Monday, January 05, 2009Print This Page
Ugandans Advised to Keep More Pigs
UGANDA - Ugandans have been urged to take advantage of the overwhelming demand for pork and poultry products in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.



The Minister of Defence, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, while delivering his New Year message on Kasese Guide Radio - Omusondolya said Ugandans must exploit all possible opportunities to fight poverty, according to AllAfrica.com.

"I wish to encourage all Ugandans and also thank the people of Kibaale and Masaka districts in particular, who are exporting large amounts of pork, eggs and chicken to the eastern DRC," Kiyonga said.

Kiyonga who is also the Member of Parliament for Bukonzo West, a constituency that borders with the eastern DRC, said information coming to him indicate that the current pork and poultry product exports to the DRC are just a drop in the ocean.

He advised Ugandans to move away from growing crops which consume a lot of inputs and yet do not pay well.

Kiyonga said crops like cotton grown at peasantry level are not profitable.

He advised people to grow horticulture crops like pineapples and mangoes and also to go into piggery and poultry farming for better earnings.


 

Monday, January 05, 2009Print This Page
Livestock Prices Set to Go Down in 2009
BEIJING - The prices of China's major livestock products will continue to drop in 2009, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture.



Wang Zhicai, director in charge of the ministry's department of stockbreeding, said at a recent national stockbreeding and veterinary meeting that live pig, milk and other major livestock products had experienced constant price dropping in 2008, and the weak pricing trend is expected to continue in the new year.

Statistics from the ministry showed that by November 2008, the average pork price had been falling for nine months in a row, down 25.4 per cent compared with its peak in February.

Wang said that affected by the international financial crisis, consumers will spend less on livestock products. On the other hand, in 2008 the number of progenitive sows increased considerably throughout the country, leading to obvious overstock. It is expected that in the first half of 2009 the supply of live pig will sharply rise.

He said if not handled properly, the livestock industry may be seriously be hurt by profit losses and lead to a recession in the industry.

Sources from the ministry said in 2009 the country will encourage standardized large-scale breeding and the construction of choice-breeding systems, and closely monitor market supply and demand, so as to ensure a steady development of livestock products.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009Print This Page
Celebrity Chef and RSPCA Join Forces on Welfare
UK - The RSPCA is to launch a campaign on Monday 12 January, called 'Rooting for Pigs' - supported by national advertising, press and online activity.



The move is a bid by the UK's animal welfare group, which is joining forces with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to improve the welfare of pigs.

The first part of the year long campaign will see the Society call on UK retailers to sign up to a voluntary agreement to label all pork products according to production method definitions developed by the RSPCA in association with the British pig industry.

This will allow for greater clarity for shoppers, said the Society.

In addition celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been working with the RSPCA on the plight of pigs, and is sure to cook up some debate when his new programme 'Jamie Saves our Bacon' is aired as part of Channel 4's 'Great British Food Fight' season later this month.

"It is hoped that Jamie's programme and the RSPCA campaign will help improve the lives of many millions of pigs who are reared for meat both here and in the EU. "The success of chicken campaigns run by RSPCA and chefs Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in January 2008 have seen a jump in sales of higher welfare chicken and eggs - despite the difficult economic circumstances - and it is hoped the pig campaign will have a similarly positive impact," said a spokesman for the RSPCA.

Friday, January 09, 2009Print This Page
Dead, Diseased Pigs Sold for Food
CHINA - Six people have been detained in southern China's Guangdong Province for allegedly running a network that processed and sold meat from dead and diseased pigs.



Some of the stinking meat seized by law enforcement officials at the scene had been soaked in an unidentified chemical with a strong smell similar to the pesticide DDT, New Express Daily reported.

Assisted by local police, officials from the Guangzhou Industry and Commerce Administration raided the illegal butcher shop in a small village on 30 December. The village is about 100 kilometers away from Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital.

