Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Drought Pushes Feed Prices up 12 Per Cent
SPAIN - Feed prices have seen a dramatic rise in prices since January, up 12 per cent to 0.33 euro per kilo.


The Agri-Food Cooperatives has said that due to a lack of grass caused by the drought feed prices have rocketed, reports Besana.

Increasing production costs and a lack of profitability are making livestock production unsustainble, the Cooperative said.

For the dairy industry feed costs account for 70 per cent of total costs, and have increased 50 per cent since 2010.

The opposite is happening to milk prices though, with the price paid to producers and sold to consumers dropping.

"This demonstrates a serious imbalance of the value chain," said the Cooperative. It is supporting a true rebalancing of the sector, with increased power for producers in the market.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Factors Determining 2012 Pork Industry Profitability
US - A US-based agricultural economist expects feed costs and meat demand to be key factors affecting the profitability of North American pork producers during the remainder of 2012, writes Bruce Cochrane.





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

FarmScape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council
and Sask Pork. 

The USDA's March Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report shows the number of hogs and pigs on US farms rose by two per cent from one year earlier.

Dr Ron Plain, an Agricultural Economics Professor with the University of Missouri, says US producers made about five dollars per hog last year and it looks like they'll do about the same this year.

Dr Ron Plain-University of Missouri
Feed costs, as I'm sure you know, is about two thirds of the cost of raising hogs and we've had record high corn prices here in the states lately and it looks like they're going to stay pretty expensive.

That's one huge factor.

USDA's Prospective Planting Report is looking for 95 million acres of corn to be planted this year in the states.

That'll be the most since back in the 1930s so, if that comes through, then we might see a bit of a decline in feed costs and that of course would be positive for hog industry growth.

The other thing of course is meat demand and just how readily we can move the supply of pork we're going to have this year.

It looks like maybe two per cent or so more pork will be produced in the United States this year than last year.

We set a record on pork exports in 2011 and hopefully we can continue to improve here in 2012.

The big uncertainty is domestic demand.

Historically high energy prices have not been good for meat demand and we're looking at what may be record gasoline prices in the United States this year.

If the meat demand softens we could be in a situation where the expected profits could turn into red ink.

Dr Plain notes the Canadian dollar has been at par or even stronger than the US dollar lately so which way the exchange rate goes will be a big factor for Canadian hog farms.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Pig Farmers Expect Mass Bankruptcy by October
TAIWAN - Despite assurances of support from the government, the country's pig farmers, worrying that pork prices might remain low until mid-2013, on Sunday expressed their belief that about half of them may go bankrupt within seven months.


It takes the prices of pigs at least 14 months to rebound back to the normal level, Chang Wen-shan, chairman of the Pingtung County Pig Farmers Association board of directors said yesterday, adding about 50 to 60 per cent of the country's pig farmers may go bankrupt.

Pingtung, with its 1.5 million pigs, is the country's number-one pig farming county, according to AsiaOne.

"The rest will likely suffer heavy financial losses," he said.

The price-stabilizing measures announced by the Council of Agriculture may work in the future, but are incapable of raising prices now, he continued, adding "even if the price of pigs can be raised from over NT$5,000 (S$213) per 100 kilogram to more than NT$6,000, pig farmers will still lose money."

During an interpellation session at the Legislature a few days ago, COA Minister Chen Bao-ji vowed to revert pig prices to the basic level at NT$6,500 per kilogram.

Mr Wen-Shan also immediately committed 9,000 slaughtered hogs to cold storage and ordered an end to above-quota raising by large pig farms.

According to Mr Wen-Shan, price stabilization must begin from scratch, and the total number of pigs must be kept under control.

SA_LS320
San Angelo, TX    Wed Mar 28, 2012   USDA Market News

Producers Livestock Auction Co, San Angelo, Texas

Sheep and Goat Auction:
Weekly:

Total Receipts:  4169    Last Week:  4215    Year Ago:  5334
Sheep Receipts:  2097    Last Week:  1509    Year Ago:  3099
Goat  Receipts:  2072    Last Week:  2706    Year Ago:  2235

  Compared to last week heavy slaughter lambs steady; light slaughter
lambs weak.  Slaughter ewes steady.  Feeder lambs not well tested.
Nannies and kids weak.  Trading fairly active, demand good.  Supply
included 40 percent slaughter lambs, 5 percent slaughter ewes, 5
percent feeder lambs, balance goats.  All slaughter lambs went to non-
traditional markets.  All sheep and goats sold per hundred weight (CWT)
unless otherwise specified.

