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LIVESTOCKS / SWINE / The Merck Veterinary Manual online
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on: March 25, 2008, 06:56:53 AM
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The Merck Veterinary Manual is the single most comprehensive electronic reference for animal care information. It is brought to you as a service of Merck & Co., Inc., providing quality medical information on a not-for-profit basis for more than 100 years, and Merial Limited, dedicated to producing a wide range of pharmaceuticals and vaccines to keep livestock and pets healthy and productive. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp |
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LIVESTOCKS / SWINE / Re: China
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on: March 19, 2008, 10:33:50 AM
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Chinese to increase pork imports in 2008// 12 Mar 2008
Pork consumption continues to outstrip production in China, resulting in higher import projections for 2008.
The USDA's agricultural attaché in Beijing commented in a semi-annual report that livestock production had been disrupted by the worst snowstorms in 50 years during January and February and a slow recovery from porcine blue ear disease.
Imports
An 8% rise in pork imports is predicted in 2008 to 200,000 metric tonnes along with a 6% decline in exports to 330,000 metric tonnes.
The report put 2008 domestic pork production at 42 million metric tonnes, up 1% from 2007, but still 16% below 2005.
Production
Chinese pig production is undergoing a shift from small backyard operations to large commercial farms.
50-60% backyard operations have abandoned swine production while the number of commercial farms has increased 20% in the last few years.
The report said US-based Whiteshire Hamroc Co and China Tangrenshen Group in Hunan Province have signed a contract to import 2,000 breeding pigs for a large commercial hog development project.
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98
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LIVESTOCKS / AGRI-NEWS / Pig exports banned tomorrow
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on: March 19, 2008, 10:26:31 AM
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Thailand: Pig exports banned tomorrow// 17 Mar 2008
A senior finance ministry official announced on Saturday that as of tomorrow, it will be forbidden to move pigs out of the zones where they are raised.
In addition, a full ban on exporting live pigs to neighbouring countries will be issued by the deputy prime minister and minister for commerce, Mingkwan Saengsuwan.
Yanyong Phuangrach, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, announced that the reason for the ban is to try to contain the rising price of pork, now averaging around 120 baht (US$3.81) per kg.
The bans will remain in effect until the price of pork "returns to normal," said Mr Yangong without specifying a target price.
Some pork traders have promised the government to maintain a price of 98 baht (US$3.11) per kilo for the coming two months.
Pig transport
Transporting swine within districts will now require permission from provincial commercial officials. Violation will result in a maximum of fiver years in prison and/or fines up to 100,000 baht (US$3,100).
Mr Yanyong insisted that pork would be available for 98 baht(US$3.11) at least through April, and prices of pork "will fall to a reasonable level" after the Ministry has solved the pig problems.
There is likely to be a major knock-on problem in neighbouring countries, particularly Malaysia, which is the biggest importer of Thai swine.
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99
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LIVESTOCKS / AGRI-NEWS / Global systemic crisis / September 2008 - Phase of collapse of US real economy
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on: March 18, 2008, 03:48:31 PM
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According to LEAP/E2020, the end of the third quarter of 2008 will be marked by a new tipping point in the unfolding of the global systemic crisis. At that time indeed, the cumulated impact of the various sequences of the crisis (see table below) will reach its maximum strength and affect decisively the very heart of the systems concerned, on the frontline of which the United States, epicentre of the current crisis. In the United States, this new tipping point will translate into a collapse of the real economy, final socio-economic stage of the serial bursting of the housing and financial bubbles (1) and of the pursuance of the US dollar fall. The collapse of US real economy means the virtual freeze of the American economic machinery: private and public bankruptcies in large numbers, companies and public services closing down massively (2),...
