BASIS

                                      Estimated     Actual     Actual     Actual
                                          Today      Today   Week Ago   Year Ago
Producer Sold
  Negotiated                              7,809      5,539      4,145      4,886
  Other Market Formula                   11,743     10,935      5,090      8,270
  Swine or Pork Market Formula           68,412     53,986     42,275     76,066
  Other Purchase Arrangement             67,118     58,785     21,500     39,895
Packer Sold (all purchase types)         14,456      4,911      2,310      3,967
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   NEGOTIATED PURCHASE (Including Packer Sold)

Barrows & Gilts (carcass basis): 8,292

Compared to Prior Day's closing weighted average (LM_HG204), 1.01 lower

Base Price Range $64.00 - $76.00, Weighted Average $71.41

Base Price is the price from which no discounts are
subtracted and no premiums are added.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            IOWA/MINNESOTA DAILY DIRECT NEGOTIATED HOG PURCHASE MATRIX
                               185 lb Carcass Basis
                           (Defined by Muscle and Fat)

                             LOIN AREA/DEPTH (INCHES)

BACK-FAT      4.0/1.4       5.0/1.7       6.0/2.0       7.0/2.3       8.0/2.7
0.4         66.50 77.00   67.50 78.00   68.50 79.50   70.00 81.00   70.00 82.00
0.5         64.00 76.00   66.50 77.00   68.50 78.75   69.50 80.25   70.00 81.50
0.6         64.00 77.76   66.50 77.76   67.50 78.00   68.50 79.50   70.00 81.00
0.7         64.00 77.76   64.00 77.76   66.50 77.76   68.50 78.75   69.50 80.25
0.8         62.00 77.76   64.00 77.76   66.50 77.76   67.50 78.00   69.50 79.50
0.9         62.00 74.16   64.00 74.16   64.00 75.00   66.50 77.00   68.50 78.75
1.0         61.00 74.16   62.00 74.16   64.00 74.16   66.50 76.00   67.50 78.00
1.1         60.00 70.00   62.00 71.00   64.00 73.00   64.00 75.00   67.50 77.00
1.2         60.00 70.00   61.00 70.00   62.00 72.00   64.00 74.00   66.50 76.00
1.4         53.59 70.00   53.59 70.00   53.59 70.00   53.59 72.00   58.10 74.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           CARCASS WEIGHT DIFFERENTIALS

    145#   -28.80 -9.52          175#   -3.60  0.00          205#    0.00  0.00
    155#   -28.80 -5.76          185#   -1.50  0.00          215#   -0.72  0.00
    165#   -10.80 -1.35          195#    0.00  0.00          225#   -1.50  0.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  MEASUREMENTS BASED ON SLAUGHTER DATA SUBMITTED

5-Day Rolling Average Market Hog: 205.60 lb carcass, 0.74 inch back-fat,
7.21 square inch loin/2.40 inch loin depth, FFLI: 51.60%

Price Range $68.50 - $78.75
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          SWINE OR PORK MARKET FORMULA PURCHASE (Including Packer Sold)

Barrows & Gilts (carcass basis): 49,395

Base Price Range $71.05 - $79.82, Weighted Average $72.52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   NEGOTIATED PURCHASE (Including Packer Sold)

Barrows & Gilts (live basis, 240-300 lbs): 493

Compared to Prior Day's closing weighted average (LM_HG204), 2.00 lower

Price Range $50.95 - $56.00, Weighted Average $54.39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BARROWS & GILTS PURCHASE BY STATE OF ORIGIN

Iowa                 99,653               Minnesota             28,783
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:    USDA Market News Service, Des Moines, IA
           
1500C

Animal Welfare and the Veterinary Profession: 50 Years of Change
In his paper to this year's International Pig Veterinarian's Society (IPVS) Congress in Vancouver, Canada, Dr David Fraser of the University of British Columbia described the changing reality and perceptions of animal welfare, writes Jackie Linden.

 
Dr Fraser opened his presentation by highlighting the recent development of animal welfare, by saying that, just nine years ago, he was involved for the first time in the development of a programme to assure their customers about the welfare of the animals in their supply chain. The company was Burger King and he was invited to serve on the advisory committee.

After a little initial scepticism, he was pleased to be involved in the discussions about maintaining public trust and 'doing the right thing' for animals. Since those early beginnings, "Burger King has done some very good things regarding animal welfare," he said.

Since then, many other organisations have become involved in animal welfare, including the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the International Finance Corporation (the investment arm of the World Bank) and the FAO. Furthermore, it is expected that a 'Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare' will soon be presented to the United Nations with the expressed support of many of the world's countries.

All these organisations and the regulatory authorities are working on science-based solutions, they say. When Dr Fraser began doing research on the welfare of pigs 40 years ago, welfare was on the outermost fringe of science,he said.

Growing Focus on Animal Welfare
Every culture has an 'animal mythology' – a set of fundamental beliefs and values regarding animals – which we can often perceive through the art and stories of the culture, explained Dr Fraser. He went on to give examples from the creation story of the Ojibway culture of central Canada and from the Bible. These demonstrate both empirical beliefs – about what animals are like and the history of our involvement with them – and evaluative or ethical beliefs about how important animals are and how they should be treated.