SLAUGHTER LAMBS:
   Choice 2-3 shorn and wooled 100-170 lbs 130.00-150.00.

   Choice and Prime 1 40-60 lbs 210.00-224.00, few 230.00-234.00; 60-70
lbs 192.00-210.00, few 218.00-220.00; 70-80 lbs 190.00-206.00, few
216.00; 80-90 lbs 170.00-180.00; 90-105 lbs 160.00-165.00.
Choice 1 40-60 lbs 180.00-206.00; 60-70 lbs 170.00-190.00; 70-80 lbs
160.00-180.00; 80-90 lbs 157.00-168.00; 90-105 lbs 150.00-160.00.
Good 1 50-85 lbs 132.00-150.00.

SLAUGHTER EWES:
   Good 3-4 (very fleshy) 63.00-68.00; Good 2-3 (fleshy) 78.00-88.00;
Utility and Good 1-3 (medium flesh) 90.00-98.00, few high yielding
107.00; Utility 1-2 (thin) 80.00-88.00; Cull and Utility 1-2 (very thin)
72.00-75.00; Cull 1 (extremely thin) 52.00-68.00.

SLAUGHTER BUCKS:
   68.00-90.00.

FEEDER LAMBS:
   Medium and Large 1-2 50-55 lbs 211.00-230.00; 90-100 lbs 176.00-
180.00.
   Medium and Large 2 50-70 lbs 190.00-210.00; 70-90 lbs 170.00-180.00;
115 lbs 164.00.

REPLACEMENT EWES:
   Medium and Large 1-2 no test.


GOATS:  Estimated 50 percent of receipts:
All sold per hundred weight (CWT) unless otherwise specified.

SLAUGHTER CLASSES:
   KIDS:  Selection 1 30-40 lbs 226.00-232.00; 40-60 lbs 222.00-252.00;
60-80 lbs 212.00-236.00, few 246.00; 80-90 lbs 180.00.
Selection 1-2 25-40 lbs 200.00-224.00; 40-60 lbs 186.00-220.00; 60-80 lbs
186.00-210.00; 80-90 lbs 158.00-170.00.
Selection 2 40-80 lbs 148.00-180.00; 80-100 lbs 130.00-140.00.
   DOES/NANNIES:  Selection 1-2 80-130 lbs 104.00-114.00, few 118.00-
120.00; 130-170 lbs 92.00-104.00; thin 70-115 lbs 90.00-106.00.
   BUCKS/BILLIES:  Selection 1-2 70-100 lbs 126.00-148.00; 100-150 lbs
110.00-128.00, yearlings 130.00-140.00; 150-250 lbs 106.00-118.00.

REPLACEMENT CLASSES:
   DOES/NANNIES: Selection 1 60-105 lbs 140.00-154.00.
Selection 1-2 60-110 lbs 120.00-140.00; 135-140 lbs 110.00-124.00.


Source:  USDA Market News Service, San Angelo, Texas

Monday, April 02, 2012
Australia to Cash in on Growing European Beef Quota
AUSTRALIA - With a grainfed beef quota set to more than double from this August, producers can take advantage of new opportunities in the relatively small but high value European market, writes Meat and Livestock Australia.

The European Union (EU) is Australia’s highest value beef export market per tonne – at A$9,302/tonne it easily outperforms Hong Kong, the next highest value large market, at $A5,856/tonne.

Beef exports to the EU reached 12,838 tonnes swt in 2011, an increase of 30 per cent year-on-year, despite exports being restricted under a variety of quotas that limit access to a market of 500 million consumers.

Most Australian beef is shipped to the EU under both the high quality beef ‘Hilton’ quota (with 7,150 tonnes of Australian access) and the high quality beef grainfed beef quota (20,000 tonne access shared with eligible nations).

Changes in these quotas – rather than to the continent’s economic conditions and consumption patterns – is the most important factor impacting Australian beef exports to this prime destination.