A total of 4,000 kilograms of meat, 6,000 pieces of pigskin and eight suspects were seized in the operation, reports ShanghaiDaily.com. It was the biggest illegal butcher shop found in Guangzhou in recent five years, the authority said.

The shop is believed to have been open for more than six months.

The shop reportedly paid between 50 yuan (US$7.3) and 200 yuan for each dead pig. The parts and organs were then sold to small restaurants, street vendors, canteens or even meat plants and could make a profit of up to 2,500 yuan a pig.

Most of the pigs had apparently died of foot and mouth, blue ear or ractopamine poisoning.

The shop bought the dead pigs from pig farms in the morning and processed them in the afternoon. The meat was then transported to a cool store in Guangzhou's Houjiao Village about 9 pm and distributed to markets early the next day.

The shop could sell a ton of this meat every day, sometimes even 2.5 to 3 tons, an unidentified source said.

The shop was run by two brothers, identified as Wang. Both were among the six detained.

Their father once reported their dubious business to local authorities but the brothers escaped punishment because of a lack of evidence.

Later they pushed their father down to the ground from second floor. The old man was reportedly seriously injured.

Some restaurants in Guangzhou were reported to be buying the meat at 6 yuan a kilogram and cooking it with braising sauce, while meat plants used the meat for sausages.

Friday, January 09, 2009Print This Page
First British Breeding Pigs Exported to Cambodia
CAMBODIA - The first of 600 genetically-advanced breeding pigs have been shipped out to Cambodia as part of a 20-year franchise agreement in a deal clinched by Yorkshire-based international pig-breeding company, ACMC Ltd.

 

It is believed to be the first time ever that Cambodia has imported genetics from Britain. The initial order is worth almost £1 million.



(L-R) Dr Oknha Mong Reththy, CEO of the MRT Group, Stephen Curtis, chairman of ACMC and Sry Thamarong, minister from the Cambodia Prime Minister's office, wear garlands - a symbol of a warm welcome - to greet the arrival of ACMC stock at Phnom Penh airport.ACMC’s special Meidam and Volante damlines and Vantage sirelines, plus boars representing all three breeds, have been sent to a new unit specially set up on a five-hectare site to house a nucleus herd, in the Prey Nop district of Sihanoukville city, in the west of the country. This has been established by a new company — M’s Pig ACMC (Cambodia) Ltd — set up by the Mong Reththy Group (MRT), a large organisation with interests in civil engineering, construction and shipping as well as agriculture. ACMC has a shareholding in the new company.

The self-contained breeding unit — involving an investment of $5 million (£3.3 million) — will eventually supply enough commercial AC1 sows to produce 1.1 million slaughter pigs annually and will provide employment for thousands of people in rural areas. The project will also involve a feed-milling operation with a projected output of 330,000 tonnes a year and a slaughter/processing plant to produce ‘Premium Quality Pork’ for the Cambodian population, projected to grow from 13 million to 16 million by 2015.

The agreement was negotiated by ACMC chairman, Stephen Curtis, following a visit in April 2008. Due to the complexity of the order, the stock had to be specially bred to provide the necessary blood-lines.

Cambodia, which currently imports between 2,000 pigs a day from neighbouring countries, principally Thailand, to meet domestic demand is urgently seeking to increase indigenous output through an education project which aims to improve production methods and health standards together with the use of improved stock.

Interestingly, Cambodia will be importing genes, albeit much modified, originally sourced from the Far East. More than two decades ago the prolific Chinese Meishan was brought into Europe. Over a 20-year period ACMC used these genetics to create a new breed, the Meidam, to boost productivity. The Meidam is selected with 16 functioning teats and produces 15 per cent more milk than conventional European lines, enabling it to rear many more pigs. In Europe the AC1 has been shown to produce up to 30 pigs per sow a year.

ACMC believes it is the only company that has managed to incorporate this ability while maintaining high-quality lean carcases in the finishing generation. This is what appealed to the Cambodians.