There were three empirical beliefs – about different appearance, different origin, and different inner life – that reinforced the idea of humans as fundamentally different from animals and helped to justify the use of animals for human purposes. But in modern culture, empirical beliefs are not fixed by the constant re-telling of traditional stories, but rather are subject to change in light of scientific discoveries and other developments, said Dr Fraser.

Over the centuries, these empirical beliefs were gradually chipped away, at least partly by science. The first breakthrough was the development of knowledge of anatomy, from which it became clear that humans are actually built on the same anatomical template as the other vertebrate animals. From this developed the proposal of evolutionary biology of the 1800s and the startling proposal that the reason why we and other species have the same anatomical structure is that we share a common evolutionary origin.

It was the study of animal behaviour in the late in the 1900s that Dr Fraser believes led to a further crucial revision in our view of animals, this one centred on their mental and emotional lives.

What is Animal Welfare?
As the current wave of concern about animal welfare began, roughly in the 1960s, a debate emerged over what animal welfare really involves and with growing globalisation, it has become a global issue, he said.

The first major criticism of confinement production systems came in the book 'Animal Machines' by the English animal advocate, Ruth Harrison in 1964, in which she described cages for laying hens and crates for veal calves, said Dr Fraser. She claimed that these systems are so unnatural that they cause animals to lead miserable and unhealthy lives.

Subsequently, key concerns centred on words such as 'pleasure', 'pain', 'suffering' and 'happiness', which may be described as affective states. In the UK, the emphasis was put more on confinement and how it restricted the animals' natural behaviour.

Dr Fraser highlighted that the central concern was for a degree of 'naturalness' in the lives of animals: that animals should be able to perform their natural behaviour, that there should be natural elements in their environment, and that we should respect the 'nature' of the animals themselves.

As he pointed out, however, farmers and veterinarians brought a different focus when they engaged in the debate. For them, animals must have freedom from disease and injury, plus food, water, shelter and other necessities of life – concerns that may be summed up as basic health and functioning of the animals.

These different aims of these groups may go hand in hand, for example, in allowing a pig to wallow in mud on a hot day because it will presumably feel more comfortable (an affective state), because it can perform its natural cooling behaviour (natural living) and because it will have less disruption of its body processes caused by heat stress (basic health).

However, the different criteria do not always go together, Dr Fraser said, citing the gestation stall, which is a way of promoting healthy weight gain and avoiding injuries from aggression but it is very unnatural and may create a life that is not very pleasurable.

Animal Welfare Science

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*
"The single-minded pursuit of any one element of animal welfare does not guarantee a high level of welfare as judged by the others." 

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As this debate unfolded in the 1960s and 1970s, people began doing scientific research on animal welfare, explained Dr Fraser. The research aimed both to make production systems more efficient by making them better suited to the animals and partly because people expected science to resolve the disagreements over the interpretation of animal welfare, he contended.

Some of the research used the basic health and functioning of animals as an indicator of animal welfare. An example was the modification of the battery cage for laying hens in Sweden, which forms the basis of animal welfare standards for cage design, firstly in Sweden and then in the European Union. Meanwhile, other scientists tried to improve animal welfare by making living conditions more 'natural' for animals, such as the development of teat feeding systems for veal calves. The use of painkillers for debudding calves would be an example of another approach – that of reducing unpleasant affective states.

Dr Fraser summed up by saying: "All three views of animal welfare have a scientific basis, and that the single-minded pursuit of any one criterion of animal welfare may fail to promote animal welfare as judged by the other criteria.

"For standards and practices to be widely accepted as improving animal welfare, they need to make a reasonable accommodation to all three."

Role of Veterinarians

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
"The increased focus on animal welfare, and the emerging science of animal welfare, have created expanded opportunities for veterinarians" 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
What is the role of veterinarians in this world of changing values and emerging science?, Dr Fraser asked.

Firstly, he finds it important to recognise that animal welfare research is not a mature field of science. He explained that much of the research is still more conceptual than strategic, that has been carried out on research farms rather than a commercial scale and that multi-disciplinary teams are needed to look at all the implications of new ideas.

"There is a great opportunity for veterinarians to work with animal welfare scientists to refine and broaden the science, and to apply it in practical ways," he said.

Second, the increased public concern about the welfare of animals has created an expectation that veterinarians will provide leadership in promoting animal welfare, not just as technical specialists working to prevent and treat disease but also as champions of animal welfare in a broader sense that includes the different areas of concern, he said.

Dr Fraser stressed his belief that there is some urgency about fulfilling these roles. He said: "Unless scientists and veterinarians can deal with the problems, then legislators and referenda may do so instead, and the outcomes may be less than ideal for the animals and for producers."

He also expressed his concern that outdoor systems that are perceived by the public as high-welfare may in fact involve serious problems of basic health and functioning.

"There is a need for technical innovation and good standards to ensure that this well-intentioned development does lead to good welfare for the animals," he said.

Even in 2010, these basic problems as these still waiting to be solved, Dr Fraser said. He expressed his concern that some of the elements of 'animal husbandry' have been superseded by a small number of scientific specialities.

He said: "I think animal welfare science is finally restoring these missing elements of animal husbandry, but with a scientific basis that was not available a century ago. Here we see an educational role for veterinarians: to use animal welfare science as a way of restoring animal husbandry in veterinary education."

Conclusions
From his wide-ranging presentation, Dr Fraser said that five conclusions may be drawn.