From August this year, the high quality beef grainfed quota will increase from the present 20,000 tonnes to 48,200 tonnes – providing significant scope to further increase exports in the coming years.

Beef quotas unfilled
Figures from the International Meat Trade Association and European Commission indicate that most EU beef quotas were not filled during 2011.

The ‘Hilton’ quota is administered on a financial year basis and has a total allocation of 65,250 tonnes swt, with 23,333 tonnes swt unallocated in 2010-11.

Argentina is the largest quota holder with 28,000 tonnes swt – filling 93 per cent of its allocation in 2010-11. Brazil (allocation of 10,000 tonnes) and the US and Canada (11,500 tonnes) fell well short of using their full quota allocations, using only five per cent respectively.

Last year, Australia filled 90 per cent of its allocation, down from the 99% of the allocation filled in the previous three years.

The high quality beef grainfed quota was opened in 2009, with Australia gaining access in January 2010. Access is shared between the US, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and Canada and administered on a financial year basis.

In 2010-11, 90 per cent of the 20,000 tonnes was utilised, with Australia shipping 4,038 tonnes swt of grainfed product. This grainfed quota is to increase to 48,200 tonnes swt in August 2012.

Other beef quotas that Australia has access to were also significantly under supplied in 2011. Only 22 per cent of the 63,703-tonne manufacturing beef tariff rate quota was filled last year, which the 1,500-tonne frozen thin skirt tariff rate quota was only 53 per cent utilised.

Capacity to increase Australian supply
With quota increases, and European production declining, there is ample scope for Australian producers to fill this gap. Processors and exporters to Europe have expressed concerns over the supply of EU eligible cattle.

To be eligible for export to the EU, beef or meat products and some by-products, must have been obtained from cattle sourced from a European Union Cattle Accreditation Scheme (EUCAS)-accredited supply chain, which includes producers, feedlots and saleyards.

The EU has a number of market specifications including:

Steers and heifers of any breed in a 380-500kg lwt range
Cattle with a 320-420kg cwt and 7-2mm of fat
Guaranteed traceability of all animals through NLIS
No use of hormone growth promotants
Milk or two-tooth, requiring genetics and grazing management to turn-off cattle younger than 30 months.

Monday, April 02, 2012

Education Needed on Lean Finely Textured Beef

US – Lean, finely textured beef “is meat” and a healthy form of protein, according to a Texas A&M University expert.
 
Dr Russell Cross, head of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University.
 
Dr Russell Cross, head of the department of animal science at Texas A&M, said lean, finely textured beef is nutritious, and a production process he approved while serving as administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service in 1993.
 
“The simplest way to describe this is that it is meat, it’s beef,” he said.
 
“The protein content is similar to what is ground in a steak. This product is no different than meat; that’s the reason USDA calls it meat.”
 
Dr Cross said much misinformation has been reported and discussed in various media. That’s why it is important that the facts be told about the production of lean, finely textured beef, which comes from traditional carcase-harvesting-methods, he said.
 
“The carcase is chilled 24 to 36 hours and broken down into parts we call primal cuts, and put into vacuum bags and sent to retail stores. And that is cut into steaks and roasts,” he said.
 
“The trimmings taken from this process — the lean, finely textured beef — is separated from the fat and from the lean trimmings. These products are frozen and put into a 60-pound box and shipped to processing plants that generate ground hamburger meat.”
 
Dr Cross said there is no difference in taste, and that “it is perfectly natural to have trimmings that come from cutting out steaks and roasts from the carcase.”
 
“These trimmings have pieces of lean still attached to them,” he said.

“It is valuable; it’s meat. Lean, finely textured beef is a process of centrifugation. It separates the lean and the fat, resulting in a very nutritious and very safe product.
 
Dr Cross said every time an animal is harvested, 12 to 15 pounds of this product is generated and used in ground beef.
 
“It’s been used for more than 20 years,” Dr Cross said.
 
From a beef industry perspective, this adds value to the carcase, Dr Cross said.
 
“We try to harvest every single aspect of the animal during the process,” he said.

“This 12 to 15 pounds would be that amount of protein not on the market. The fact we are going through this exercise of removing it from the market has caused the price of lean trimmings to go up over 15 per cent. That’s going to cause the price of ground beef to go up, and we all know who is going to pay for that – the consumer.”
 