By special licence the breeding stock was transhipped through Bangkok airport. Their arrival, seen by the media as a historical event, was attended by Dr Oknha Mong Reththy, CEO of the MRT Group, Stephen Curtis, chairman of ACMC, Steve Buckley director of investment from the UK Embassy and Sry Thamarong, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister of Cambodia.

Friday, January 09, 2009Print This Page
Japan to Sell Cloned Beef and Pork
JAPAN - The Japanese government will announce cloned beef and pork made from cloned eggs or body cells are safe, allowing their commercial sale this year, according to Japanese media.



The Yomiuri Shimbun and other media quoted experts at the Japanese Food Safety Commission as saying they concluded the quality of meat and ingredients of milk from cloned cows and pigs are as safe as those of normal meat.

According to TruthaboutTrade&Technology, the commission will confirm its decision this year and report it to the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry. The Cabinet will have final approval.

Cloned beef and pork will hit the market this year, but fears over safety have risen. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority announced a year ago that meat and milk products made from cloned animals are safe.

In the United States, however, meat from cloned animals has not been sold on the market for ethical and religious reasons.

Ag Minister on Largest Ever Trade Mission to Japan
IRELAND - The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith TD is in Japan as part of the largest ever Irish trade mission to Japan.



The trade mission is being led by An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD and also includes the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, John McGuinness TD, in addition to 70 Irish companies and organisations, including a number of Irish food companies.

Japan is the second largest economy in the world and Ireland is the fifth biggest exporter and the biggest exporter per capita to Japan in the EU. Japan is a particularly important market for Irish pork and Minister Smith said that it was important that every effort is made to ensure that our international customers have total confidence in the safety and quality of Irish food products.

Minister Smith had a series of important engagements aimed at promoting Irish food and attended, along with Irish companies, a number of events organised by Enterprise Ireland, including a Functional Foods Seminar also attended by both Irish and Japanese companies. The Minister also participated in a number of Bord Bia events, including the official opening of a major Irish Meat Seminar attended by a number of Japanese importers and meat traders. Japan remains the world's largest net importer of food and with a population of 127.7 million people, it is a key focus market for Irish exports. Irish food and drink exports to Japan were valued at €24 million in 2007.

In addition, the Minister and senior Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food officials are meeting with Senior Vice Minister Noritoshi Ishida and officials from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Minister Smith said he had impressed upon the Japanese Minister the huge importance placed by the Irish Government on the quality and safety of Irish food.

While addressing the recent pork crisis, he also outlined the progress made in very significantly reducing the incidence of BSE in Ireland and across the EU and expressed the hope that the Japanese market might be reopened to Irish beef.

Minister Smith warmly welcomed the confirmation by the Japanese Health Ministry, following the recall of Irish pigmeat, that normal arrangements continue for the importation of Irish pigmeat. The Minister said that the Japanese market for Irish pork was worth €13 million annually and said he was confident that it had the potential to be worth considerably more than that.

Thursday, January 15, 2009Print This Page
Pigs Culled After ASF Outbreak
RUSSIA - A Stavropol region collective farm and nearby villages are culling around 7,000 pigs after an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) began to spread, and the nearby city of Sochi said it had allotted 4 million rubles ($126,000) to contain an outbreak there.



The disease, which is still prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, has been largely eradicated in the rest of the world, although there was a major outbreak in the Caucasus in 2007. The disease is not dangerous to humans, reports The Moscow Times.com.

A Stavropol region veterinary official told Interfax that 1,000 animals were culled Wednesday at the Rostovanovsky collective farm, bringing the total to around 2,600. The farm had 6,500 pigs, and there are another 640 within the quarantine zone, said Viktor Sankin, the region's head veterinarian.

Krasnodar Deputy Governor Vladimir Kharlamov said Tuesday that 10 pigs had died in his region, apparently of African swine fever, and a quarantine was opened to contain the outbreak.