Firstly, he said, the social concern about animal welfare that we see today has grown out of a long history of changing attitudes, driven to a large degree by scientific discoveries that narrowed the gap that we perceive between people and animals.

Social concern about animal welfare comprises three main elements: the basic health and functioning of animals; the affective states of animals, especially freedom from negative states such as pain and distress, and the ability to live in a way that suits the animals' natural behaviour and other adaptations.

Each of these elements of animal welfare has a scientific basis, said Dr Fraser, and all three have given rise to practical improvements and science-based standards. The science did not arbitrate among the different views of animal welfare. Instead, the different views of animal welfare influenced the science and contributed to the richness of its ideas and approaches.

The single-minded pursuit of any one element of animal welfare does not guarantee a high level of welfare as judged by the others. For practices and standards to be widely accepted as improving animal welfare, they need to strike a balance among all three, he said.

Finally, Dr Fraser said: "The increased focus on animal welfare, and the emerging science of animal welfare, have created expanded opportunities for veterinarians to take on new scientific and technical roles, new social leadership roles, and new educational roles in improving the lives of animals."

October 2010

Russian Federation - Livestock and Products Semi-Annual Report 2010
Feed shortages resulting from this year's drought have accelerate the slaughter of cattle and pigs, according to Morgan Haas and Mikhail Maksimenko in the latest GAIN report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.


Report Highlights
Slaughter rates have and will continue to increase in 2010 and 2011 as widespread drought throughout Russia sharply decreased current and future feed supplies. As a result, red meat supply will be larger than earlier expectations but adversely impact supply potential in 2011. Red meat imports to date are revised upward, reflecting year-to-date trade and have similar market access potential in 2011.

Summary
Changes in USDA Moscow's forecast for swine and pork reflect the shortage in feed supplies that will mostly impact 2010 and 2011 inventories, realised imports through the first six months of 2010, as well as revised expectations of live hog trade. Although kills increased in 2010, slaughter weights were adversely impacted as hogs were marketed earlier than expected and incurred reduced weight gain from the historically hot summer.

Swine Inventory
Total swine inventory increased 1.8 per cent to 16.6 million, while agricultural enterprises increased swine inventory 8.0 per cent. Private households account for 36.6 per cent of swine herd at the end of June 2010 (39.7 in June 2009).

Imports of live swine for slaughter are down sharply in 2010, as the tariff was raised from five per cent to 40 per cent but not <0.50 €/kg. The domestic pork industry continues to push for full closure of the market but slaughter houses will continue to require imported hogs until the domestic industry can fill capacity.

Russia imports pedigree swine to improve domestic breeding stock from the European Union and Canada.

Production
Russian livestock production represented 46 to 52 per cent total agricultural production value during 2000-2008.

Russia produced 4.4 million metric tons (MMT) of meat and poultry meat (live weight) in the first half of 2010, 8.3 per cent more than the first half of 2009. Agricultural enterprises increased meat and poultry production 14.7 per cent (live weight) in the first half of 2010 compared to 2009 (in 2009 – 10.1 per cent over 2008).

The Ministry of Agriculture plans that Russia will produce 82 per cent of total meat and poultry supply to the Russian market in 2012. According to Ministry figures, Russia currently supplies 69 per cent of its beef, 75 per cent of its pork and 75 per cent of its poultry.

Feed Supply
Russia will experience problems with feed supplies for the remaining part of 2010 and in 2011 due to the 2010 drought in the Central, Volga and Ural districts of Russia. In total, 27 regions were declared emergency drought situations in 2010. The grain harvest in 2010 will be lowest since 2003 when 67MMT of grain was harvested. The drought adversely impacts not only the 2010 feed supply but also the seeding of winter crops for next year's feed supply, as well as presents a new threat to Russia's developing pork and beef industries.

The government of Russia (GOR) has taken several measures to soften the drought's impact. The GOR postponed state grain purchases, instituted a grain export ban and decided instead to release 3MMT of grain from the state reserves for drought-stricken regions. Grain is being distributed on the basis of a quota system to enterprises in the processing and milling industry. The shares for each region are based on meat and milk production volume. The regions themselves will be responsible for distributing the grain internally. Furthermore, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the GOR will provide 35 billion rubles (RUB; US$1.2 billion) in financial aid to drought-stricken farmers, including RUB10 ($300 million) billion in direct payments and RUB25 billion ($830 million) for three-year discounted federal loans. The money is being disbursed in two stages, the first in August and the second in October-November.

Pork Production
Higher feed prices and therefore higher slaughter rates in the second half of 2010 will increase pork production 8.8 per cent in 2010 but only 4.9 per cent in 2011. The larger slaughter numbers will slow the pace of herd expansion from 3.4 per cent in January 2010 to 2.4 per cent in January 2011.

Pork producers
The major producers of pork are large agricultural enterprises. They increased pork production 14 per cent in 2008 and 21 per cent in 2009. Agricultural enterprises produced 24.4 per cent more pork in the first half of 2010 compared to the first half of 2009. Club-100 swine enterprises increased from 18.9 per cent to 59 per cent at the same time.