He said the Southwest just came off the worst drought in its history and the region “lost more than 35 percent of our cows in Texas alone.”
 
“We are going to have a shortage of protein and this is just adding to that shortage,” Dr Cross said.

“This is going to cause the price of a lot of our products to go up.”
 
Dr Cross said he and faculty members, as well as those who serve in dual roles with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Texas AgriLife Research, will continue to educate consumers on the facts of lean, finely textured beef.
 
“We have people who are very knowledgeable about this product both on the quality side and the food safety side,” he said.
 
“We will do what we always do – we will collect the right data and get it out to the public and to the industry so they can use it. We will make it a priority to get the real facts out to the public.”

Monday, April 02, 2012
EU Agricultural Policy Reform Delay
EU - The European Parliament has stated it will delay on deciding its final position on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform until the EU Budget Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) has been decided (scheduled for late December 2012).


The MEPs claim they must know the total amount of ‘budgetary resources’ available in order to decide how policy should be reformed. It had been expected that the Parliament and Council of Ministers would publish their positions in the autumn; even then their two positions will need to be reconciled before policy can be agreed.

This delay might push the subsequent procedures into panic mode, especially if the implementation is to remain as January 2014, says UK farm business consultants, Andersons.

UK Agriculture Minister Jim Paice has started stating publically that implementation might be 2015, something Andersons has been saying for several months. Some commentators have been suggesting that the EU Budget negotiations will not be completed at the Summit in late December this year when it is planned to be signed. This could raise the chance of a second year of postponements before implementation, making a new CAP start date of 1st January 2016 possible.

Commissioner Ciolos has confirmed that the Commission will be publishing a series of ‘nonpapers’ (informal explanatory notes) by the end of June. These are designed to provide more detail on the very broad polices set out in the October 2011 draft legislative proposals. They are primarily for the benefit of the Council of Ministers and European Parliament, to allow more informed discussions of the proposals.

One area where more detail has been called for is on the ‘greening’ proposals, but further detail may also be forthcoming on areas such as ‘capping’ and‘active farmer’. Whilst it may be nice to have a better of idea of what is being proposed, it still does not really help planning very much, says Andersons. Until the final CAP deal is agreed, any policy is subject to change.

Monday, April 02, 2012
Canadian Pork Industry Supports Trade Expansion
CANADA - The Federal Budget released by the Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty on Thursday (29 March) afternoon outlined two commitments that will further strengthen the hog industry.
 

The budget looks at:

intensifying Canada’s pursuit of new and deeper trading relationships, particularly with large, dynamic and fast-growing economies.
implementing the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness and the Action Plan on Regulatory Cooperation, which will facilitate trade and investment flows with the United States.
"The Canadian swine industry is very supportive of expanding trade and cooperation activities that would help to improve the trading climate and competiveness of Canadian pork," stated CPC’s chair Jean-Guy Vincent "We are very supportive of the Canadian governments trade agenda and look forward to the successful completion of the trade agreements with the European Union, Japan and South Korea in the near future."

In cooperation with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), the CPC has been engaged in the Canada-United States Regulation Cooperation Council (RCC) since its formation last year. The RCC highlights the importance of regulatory cooperation in areas such as: the implementation of electronic export certificates for meat and live animals crossing the US/Canada border; the harmonization of the approval process for veterinary drugs, and; the mutual recognition of zoning systems and veterinary equivalency.

Opening markets is of critical importance to the Canadian pork industry. Canadian pork exports in 2011 exceeded 3.2 billion dollars. Live swine exports contributed another 400 million dollars to Canada’s merchandise trade account. Almost two-thirds of Canada’s pork production is exported. With constantly changing conditions of export competition – exchange rates, agricultural policy and technical barriers to name a few – Canada’s pork producers are extremely concerned that Canada not fall behind the United States and other competitors in terms of access acquired through regional trade agreements.

Monday, April 02, 2012
CME: Hog & Pigs Inventory up 1.9 Per Cent
US - In the latest USDA Hogs and Pigs Inventory survey, the total inventory at 64.872 million head was up 1.9% from the previous year, write Steve Meyer and Len Steiner.