A revealing harbinger: from March 2008 onward, the US government will stop a service publishing its economic indicators due to budget restrictions (3). Those who read the GEAB N°2 (02/2006) and included Alert certainly keep in mind our anticipation which connected the upcoming fall of the US dollar with the US Fed's decision to cease publishing the M3 indicator. This new decision is another clear sign that US leaders are now anticipating a very bleak economic outlook for their country. http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-22-is-available!-Global-systemic-crisis-September-2008-Phase-of-collapse-of-US-real-economy_a1298.html totoo kay ito ? ma affected ba tayo dito if ever totoo? |
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101
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LIVESTOCKS / Marketing and Economics / Market Prices of Selected Commodities in Metro Manila
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on: March 17, 2008, 08:39:20 PM
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BAS MEDIA SERVICE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE METRO MANILA OPERATIONS CENTER BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS BEN-LOR Bldg.,1184 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City Tel. Nos. 371-20-78 Fax No. 371-2078 Website: http://www.bas.gov.ph  large pic:http://img249.imageshack.us/my.php?image=priceye9.jpg more: http://www.bas.gov.ph/bms.php?more=2008-03-15::2008-03-15::2008-03-12::3::36 |
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102
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LIVESTOCKS / AGRI-NEWS / Shift in planting focus to push up Philippines' Q1 corn output by 25 percent
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on: March 17, 2008, 12:45:49 PM
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March 17, 2008
Corn production in the first quarter is forecast to exceed 2.2 million tonnes, up 25.4 percent from 1.7 million tonnes in 2007, due to a shift in planting focus.
This figure that came from the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani-Corn Program (GMA-Corn Program) exceeds the government's target of 2.1 million tonnes and the 8.1 percent growth targeted by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.
Corn production in January-February 2008 reached 1.2 million tonnes and production for March is forecast to reach 1.1 million tonnes.
The growth areas would be the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Autonomous Region and SOCCSKSARGEN, according to GMA-Corn Program director Dennis Araullo.
He cited positive prices, good weather conditions and an increase of biofuel production as encouraging factors for farmers to shift to corn production.
Rice farmers had also turned to corn farming, and many farmers in Iloilo had expanded corn-planting areas, prompting a significant conversion of unused land.
Farmers in the municipality of Sara in Iloilo had also shifted to using Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn from the traditional varieties as the herbicide-tolerant Bt-corn guarantees higher yield and income, according to Rosalie Ellasus, president of PhilMaize. short pa rin  |
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104
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LIVESTOCKS / SWINE / Global food crisis looms as climate change and fuel shortages bite
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on: March 17, 2008, 06:17:49 AM
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Global food crisis looms as climate change and fuel shortages bite
Soaring crop prices and demand for biofuels raise fears of political instability
Empty shelves in Caracas. Food riots in West Bengal and Mexico. Warnings of hunger in Jamaica, Nepal, the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa. Soaring prices for basic foods are beginning to lead to political instability, with governments being forced to step in to artificially control the cost of bread, maize, rice and dairy products.
Record world prices for most staple foods have led to 18% food price inflation in China, 13% in Indonesia and Pakistan, and 10% or more in Latin America, Russia and India, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). Wheat has doubled in price, maize is nearly 50% higher than a year ago and rice is 20% more expensive, says the UN. Next week the FAO is expected to say that global food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and that prices will remain high for years.
Last week the Kremlin forced Russian companies to freeze the price of milk, bread and other foods until January 31, for fear of a public backlash with a parliamentary election looming. "The price of goods has risen sharply and that has hit the poor particularly hard," said Oleg Savelyev, of the Levada Centre polling institute.
India, Yemen, Mexico, Burkina Faso and several other countries have had, or been close to, food riots in the last year, something not seen in decades of low global food commodity prices. Meanwhile, there are shortages of beef, chicken and milk in Venezuela and other countries as governments try to keep a lid on food price inflation.
Boycotts have become commonplace. Argentinians shunned tomatoes during the recent presidential election campaign when they became more expensive than meat. Italians organised a one-day boycott of pasta in protest at rising prices. German leftwing politicians have called for an increase in welfare benefits so that people can cope with price rises.
"If you combine the increase of the oil prices and the increase of food prices then you have the elements of a very serious [social] crisis in the future," said Jacques Diouf, head of the FAO, in London last week.