According to Rosstat, the 11 largest pork producers (>100,000 head) produced 23.9 per cent of Russia's pork in 2006-2008. These enterprises featured the lowest production costs while average daily weight gain was highest at enterprises between 50,000 to 60,000 head. According to the Intesco Research Group study, Pork Market: the Results of 2009 and Forecast for 2010 – 2011, the three largest Russian pork producers are Prodo, Agro-Belogorie and Miratorg. They account for 15 per cent of the Russian pork production (live weight). Cherkizovo, Siberian Agrarian Meat Processing Group, SV-Volga and Agrifarm Ariant represent the second tier at 10 per cent of the market. Krasnodar region produces 9.3 per cent of the Russian meat, Belgorod region – 8.5 per cent, Rostov region – 6.5 per cent, Omsk region – 4.3 per cent, the Republic of Tatarstan – 3.8 per cent.

The Ministry of Agriculture subsidised the modernisation of 422 pig farms during the last three years. These farms produced 200,000MT (live weight) in 2009 and will add 160,000MT after they are fully operational. The average feed conversion rate was 3.6 on renovated farms and 3.0 on newly built pig farms in 2009.

In particular, the Belgorod region continues to invest in pork production. The agro-industrial holding Miratorg, one of the largest meat producers and suppliers of the Russian market, is investing RUB13.5 billion ($450 million) into the construction of nine hog complexes. The first of the facilities will be started in 2011. Each complex will have an annual capacity of 112,000 hogs. The herd will be slaughtered at an establishment that processes three million animals annually, producing 165,000MT of meat.

The Russian Union of Pork Producers reports producers are experiencing problems with marketing. The Union underlines the reason is that only five per cent of pigs are subject to initial processing at the enterprise, while the rest are traded live. The Union expects this number to grow to 50 per cent by 2012. At this time, the Union believes 90 per cent of pork will be produced by large agricultural enterprises.

Policy
Supply Control (Import Substitution)
Government support for domestic meat production in Russia has and continues to be primarily provided through methods of supply control. In addition to the introduction of the TRQ regime in 2003, trade outside the quota is subject to largely prohibitively high tariffs. Furthermore, trade within the quota is hindered by highly prescriptive, non-science-based Russian technical and veterinary-sanitary requirements that can at times result in country-specific allocations not being accessible.

Agricultural Development Programs
Federal development programs have served as an additional tool of planned support for Russian poultry production. On 21 December 2005, ‘Development of the Agro-industrial Complex’ was issued as one of four priorities for national development, with a focus on revitalizing Russian livestock and poultry production. To further stimulate domestic agricultural production, the federal law ‘On Development of Agriculture’ was approved in 2006 and came into force on 11 January 2007. Later, the GOR approved the ‘Program for Development of Agriculture, Regulation of Agricultural Commodity Markets, and Rural Development for the period 2008-2012’ which called for RUB1.1 trillion ($37 billion) to be spent over five years, with funding being split between federal and provincial budgets.
In line with these programmes, subsidising interest rates for investment projects has been Russia's primary tool of direct support to the producer. However, these benefits are not universal to all producers, as they service only the largest investors and must be in line with the Ministry of Agriculture's vision of the development programme.
In an effort to maintain a positive rate of development in 2009 in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, the Ministry of Agriculture allocated RUB165.1 billion ($5.5 billion) for the implementation of the State Agricultural Development programme 2009-2012. The Ministry spent RUB45.0 billion ($1.5 billion) from this sum to increase the authorised capital of JSC Russian Agricultural Bank and RUB17.0 billion ($570 million) to subsidize interest payments. Additionally, Russia extended short-term loans for six months, investment loans for three years, and maximum-term eight-year investment loans to 11 years. The subsidy level for investment loans also increased from two-thirds of the central bank rate to 100 per cent for dairy and beef cattle (and to 80 per cent for poultry). The Ministry of Agriculture also noted the single agricultural tax as well as fixed prices for fuel and fertiliser amounted to RUB30 billion ($1 billion) in indirect subsidies to the producer in 2009. These programs continued in 2010, and they will continue for the foreseeable future.
The Ministry of Agriculture reported that 2010 investments will not meet the State programme due to lower-than-expected profits in the industry.

Government Purchases
President Medvedev has tasked Minister Elena Skrynnik to investigate the state purchases of beef in Rosrezerv, as well as to clarify the feasibility of increasing the production of canned white chicken meat. As noted by the President of Cherkizovo, there is a need consider changes of the state reserve purchases since domestic beef supplies are shrinking while poultry is ‘oversupplied’.

Development of the Feed Industry
Also in the planning is a draft development project to improve this component of the supply chain through the construction and modernization of feed mills, with the aim of increasing the production of plant-origin protein feeds. Most recently, the GOR has taken action to support producers impacted by the short feed supplies.

Trade
Russia maintains a TRQ regime for raw pork (HS-0203) and beef (HS-0201, 0202) products with country specific allocation to the United States, European Union, and “other countries”. The pork and beef quotas for 2011 remain unchanged from 2010.

Pork
Russia imported 315,537 MT of pork during January – June 2010, 15 per cent above 2009. The major exporters of pork to Russia are the European Union, Brazil, United States, and Canada. The European Union is the dominant supplier of fresh/chilled and processed pork. The US share of the frozen pork market has fallen steeply for three main reasons: competitive prices in other markets, the virtual ban on US pork through the first five months of 2010, and a reduced quota (from 100,000 MT in 2009 to 57,000 MT in 2010). Russia's recent closure of several US pork facilities on the grounds of tetracycline-group antibiotics will continue to threaten the US's ability to fulfill its quota allocation for the remainder of the year.