Hogs & Pigs Update:
On page 2 we have included a summary of the latest USDA Hogs and Pigs Inventory survey. The report had something for both bulls and bears. The total inventory at 64.872 million head was up 1.9% from the previous year, compared to pre-report estimates looking for a 1.7% increase. The sow herd was 5.820 million head, 0.6% higher than last year Probably one of the more bearish indicators in the report was the pig crop during Dec—February, up 2.9% from a year ago. While pigs per litter were in line with expectations, up 1.7% from year before, sow farrowings during the quarter rose 1.2% compared to trade estimates of a 0.7% increase. The survey indicated that producers do not expect to increase farrowings in the next two quarters, a somewhat dubious proposition given the larger sow herd. High feed costs and eroding product prices may cause producers to put the foot on the brake and projections of farrowings well below estimates for the next two quarters could be construed as bullish for the market. Still, futures may opt to focus on the reality of larger supplies today rather than promises of slower growth in the future.

LFTB Impact:
As we noted in our Friday letter, cattle futures remain on the defensive. One particularly troubling indicator is the weakness in the price of fat beef trimmings. We estimate that 50CL beef trim accounts as much as 10% of total beef on the carcass (using USDA cutting yields and taking the highest volume possible for each primal). In addition, packers generate another 5-10% as extra fat trim and a good portion of this supply went into making LFTB and related products as well as into rendering. We have seen a lot of estimates as to the supply of LFTB coming to market. Steiner estimates overall production at around 400 million pounds a year. Other estimates peg this supply at 500 million pounds a year. The conversion rate of extra fat trim to LFTB is generally 3:1, i.e. it takes three pounds of fat trim to generate one pound of LFTB. If 75% of the production capacity of LFTB is lost due to the controversy, and this is a big if at the moment, it would imply an additional 900 MM pounds of extra fat trimmings available. Some of this product will go into the 50CL supply or traded as extra fatty trim to be blended with leaner product and eventually become ground beef. A large portion will go back into rendering and trade at a discount to what it sold for in the past.

So how does this affect live cattle? Back in January and early February, before the heavy weights became apparent and before the controversy over LFTB, analysts were estimating fat beef trim prices for April and May at around $120/cwt. On Friday, 50CL beef was quoted at 73 cents/lb. This kind of difference translates in about $3.2/cwt. per head live. While we do not have prices for extra fat trim, it is fair to say that prices for this product are down sharply as well. Traders have been discounting cattle futures based in part on the fact that trim values are weak and could stay weak. The removal of LFTB implies that packers now have to sell a good portion of the fat trim generated from the carcass at much lower prices, thus reducing cattle values. What is a further concern for the market is that once Memorial Day is behind us, demand for fat beef trim going into hamburgers declines. With more fat trim around us and weaker demand, we could see further downward pressure in the complex, hence the sharp decline in June futures.

Another factor that is a corollary of the LFTB story is the impact it could have on consumer demand. It is always hard to speculate how consumers will respond to specific issues. We think it is fair to assume that the longer the issue percolates in the press, the more significant the impact on demand. Different from E.coli, which is an issue that is known to consumers and about which they have been educated, the LFTB issues is new and until the consumer knows more about it, their final demand is unknown or unknowable The removal of LFTB from a number of retail and foodservice operations implies the need for another source of supply that will replace it. The extra supply can be found but at significantly higher prices as some lean beef cuts will probably go in the grinder. The consumer will eventually get the supply of ground beef they need, it may cost more even if cattle are valued less.

Monday, April 02, 2012
Brazilian Pork Expanding into New Markets
BRAZIL - While the Brazilian pork industry saw a 4 per cent decline in its exports in 2011, a significant shift in the destination of these exports was evident.
 
For many years Russia, was the main destination for Brazilian pig meat exports, accounting for over 50 per cent of total shipments over recent years. However, a ban on imports from Brazil in the middle of 2011 led to a fall in volumes resulting in that market accounting for less than a quarter of total volumes. As a result, a greater focus was placed on alternative markets, with significant increases in volumes to Hong Kong, Ukraine and Argentina.