The disease was first detected Jan. 8, and about 200 pigs have died of the infection. An earlier outbreak in the Stavropol region in October was contained, the report said. Four collective farm workers have been charged with violations of veterinary regulations for the earlier outbreak in the Gorkaya Balka village.

A major outbreak in the Caucasus region prompted a scare in 2007, and Georgian authorities killed some 30,000 pigs after the UN warned that it could cause an economic disaster for the region.

The disease was first reported in Russia after several wild boars were shot in late 2007 in Chechnya, Interfax reported. The nearby republics of Ingushetia, North Ossetia and the Orenburg region also registered cases.

Friday, January 16, 2009Print This Page
Clones for Food: EC Breaking its Own Rules?
EU - An animal welfare group has claimed that The European Commission is breaking its own rules with a wait and see approach to animal cloning. The group claims that cloning harms animal welfare.



Eurogroup for Animals, which represents animal welfare organisations from all over Europe, will be filing a complaint of maladministration against the European Commission with the European Ombudsman.

By delaying action on the cloning of animals for food, the Commission has failed to respect the EU directive for the protection of farm animals, which states that reproduction techniques which cause animals to suffer cannot be used.

Commissioners decided yesterday in Strasbourg to once again put off submitting a proposal, claiming more scientific answers were needed as well as a debate with international trading partners. Eurogroup for Animals is appalled by this wait-and-see approach as all the scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that cloning is harmful for the animals.

Eurogroup director Sonja Van Tichelen said: "We are shocked that the Commission is disrespecting its own rules because it values trade relations over the welfare of animals and the wishes of consumers. The Commission has let down animals and people by failing to propose a ban on the cloning of animals for food. The wasteful practice has been shown to cause animals to suffer at every stage, yet the Commission has chosen to ignore all the scientific evidence, the majority of Europeans who are against it, as well as the advice of the EU's own institutions.

"Eurogroup will be calling on member states to apply the directive for the protection of farm animals and introduce national bans if the Commission continues to do nothing."

Friday, January 16, 2009Print This Page
Russia Reports Three New Cases of ASF
RUSSIA - The veterinary authorities have sent two new reports to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) regarding three new cases of African Swine Fever (ASF).



Follow-on Reports 11 and 12 were sent to OIE on 13 and 14 January, respectively.

Report No. 11 covers an outbreak in a herd of 2500 pigs one a commercial farm at Rostovanovskoye, Kursky, Stavropol'skiy Kray, where 125 pigs died.

Report No. 12 covers two new cases of ASF. The first was at Plastunka, Khostinsky, Krasnodarskiy Kray. Ten pigs from a village herd of 265 pigs showed symptoms of the disease. Two died and the other eight sick pigs were destroyed. The other case involved one wild pig at El'brussky, Kabardino-Balkarskaya Resp. The veterinary authority commented that the region shares a border with the Abkhazia Autonomous Republic (Georgia), which has not been ASF-free since 2007. The migration of wild boars is known to take place during the autumn and winter.

Friday, January 16, 2009Print This Page
Welfare Increasingly Important
UK - British shoppers are becoming increasingly engaged with standards of animal welfare when purchasing food, according to research into consumer behaviour by IGD.


One-fifth of shoppers now say that knowing about standards of animal welfare has become one of their key drivers of product choice.

“As one would expect in the current economic climate, price remains a key driver for shoppers,” said Joanne Denney-Finch, IGD chief executive. "However, the stronger focus on standards of animal welfare demonstrates that consumers continue to grow more engaged with their food. People are making well-informed decisions on their food choices and looking for value for money without compromising on their values.” IGD says the growing public interest provides an excellent opportunity to differentiate and gain more shopper loyalty.

Percentage of people highlighting animal welfare as a driver of choice: 2005- 8%, 2006- 10%, 2007- 11%, 2008- 13%, 2009- 20%.