There are mixed opinions on decreasing the pork TRQ quantity further before the end of 2012, but focus will remain on preventing growth of out-of-quota pork and live hog imports as well as using sanitary and technical barriers to further regulate in-quota and quota-exempt pork products.

Customs Union
Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as other CIS countries, have duty-free, quota-free access to Russia for domestically produced meat.

Customs Union members recognise equivalency of each other's veterinary service. Kazakhstan?s Ministry of Agriculture has expressed its intent to utilise this advantage to export 4,000MT of meat (specifically, beef) to Russia in 2010, compared to 400MT in 2009.

Belarus increased meat and poultry exports to Russia by one-third to 72,000MT during January-June 2010. The Government of St Petersburg earlier reached an agreement with Belarus to import 41,100MT of beef, 11,100MT of pork and 8,200MT of poultry meat in 2010.

Consumption
Development of livestock primary processing for 2010-2012
The Ministry of Agriculture has developed a programme for livestock primary processing to support the modernisation of the Russian meat processing industry. The programme envisages the allocation of state subsidies for meat processors from the federal budget. Subsidies will be spent to compensate interest rates from loans taken for construction and modernisation of processing facilities and cold storages as well as for purchasing meat for primary and industrial processing. Planned implementation of the program will allow Russia to increase the collection and processing of the animal to 90 per cent of its live weight.

The Ministry believes that fulfillment of the programme will also increase per-capita consumption of meat and meat products to from 65.9kg in 2008 to 66.1kg in 2012.

Mexico - Livestock and Products Annual 2010
While Mexican cattle inventories for 2011 are expected to decline in 2011, swine production is expected to increase slightly, write Zaida San Juan and Daniel R. Williams II in the latest GAIN report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Servces.

Report Highlights
Mexican red meat consumption is forecast to increase in 2011 as the economy and consumer purchasing power recover. A lower cattle export level will result in higher domestic meat supplies and stable domestic beef prices. US beef exports to Mexico will continue increasing, principally toward the end of 2010, supported by the elimination of duties on imported US beef. Removal of feet from carcasses and retaliatory duties on bone-in hams are two new challenges for US exporters; however, the United States will continue to be the principal source of imports.

Executive Summary
In 2011, total swine production is expected to increase slightly. The increase will occur due to higher hog prices and stronger pork demand. Ending inventories are expected to increase for both 2011 and 2010. Mexico’s imports of hogs are forecast to increase in 2011, reaching 12,000 head. Pork production for 2011 is forecast to recover (2.0 per cent) after no increase for 2010. Growth in pork consumption is forecast to increase 1.3 per cent in 2011 after a slight decrease (-0.2 per cent) in 2010 due to lower than expected demand recovery. Mexico’s pork exports are forecast to grow 6.3 per cent in 2011 compared to 2010.

Swine production for 2011 is forecast to increase one per cent, higher than 2010. Higher swine prices, stronger consumer purchasing power and a recovery of consumer confidence after the H1N1 influenza outbreak will stimulate production.

Furthermore, the Mexican swine sector could benefit from the efforts of the government of Mexico (GOM) to obtain market access in China. If obtained, the Mexican swine sector will need to increase production, continue with integration and reduce production costs and losses. Although only the most efficient firms will export, medium-sized farmers are aware that there could be more domestic opportunities to sell pork, but they also must improve their competitiveness.

Due to the past economic crisis and H1N1 outbreak, both of which negatively affected the pork sector, sow beginning inventories are currently limited and data previously reported for 2010 were revised down slightly; thus, the slaughter level for 2011 will be comparable to 2010.

Total beginning inventories are forecast to increase 4.4 per cent for 2011, mainly due to a lower-than-expected slaughter level for 2010. However, slaughter is forecast to increase one per cent in 2011 as a result of pork demand and consumption recovery after the H1N1 outbreak.

Pork production for 2011 is expected to increase two per cent over 2010. Furthermore, industry sources believe this 2011 production will be slightly higher than 2009’s. For 2010, a year in which a decrease of approximately one per cent (1.161 million metric tons; MMT) is now expected according to official data, the decrease is minimal thanks to a successful GOM and industry promotional campaign and lower pork prices.

Consumption
Pork consumption is forecast to increase more than one per cent in 2011. However, the increase is tied to price and will depend on retailers’ pricing strategies. Some retailers are selling pork at higher prices, claiming they are merely passing on higher domestic prices as well as the cost of retaliatory duties on imported US pork.

Even though the economy and gross family income have recovered somewhat, pork consumption will increase at a rate lower than that of beef, mostly due to higher prices and a substitution effect by consumers who see poultry as a cheaper and ‘healthier’ protein. In addition, growth in pork per-capita consumption is constrained due to consumers’ perception of pork as an unhealthy meat product.

Mexico’s meat processors will continue to use imported US pork variety meats as well as bone-in cuts because domestic production is not sufficient to meet their demands. Despite the retaliatory duties imposed on US bone-in pork, an analysis conducted by some meat processors has shown that the duties will only slightly affect the cost of production, and they do not expect a large amount of substitution for US boneless pork cuts.

Trade
In 2011, Mexico is forecast to increase imports of hogs by 20 per cent; however it will only reach 15 per cent of the 2008 level. For 2010, an increase is expected of 43 per cent, supported by the imports of purebred breeding animals for repopulating the Mexican herd. Hog exports will remain at zero.