New export markets are now opening up for Brazilian pig meat. In late 2011 the US approved the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, one of the largest pig producing states in Brazil. While volumes are not expected to be significant, the profile of US access is certainly a benefit to the industry in terms of perception in other countries that they are seeking to supply to such as Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

The most significant development for the Brazilian industry has been the gaining of access to the Chinese market in late 2011. While volumes are small at the moment with only 52 tonnes supplied in January, China is viewed as a huge potential for the industry. Currently only three plants have been certified by the Chinese authorities but this is expected to increase. Given the volume of Brazilian exports they could become a significant player in the Chinese market in the coming years, increasing the competition for European suppliers.

According to a recent USDA report, the Brazilian pork industry is growing fuelled by a 10 per cent increase in domestic per capita consumption in 2011 and a recovery in exports in 2012.

Monday, April 02, 2012
Pork Imports to Increase on Strong Demand
CHINA - Pork imports have already hit the nadir and there seems to be no letup in demand, considering that domestic supplies are likely to remain constrained for some time.


"The gap between supply and demand is bound to increase within the next few years, despite an expected recovery from diseases and the reduction of small-scale pork farmers," said Wang Xiaoyue, a senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Ltd.

"China's pork imports will continue to rise due to strong demand and competitive pricing on imports," he said.

The sharp decline in pork production last year led to record imports. China's imports of pork and pork offal reached 1.35 million tons, up 50 per cent over 2010, with the US being the largest exporter, accounting for more than half of the total volume, according to the General Administration of Customs.

At the same time, China has also become a top lure for meat exporters as demand has been climbing steadily. Most of the major pork exporting nations from Europe, North and South America are knocking on China's doors.

China's imports of pork and pork offal reached their peak in 2008 with a volume of 910,000 tons. In 2010, the country imported 900,000 tons of pork, with Denmark being the major supplier, followed by the United States, Canada and France.

"As a country develops economically, the first quality of life aspect that improves at the household level is the carbohydrate to protein ratio on the daily diet. Greater economic prosperity among consumers on the mainland has directly translated into higher shares of animal protein such as pork," said Jorge Sanchez, director of agricultural trade office at the US consulate in Guangzhou.

"An increase in pork consumption creates opportunities for US pork farmers, because the unit price increases are fueled by consumer demand."

Ma Chuang, deputy secretary-general of the China Animal Agriculture Association, said that the country's surging demand for pork and pork offal implies an optimal export scenario because Chinese consumers tend to place higher value on pork offal, which is not eaten in Western countries. As a result, overseas farmers can profit considerably from pork offal exports.

Pork imports stood at 467,000 tons last year, and pork offal stood at 882,200 tons. Pork offal such as pig's heads, knuckles and haslet (a form of meatloaf), accounted for 65 percent of the total volume.

Texas A&M Researchers Create Goat With Malaria Vaccine In Her Milk


Over at the Texas A&M Reproductive Sciences Complex, you'll find several animals with unique capabilities.

Goat number 21 is one of those creatures.

"This project is one of the most interesting that we've been involved with because it has so much potential world wide," said Texas A&M researcher Charles Long.

Long & fellow A&M researcher Mark Westhusin keep a careful eye on goat number 21 because her milk holds a vaccine for malaria.

"There are lots of different things that one can think about producing in the milk. Malaria vaccine is one that's really important because there's a big demand for it in a lot of impoverished countries," said Westhusin.

Through genetic engineering, this goat could be the golden goose when it comes to preventing malaria in third world countries. A disease that kills a child in Africa every minute according to the World Health Organization.

"What you'd have is an animal that could be in any village around the world and all natives would have to do is drink some of that milk and be immunized against malaria," said Long.

But before any of that happens, this goat has to jump through a lot of hoops.

"We'd love to start air dropping goats into Africa but the reality is we're not going to be able to achieve that objective for another five or 10 years at least," joked Long.

"What we have to do is milk the goat, purify the protein, then we'd have to do all kinds of clinical testing and safety testing. Just like as if we were to take any drug and go to market with it," said Westhusin.

Step number one will be waiting for this motherly goat to give birth, which will happen in the next week. That's when testing on the milk will intensify and the offspring checked to see if they carry on the gene that carries on the vaccine.

"That's when we get to start to collect this milk, storing the milk to extract out the antigen that will become the vaccine," said Long.　
　
It's estimated that malaria kills between 650,000 and 1.2 million people every year.