The price rises are a result of record oil prices, US farmers switching out of cereals to grow biofuel crops, extreme weather and growing demand from countries India and China, the UN said yesterday.
"There is no one cause but a lot of things are coming together to lead to this. It's hard to separate out the factors," said Ali Gurkan, head of the FAO's Food Outlook programme, yesterday.
He said cereal stocks had been declining for more than a decade but now stood at around 57 days, which made global food supplies vulnerable to an international crisis or big natural disaster such as a drought or flood.
"Any unforeseen flood or crisis can make prices rise very quickly. I do not think we should panic but we should be very careful about what may happen," he warned.
Lester Brown, founder of the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute thinktank, said: "The competition for grain between the world's 800 million motorists, who want to maintain their mobility, and its 2 billion poorest people, who are simply trying to survive, is emerging as an epic issue."
Last year, he said, US farmers distorted the world market for cereals by growing 14m tonnes, or 20% of the whole maize crop, for ethanol for vehicles. This took millions of hectares of land out of food production and nearly doubled the price of maize. Mr Bush this year called for steep rises in ethanol production as part of plans to reduce petrol demand by 20% by 2017.
Maize is a staple food in many countries which import from the US, including Japan, Egypt, and Mexico. US exports are 70% of the world total, and are used widely for animal feed. The shortages have disrupted livestock and poultry industries worldwide.
"The use of food as a source of fuel may have serious implications for the demand for food if the expansion of biofuels continues," said a spokesman for the International Monetary Fund last week.
The outlook is widely expected to worsen as agro-industries prepare to switch to highly profitable biofuels. according to Grain, a Barcelona-based food resources group. Its research suggests that the Indian government is committed to planting 14m hectares (35m acres) of land with jatropha, an exotic bush from which biodiesel can be manufactured. Brazil intends to grow 120m hectares for biofuels, and Africa as much as 400m hectares in the next few years. Much of the growth, the countries say, would be on unproductive land, but many millions of people are expected to be forced off the land.
This week Oxfam warned the EU that its policy of substituting 10% of all car fuel with biofuels threatened to displace poor farmers.
The food crisis is being compounded by growing populations, extreme weather and ecological stress, according to a number of recent reports. This week the UN Environment Programme said the planet's water, land, air, plants, animals and fish stocks were all in "inexorable decline". According to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) 57 countries, including 29 in Africa, 19 in Asia and nine in Latin America, have been hit by catastrophic floods. Harvests have been affected by drought and heatwaves in south Asia, Europe, China, Sudan, Mozambique and Uruguay.
This week the Australian government said drought had slashed predictions of winter harvests by nearly 40%, or 4m tonnes. "It is likely to be even smaller than the disastrous drought-ravaged 2006-07 harvest and the worst in more than a decade," said the Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
According to Josette Sheeran, director of the WFP, "There are 854 million hungry people in the world and 4 million more join their ranks every year. We are facing the tightest food supplies in recent history. For the world's most vulnerable, food is simply being priced out of their reach."
Food for thought Possible scenarios
Experts describe various scenarios for the precarious food supply balance in coming years. An optimistic version would see markets automatically readjust to shortages, as higher prices make it more profitable once again to grow crops for people rather than cars.
There are hopes that new crop varieties and technologies will help crops adapt to capricious climactic conditions. And if people move on to a path of eating less meat, more land can be freed up for human food rather than animal feed.
A slowdown in population growth would naturally ease pressures on the food market, while the cultivation of hitherto unproductive land could also help supply.
But fears for even tighter conditions revolve around deepening climate change, which generates worsening floods and droughts, diminishing food supplies. If the price of oil rises further it will make fertilisers and transport more expensive, and at the same time make it more profitable to grow biofuel crops.
Supply will be further restricted if fish stocks continue to decline due to overfishing, and if soils become exhausted and erosion decreases the arable area.
· This article was amended on Saturday November 10 2007. In the article above we referred to Lester Brown as president of the Worldwatch Institute. He is the founder; Christopher Flavin is president of the thinktank. This has been corrected. THE WORLD FOOD CRISIShttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911503,00.html |
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