Pork exports are expected to increase 6.5 per cent in 2011 but if Mexico signs a veterinary health protocol with China, the percentage could be considerably higher.

In 2010, pork exports are expected to recover 14.3 per cent following lifting of numerous foreign bans due to H1N1 outbreak; exports will be supported by value-added pork exports to Japan. However, the level will remain lower than in 2008.

Despite the retaliatory duties imposed on US bone-in pork cuts, imports are expected to continue but it is possible that more bone-in pork could be sourced from Canada.

In addition, according to NOM-030, pork carcasses with feet will no longer be permitted to enter Mexico. This is a new interpretation of NOM-030.

Policy
Beef import duties eliminated
As of August 11, 2010, Mexico canceled the compensatory duties imposed on US beef cuts as a result of an anti-dumping investigation in 2000. Even though the Mexican Government announced that these duties would terminate on April 29, 2010, the duties were not effectively canceled until 11 August 2010, according to the official notice published in the Diario Oficial (DOF) (Federal Register). Thus, duties paid between 29 April and 11 August 2010 will not be refunded.

Retaliatory duties on US pork exports
On 18 August 2010, the Secretariat of Economy published in the DOF a list of additional products facing retaliatory duties, which included swine products. This is due to the United States’ failure to comply with the trucking clause of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The following swine products were added to the product list:
Section Description Import Tariff
0203.12.01 Hams (hocks), shoulders and cuts thereof, with bone. Chilled 5%
0203.22.01 Hams (hocks), shoulders and cuts thereof, with bone. Frozen 5%
1602.49.01 Cooked pork rind in pieces (pellets). 20%


According to industry sources, these duties will increase production costs for value-added products. Imports of US bone-in hams will continue because bone-in ham prices will not be as high as imported boneless pork legs. In addition, the duties could also slightly affect the Mexican rendering industry, because the Mexican rendering industry sources products from TIF establishments which debone imported bone-in hams.

Brazil Free Trade Agreement
The Mexican and Brazilian presidents have stated their intention to sign a free trade agreement. However, the Mexican livestock sector opposes a free trade agreement (FTA) between Mexico and Brazil that would include livestock products. The Mexican livestock sector’s leaders believe they will be unable to compete against Brazil due to dependence on imported feed grains and shortages of commercial credit in Mexico.

NOM-051
The Secretariat of Economy published on 5 April 2010, a new version of Mexican regulation NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010, ‘General labeling and sanitary specifications for pre-packaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages’. (Spanish: Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-051-SCFI-1994 Especificaciones generales de etiquetado para alimentos y bebidas no alcohólicas preenvasados) or NOM-051.
The new NOM-051 includes new requirements for labelling pre-packaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages. All pre-packaged food products and non-alcoholic beverages for sell directly to consumers are required to comply with NOM-051 (including imported pork and beef meat). Thus, it is important that all US companies exporting to Mexico be aware of these changes and make appropriate modifications to the labels of its products. The new regulation is effective on 1 January 2011.
The most important changes to NOM-051 can be found in GAIN Report MX0505 Mexico Revises Food Labeling Regulations.

Trusted Importer Program and inspection of combos
The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishery and Food (SAGARPA) continues developing a plan of modernizing import inspection procedures. As part of this plan, the trusted importer program (UCON) has been implemented. Via this program, import inspection will occur at the TIF establishment where the imported meat is to be processed. According to the National Service of Health, Food Safety, and Food Quality (SENASICA), the UCON program may reduce import inspections at the border by 48 per cent, since that is the volume of meat imported by TIF facilities (additional information about UCON can be found in GAIN Report MX0506 Mexico Announces Reliable Importer Program for Meat and Poultry).
The next step of the plan involves procedures for import inspections for meat shipped in combo bins. A combo bin is a bulk-palletised, octagonal cardboard container used to pack meat and meat products for shipping at a low cost. SENASICA officially advised the border inspection points that the combo import inspection procedures was postponed indefinitely pending publication in the DOF (Federal Register). This publication will contain a new sampling procedure for import inspections, which SENASICA is currently drafting, and may implement in 2011.
It is possible that these new procedures may be similar to the Canadian or US import inspections for combo bins. SENASICA has stated that the plan is part of an effort to harmonize import procedures with those of its NAFTA partners, and it will not seek to reduce the volume of meat trade in combo bins.

GOM reviewing regulations
As part of a transparent national plan, SENASICA is examining every interpretation of its regulations. For example, SENASICA has changed its interpretation of NOM-030-ZOO-1995 with respect to imported hog carcasses with feet. As of September 2010, SENASICA has informed trading partners that hog carcasses will only gain entry into Mexico when the feet have been removed.

Livestock Forward Contract Purchases
The Mexican Government (GOM) is promoting forward contracting between cow-calf operators and feeders, and is developing draft guidelines to be used with all forward contracts. This program will be coordinated by SAGARPA's paying agency, Support and Services for Agricultural Trading (ASERCA), and the National Confederation of Cattlemen Organizations (CNOG). The purpose of this program is to assist cow-calf operators and feeders with a tool to establish a forward price for calves.