Researches at the Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology Department are also working on animals that are more disease resistant, more feed efficient, and produce milk that produces lower fat.

Outlook: Beef imports exceed exports in January
University of Missouri Extension   |   Updated: March 16, 2012


Beef imports exceeded exports during January for the first month since August 2010. Beef exports during January were the lowest of any month since April 2010. January exports were down 8 million pounds (4.4%) compared to a year ago, largely because Hong Kong purchased 7 million pounds less U.S. beef than in January 2011. January beef imports were up 43 million pounds (28.8%) compared to a year ago and the highest since June 2011.
 
In total, 8.6% of January beef production was exported. Beef imports equaled 9.0% of January production.
 
January domestic retail beef demand was up 8.1% compared to a year earlier; but export demand for U.S. beef was down 1.9%. Packer demand in January for fed cattle was up 3.8% compared to January 2011.
 
Fed cattle prices were steady this week with moderate sales volume. Through Thursday, the 5-area average price for slaughter steers sold on a live weight basis was $126.34/cwt, down 43 cents from last week, but up $12.05/cwt from the same week last year. Steer prices on a dressed basis averaged $202.23/cwt this week, up 41 cents from a week ago and up $17.45 from a year ago.
 
Beef cutout value was sharply lower this week. On Friday morning, the choice boxed beef carcass cutout value was $189.92/cwt, down $5.90 from last week. The select carcass cutout was down $5.77 from the previous Friday to $187.94 per hundred pounds of carcass weight. The choice-select price spread is only $1.98/cwt. A year ago, steer dressed prices were $2/cwt under the choice cutout value. This week dressed prices are $12/cwt above the choice cutout value.
 
This week's cattle slaughter totaled 619,000 head, down 1.9% from the week before, but the same as a year ago. The average dressed weight for slaughter steers for the week ending on March 3 was 850 pounds, down 4 pounds from the week before, but up 21 pounds from a year earlier. Weights have been above year-earlier for eight straight weeks. Year-to-date beef production is down 3.7%.
 
Feeder cattle prices this week were generally steady to weak with more auctions lower than higher. Oklahoma City prices were mostly steady with the ranges for medium and large frame #1 steers: 400-450# $208-$217, 450-500# $204-$210.50, 500-550# $177.75-$204, 550-600# $179-$196.50, 600-650# $167-$182.75, 650-700# $161.50-$171, 700-750# $155-$166, 750-800# $149.25-$164.35, 800-900# $140-$154.75, and 900-1000# $133.50-$142/cwt.
 
The April live cattle futures contract settled at $125.30/cwt today, down 72 cents compared to last Friday. The June contract closed at $122.70/cwt, down 90 cents for the week. August fed cattle settled at $124.52 and October at $129.87/cwt.
 
March feeder cattle futures lost 52 cents this week to settle at $153.40/cwt. The April contract ended the week at $154.30/cwt, down $1.55 from the previous Friday.
 
Source: Ron Plain

Improper cow nutrition proves costly for beef producers
Purdue University Extension   |   Updated: January 28, 2011


Thin cows can be economically devastating as beef producers head into spring calving season, said Purdue Extension beef specialist Ron Lemenager.
 
"Spring calving cows need to be in moderate body condition at the time of calving because it has a pretty significant effect on how quickly these cows will return to estrus after calving and, subsequently, when or if they conceive," he said. "If cows are thin at calving, producers can expect long postpartum intervals, which means they will calve later the following season."
 
That means instead of having a 365-day calving interval, producers may face 13-14 month intervals and, ultimately, a loss of productivity.
 
Thin cows also tend to have lower colostrum quality, which means calves aren't able to develop the passive immunity they need to protect them against disease, cold stress and other stress factors.
 
"In addition, these thin cows are going to have lower milk production, resulting in lighter weaning weights of their offspring," Lemenager said.
 
Ideally, cows should be carrying a moderate body condition score, which falls at 5-6 on the 1-9 BCS system. In order to evaluate whether cows are at a healthy BCS, Lemenager said producers need to look past the winter hair coat the animals are carrying right now.
 
"There are three places on the cow that are the best indicators for body condition, starting along the top line. If you can see bone structure along the top line right under the hide, the cow is probably pretty thin," he said. "The second place is in the rib section. If the cow shows the 12th and 13th rib, she's borderline. If you can see more ribs – the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th, the cow is too thin.
 