Saturday, January 17, 2009Print This Page
More Buyers Than Sellers
UK - Although reports are continuing to filter through of slightly indifferent retail demand, spot prices have continued to improve mainly due to shrinking United Kingdom pig availability, writes Peter Crichton in his Traffic Lights commentary.




This follows higher infertility levels last summer and reflects the large numbers of sows that were slaughtered during the first six months of 2008 whose progeny pigs are no longer in the system.

The DAPP caught many traders by surprise this week by slipping a shade to 130.5p, but unless someone in the economics department presses the wrong knob, the signs are the DAPP will rise next week reflecting better spot quotes and a reduction in heavier pigs held up in the system over the Christmas period.

But the market remains overshadowed by reports of further falls in European Union pigmeat values which have been under pressure since Christmas.

Despite these negative factors most spot bacon was traded within the 137–140p range, but at this level foreign imports are starting to challenge the domestic market.

Other signs of easing European Union pigmeat values have been seen in the cull sow market where export abattoir quotes moved down fairly sharply this week by anywhere between 3–6p according to specification with quotes generally in the 114–117p range, which after slaughtering and transports costs are still ahead of equivalent European Union values.

Hopefully the € will continue to hold its current value which remains in the 89p region, as any further falls will work against the interests of the United Kingdom pig industry.

Probably the most active sector has been the weaner market where further falls in output have put finishers under pressure to fill empty units and saw the AHDB 30kg ex-farm weaner average move up again from £45.10/head last week to £45.46/head.

Another positive note is that after several weeks of fairly significant increases feed wheat prices appear to have stabilised at just above £100/tonne on an ex-farm basis, although forward quotes for the second half of the year are tending to be reported in the £117-£125/tonne region.

Despite concerns over the European situation the overall picture is much more positive for United Kingdom producers than normal at this time of the year and we are all eagerly awaiting the Jamie Oliver pig programme at the end of the month to see if this helps or hinders the industry as a whole

Monday, January 19, 2009Print This Page
Nepal Pig Farmers and Their Fat Piggy Banks
NEPAL - Pig rearing has made farmers of Karra Tole of Hetauda-10 in Makwanpur district affluent.



According to The Himalayan Times, the farmers, who started rearing pigs with assistance from the District Livestock Office in 2053 BS, are fully involved in this occupation. These farmers formed a group and started this occupation. The group has 26 members. The pigs reared here are exported to different parts of the country such as Dharan, Birgunj, Butwal and Kathmandu, said group member Usha Ranjit.

According to Krishna Bahadur Moktan, another member of the group, a mature pig is sold for Rs 20,000 whereas the price of a pair of piglets is Rs 3,000. A pig has a litter of 15-16 piglets at one time and they are sold at Rs 1,700 each.

Monday, January 19, 2009Print This Page
New Pig Farm for North Korea
SOUTH KOREA - Jeju Island is supporting a new farm for black pigs in North Korea.



South Korea's Jeju Island will send equipment to build a pig farm in Pyongyang to raise the island's local specialty, black pigs, officials told Yonhap.

Black pigs, or 'heuk-doe-ji' in Korean, are native to the semi-tropical island. They are covered in black hair, and the meat is popular for being chewy and rich in nutrients.

Monday, January 19, 2009Print This Page
Two New Cases of ASF in Russia
RUSSIA - The veterinary authorities have reported two new cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).



The new cases are described in Follow-up Report No. 13 dated 16 January, and both involved wild species.

The first case was at an isolated farmstead on the Beshtaugorsky nature reserve at Mineralovodsky in Stavropol'skiy Kray. One animal in a group of 140 wild boar was affected.

Also in Stavropol'skiy Kray, at Debri reserve at Georgiyevsky, 10 wild boar of a group of 140 were affected. African swine fever was confirmed in seven of the 10 affected animals, all of which died. A further 11 animals were destroyed