Guidelines for the sale and distribution of food and drink at primary schools
On June 10, 2010, the Health Secretariat (SALUD) and Educational Secretariat (SEP) sent to the Federal Council for Regulatory Reform (COFEMER) draft proposed guidelines for the sale and distribution of food and drink at primary schools. The objective of the guidelines is to regulate the preparation, distribution and sale of healthy foods and drinks in primary schools and is aimed at reducing obesity and chronic diseases.
These guidelines sparked controversy within the food industry, including among meat and dairy processors. As of 22 July 2010, COFEMER had received 860 comments on the draft from industry sectors, government entities and the public. Some comments are against and others are supportive of the proposed guidelines. COFEMER published on 22 July 2010, its preliminary resolution and suggested SALUD and SEP consider comments submitted to COFEMER regarding these proposed guidelines.
The Mexican Meat Council (COMECARNE) and the Coordinator of the Industrial Council (CCE) are negotiating changes with representatives of the Presidency and the Secretariat of Economy (SE). COMECARNE believes working with these government offices will result in more success than directly negotiating changes with SALUD and SEP. The proposed guidelines, if implemented as proposed, could exert a profound economic impact on the meat sector.
COMECARNE’s members import US meat raw materials to produce sausages, hams and other ready-to-eat products, which are sold in schools or used to prepare sandwiches and other products eaten by children at schools. The meat industry has sought changes to the proposed guidelines to ensure meat products are not demonised, thereby resulting in a loss of consumer confidence in processed meat products. The lack of specifics in the guidelines has created uncertainty for the meat industry. For this reason, COMECARNE has created a working group of technical experts to develop a counter-proposal to be presented to SALUD and SEP.
The guidelines were to be implemented at the beginning of the current school year. However, implementation has been postponed until January 2011.

Movement of Animal certificates
As of 25 June 2010, SENASICA began issuing electronic certificates for the movement of animals within Mexico. The electronic certificate replaces the printed certificate which certifies an animal may move between areas within Mexico which have different disease status under Mexican regulations.

Marketing
Red meat, including pork and beef, continues to be purchased by consumers in traditional butcher shops. However, since more and more women are entering the workforce, consumers were increasing purchases of value-added products before the economic crisis, especially cuts and prepared dishes at supermarkets. For 2010, as the economy grows again, it is expected consumers will increase demand for value-added products.

The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a non-profit, industry-sponsored trade organization dedicated to increasing exports of US red meat and meat products in all foreign markets, is active in Mexico. USMEF’s Mexico office has promoted the increase of meat consumption in various large retailers and food service exhibitions.

Soy prices continue upward trend
[8 October 2010] Soybean prices continue rising as demand for supply from the US grows. The US Department of Agriculture said that US exporters sold 225,000 tonnes to China, the world’s largest consumer. Global demand for soybean and soybean products continue to grow and China’s dependence on US supplies is driving the market up.

Cambodia destroys pigs imported from Vietnam
[8 October 2010] Officials of Kandal province in Cambodia incinerated carcasses of 49 pigs that were imported live from Vietnam as they were found to carry the blue ear disease. Has Piseth, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health and Production, said the pigs were confiscated by Muk Kampoul district police from a trader who had imported the pigs from Vietnam .  Several of the pigs died shortly after that. He said four of the 49 pigs were tested and found that they carried the disease, prompting the department to order officials and the police to burn them  to prevent the disease from infecting other pigs.

Pork Product Exports Up Despite Output Decline
CANADA - Exports of Canada's pork products have managed to hold steady and even climb despite live hog output in the country continuing to decline.



The ability to maintain exports of Canada's pork products also comes as domestic production of those products begins to decline, reports AgCanada.com.

"Considering that Canada's live hog production is about 25 per cent smaller than it was five years ago, the level of pork product exports have been holding steady and in some cases have been a bit higher," said Martin Rice, executive director of the Canadian Pork Council in Ottawa.

Canada's live hog exports have declined significantly, but Canada's pork processing sector has been producing at a steady pace, he said.

"We are going to start seeing lower processed pork numbers in Canada, but that is not likely to impact our export of those products," Mr Rice said, explaining that sales of pork products into the domestic market will drop in order to maintain the export sector.

Production of Canada's pork products were seen declining in the range of two to three per cent on a yearly basis, he said.

"However, because the processors are selling less of their production into Canada they are hoping to maintain export customers, if not gain a few extra," he said. "This is a trend which we have seen over the past several years."

Japan is expected to remain Canada's highest-value market for pork products despite the US being Canada's highest tonnage outlet, Mr Rice said.

In calendar year 2009, Canada shipped 226,866 tonnes of pork products to Japan worth C$865 million while in 2009, Canada shipped 329,000 tonnes of pork products to the US worth C$834 million.

Japan was expected to remain an important customer of Canada during 2010, Mr Rice said.

"Canada has been doing very well to keep Japan as a key customer of its pork products, while some countries have been seeing their pork sales to Japan going down," Mr Rice said, noting the US is one of those countries.

On a year-to-year basis, Canada's sales of pork to Japan were expected to increase in 2010.

"Through to the end of July in 2010, Canada had shipped 63.6 per cent of what it shipped during 2009 at the same time," he said. Canada had exported 144,296 tonnes of pork products to Japan at the end of July 2010.

Shipments of Canadian pork products to the US at the end of July 2010 totalled 186,911 tonnes.

The Russian federation has also been an important destination for Canada's pork products, Mr Rice said, and it appears shipments in 2010 will easily surpass the 2009 level.