"The third place to look, and it's the least affected by muscle, fill and hair, is right along the loin edge between the 13th rib and the hooks. If a producer can see bone structure at the edge of the loin, the cow is too thin."
 
At this time of year, spring calving cows have advanced into the last trimester of pregnancy. Because of fetal nutrient requirements, correcting low body condition scores can be a challenge, but it's not impossible if producers can strategically supplement the animals.
 
Because corn prices are so high right now, Lemenager recommends beef producers look at some alternative feeds such as soybean hulls, distillers grains and corn gluten feed, which may be more economical. A chart to help producers make those decisions is available at www.thebeefcenter.com. Also included on the site is a how-to video for checking body condition scores.
 
"Producers should be looking at cows monthly and using BCS as a wake-up call," he said. "They are a good indicator of nutrition and reproduction. If cows look to be gaining or losing BCS, producers need to evaluate and adjust rations to optimize performance and minimize expenses."

Report: U.S. farmers say they'll plant most corn acres since 1937
Purdue University Extension   |   Updated: March 31,2012

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - U.S. grain farmers this spring intend to plant the nation's highest corn acreage since 1937, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Friday (March 30).

According to the Prospective Plantings Report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the nation's growers indicated they would plant 95.9 million acres of corn, up more than 4 percent, or nearly 4 million acres, from 2011.

They also expected to plant only 73.9 million acres of soybeans, down 1.4 percent, or more than 1 million acres, from 2011.

The projections are based on an early March survey of growers nationwide.

"It's obviously important to see where producers are at right here at the beginning of the planting season," said Chris Hurt, Purdue Extension agricultural economist. "They are saying they're going to be very heavy in corn planting here in the Midwest, so overall, there are big numbers on corn acreage but low acreage intentions on soybeans."

In Indiana, producers said they would increase corn acres by 200,000 acres but reduce soybean acreage by the same amount. Ohio growers said they would increase corn acres even more substantially with a 400,000-acre jump. Growers expected Ohio soybean acres to stay the same.

"The increase in Indiana corn acreage is going to come entirely out of soybean acreage," said Corinne Alexander, Purdue Extension agricultural economist. "Ohio's soybean acres are flat, so the largest portion of that corn acreage increase is going to come from a reduction in wheat acres. What doesn't come from wheat acres, we expect largely to come from 2011's prevented planting acres and from conservation land."

In addition to the plantings report, USDA-NASS also released its March Grain Stocks report. The report shows the availability of grain stocks in the U.S. as of March 1.

The U.S. has about 6 billion bushels of corn stocks, about 140 million bushels lower than what trade markets expected, according to the report. Soybean stocks came in at 1.372 billion bushels, up 11 million bushels from expectations.

"It's no surprise to anyone that these numbers are down substantially from where they were a year ago," Alexander said. "Where the surprises come in is that they're down even more than expected. Because of the difference, we're expecting this to be pretty bullish for old crop corn prices. The report is pretty neutral on soybeans because the trade had pretty good estimates of what the stocks report would say."

But even with soybean stocks slightly better than expected, prices have been on the rise. And with the influx of a lot of new crop corn on the horizon, Hurt said growers might want to reconsider their planting intentions.

"As we look at the implications of these reports, I think one of the clear ones is that the very large corn acreage will depress new crop corn prices, but the low soybean acreage will be overall increasing to new crop prices of beans," he said. "The market now, in the next several days or weeks, is going to try to still buy more bean acres. So I think producers should rethink that corn and soybean mix, or at least redo their calculations and put beans a little bit higher in their priorities this year."

According to Hurt, soybean futures prices as of March 29 were about $25 per acre more profitable than corn.

Hurt and Alexander estimated that with an average 2012 crop yield, the national average corn price could be about $5.25 per bushel and beans about $11.75. In that case, Midwest farmers would see the highest soybean revenues and second-highest corn revenues in history.

But the high revenues don't tell the whole story. The cost of producing those crops is up an estimated 15-20 percent this year, so the total returns actually will be down somewhat from 2011.
"The returns are coming down, but they're coming down from record-high levels," Hurt said.