At the end of July 2010, Canada had exported 53,179 tonnes of pork products to the Russian Federation, which almost matches the 58,872 tons shipped in all of 2009.

The Russian Federation is a highly variable market, However, Mr Rice expected Canadian shipments to that part of the world in 2010 to be double the 2009 level.

Mr Rice said there were also a number of other countries in which it appears Canada's pork product sales will surpass the previous year's level.

Those countries include, Mexico, the Philippines and Singapore, where Canadian pork product sales were already 50 per cent ahead of the year-ago level, Mr Rice said.

There were a few locations, he said, in which Canada's pork product sales were running behind from the year-ago pace, including Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and New Zealand.

"Sales of Canadian pork products to those areas were running about 10 per cent or a bit more behind the previous year's pace," Mr Rice said.

Canadian pork product sales during calendar year 2009 to all global destinations totalled 1.075 million tonnes, compared with 1.094 million in 2008. At the end of July in 2010, Canadian pork product sales to all destinations were 633,525 tonnes.


 

Hog Farming’s Positive Impact on Iowa Underscored
IOWA, US - A 10-year study recently completed by Iowa State University confirms what many farmers already know to be true: that farm families raising hogs in modern barns have a positive social and economic benefit on their neighborhoods and communities.



Dr Steve Sapp, ISU professor of sociology, and recent ISU graduate student Daniel Sundblad examined 99 Iowa communities — one in each county — and used both subjective and objective indicators to determine quality of life. Towns were selected if their population was below 10,000 residents, was not adjacent to a large city and relied mainly on agriculture for jobs and income.

Funded by USDA’s National Research Initiative, the study’s goal was to seek a better understanding of key factors regarding the effects of large-scale agriculture on the quality of life in the small, rural Iowa communities.

Measurements included total household income, income inequality, poverty, infant mortality and crime rates. Respondents also were surveyed about their attitudes toward community members and government and neighborhood services. The study also gauged people’s involvement in their community and the extent of “good neighboring.”

Dr Sapp says the study’s findings suggest a modest favorable effect of large-scale agriculture on quality of life in the 99 Iowa communities.

The research team went a step further by also analyzing the direct impact of hog production on local communities.

Titled Pork Production and the Quality of Neighboring in Rural Iowa: A Report to the Iowa Pork Producers Association, the study included such variables as trustworthiness, fairness, caring, citizenship, environmental trends, stewardship and expertise involving co-existing relationships between small-town residents and large-scale pork producers.

Dr Sapp says they found that the greater the scale of hog production in the county, the higher quality of life ratings from the community. For example, residents tended to rate their government services and community services higher with increases in the scale of agriculture in their county.

“Farmers have known for a long time that modern livestock production contributes not only economic advantages to the surrounding area, but also social benefits,” said Iowa Pork Producers Association President John Weber, a producer from Dysart. “This study demonstrated that communities can become more vibrant with the presence of livestock in the area.”

After living in Iowa for nearly 25 years, Dr Sapp says the study’s results reaffirmed what he anticipated would be a close connection between agriculture and quality of life in small, rural communities.

“I was expecting that there would be an overall favorable effect, and that is what we found,” Dr Sapp says.

He hopes to obtain funding to repeat the study in 2014 and continue to learn more about trends in the relationship between agriculture and rural communities’ quality of life.

NZ and Australia to emerge as food powerhouses
[5 October 2010] New Zealand and Australia will emerge as global agricultural powerhouses in the long-term with Asia fueling the industry. Sunny Verghese, group managing director and CEO of Olam International, said that New Zealand and Australia would play an important role in supplying food to Asian markets.  “I don’t believe India and China, given their arable land and water constraints, will be able to produce all the food they need and could become significant importers of food,” he said this at the Rabobank Advisory Board meeting in Sydney. “The challenge for Australasian producers will be managing the supply side of the growth in Asia and strengthening their competitive position and building a comparative advantage.”

The agri show will open soon in the Manila area.The interesting thing this time is goat judges from Canada and Australia to judge the purebreeds and award prizes to the winners.This will help the breeders to better understand how and what makes the breed standard and the first place winners can realize better than average prices for their offspring.Farms like myself that specialize in crossbreeding and hybreds can also enter but under Experimentials and in truth, no one  really remembers who you are once the show is ended because the value in shows is always geared towards the purebreeds as the offspring from the winners command top dollar while crossbreeds/hybreds fetch much lower values.

China has a employable population of just under 800 million people.In the next 10 years alot of these people will leave the country side and search for jobs in the cities.This translates into fewer people working the land and producing food for the masses.China will face difficult dicisions,build mega farms which produce quanity over quality and more direct imports.China has the fastest growing middle class,more personal wealth means customers will look for better quality products.The Philippines as an agriculture society is poised for a piece of this action,exports of agriculture products like goats.High quality meat products for those who are willing to pay more for higher quality meat products.With the numbers of boer bucks in country now,the Philippines might be able to carve a market for Philippine exports with eyes on the Chinese markets.Sheep farming worldwide has been in decline for some years now.My counterparts in Australia and New Zealand are telling me China is the future market for lamb and they are going after this market with real zest.The Philippines will require Govt. help to send a trade mission to countries like China to see what products, meats and vegetables the country can produce for export markets.The Philippines has every chance to find and specialize in markets for Philippine products for export.Goats is one of those specialized markets.