Marketing News

Feed Cover Survey
NPA, BPEX, and the joint Pigs Are Worth It Campaign are continuing their drive to lift the scales from the eyes of retailers and, increasingly, processors. To this end a snapshot is needed of how much cover pig producers have taken on feed costs. (The indications to date are that few producers are prepared to lock into loss-making costs.)
Please click here to take part in this survey - in confidence.

Ex Blur star joins feed crisis campaign

Alex James is joining the feed crisis campaign to optimize the results of a recent consumer survey that revealed consumers are prepared to pay more for British pig meat reared to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Alex James will be promoting the results of the survey in the media on 4 June. Alex is an ex pop star (of Blur fame) who has become a well known  'foodie' celebrity, an award winning cheesemaker, small time pig farmer, TV presenter and a broadsheet columist! Plans include a half-day of radio interviews, followed by regional and national press interviews.

Petition close to target

Petition supporters are just 500 off their target of 20,000. If  you’ve been collecting signed petitions at your college or work place, please send them in, to help us reach our goal.

What are feed prices doing in Europe? Who has the highest COP in the EU?

Did you know that every month BPEX publish average feed prices for the major EU pig producing countries in the EU and Canada on the new BPEX website. 

The BPEX site also contains a monthly average cost of production for these countries adjusted for prevailing feed prices and exchange rate – by the why German has the highest cost of production at present and GB is the same as Denamrk and Holland at 140 p per kg.

You can access this information and lots of other up to the minute statistics and data on pig production and consumption in the UK , EU and globally by going to the market intelligence section of the site.  Complete the quick login on your first visit and you can access the information directly at future visits

If you have any comments about this area of the BPEX website please contact Joanne Knowles at Joanne.Knowles@ahdbms.org.uk   

Open Farm Sunday – display materials

Are you taking part in Open farm Sunday and wanting materials about pig farming and the pig industry to display?  If so then BPEX may be able to help. We now have in stock posters of the pig tales and pork tales banners and quiz sheets, which have proved a real hit in primary schools in the past year.

Click here to view a low resolution version of the posters.  If you would like posters sending out for the open farm event on 1 June or for other activity you may be planning with local schools for instance then contact Lesley Jolly mailto:Lesley.jolly@ahdbms.org.uk or call 01908 844247.  We also have recipe booklets and pigs are worth it car stickers available.

Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the week – keeping cool

For those of you who have mister or cooling systems installed in buildings, now is the time to check them. Did you disconnect the system over the winter months? – Check that it is reconnected correctly and that it is linked into your environmental control system. What about blocked nozzles? – It may be a good idea to give the system a thorough service and test that everything is working correctly.

Help for new staff

A number of work instructions (Wis) have been prepared by the BPEX KT Team for use on-farm. The work instructions are particularly useful for new members of staff and are a valuable tool to help you go back through the basics and make sure everything is being done as it should be. To date these include How to write a WI, Slap marking, Preparing a farrowing crate and Safe storage of veterinary medicines; over the coming months many more will be made available. The work instructions can be downloaded by clicking here.

Farmers rev up for climate change

Almost 70% of pig farmers interviewed by Farming Futures in England report said they expect to be affected by climate change in the next ten years. As a result they’re already taking action: half are reported to be reducing their contribution to climate change by improving their on-farm energy efficiency and water management, and 40% are taking action to adapt to climate change.

Survey results also found that more than half of pig farmers are already affected by climate change. The majority of pig farmers believe that climate change presents more risks for their businesses, with only 13% believing it could present opportunities. More survey results are available on the new Farming Futures website http://www.farmingfutures.org.uk, which will help farmers, land managers and their advisors with practical ideas to make their businesses more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Farming Futures provides inspiration and information via fact sheets on every farming sector and topical issues such as anaerobic digestion, water and biomass. Farmers can watch videos, read case studies of best practice and sign up for free events throughout the year. The events provide ideas on how to adapt to and reduce the impacts of climate change now, whilst reducing cost and risk in the future.

Farming Futures is an industry-led collaboration project between the NFU, CLA, AIC, AHRF, Forum for the Future and Defra to communicate practical action on climate change.

Facing up to the challenge

The BPEX technical group has set itself some ambitious targets in the face of serious challenges to the pig industry.

The main aims are to see significant advances in the meat eating quality of pork, improved production efficiency, better health and welfare and reduced carbon and nitrogen footprint.

The BPEX Annual Technical Report has just been published giving an in-depth look at what the group has been working on.

The report reveals that despite the effects of things largely outside producer control, the technical performance of the national herd is showing valuable improvements and this trend needs to continue and accelerate. Copies of the report are available from your KT manager or from the BPEX office on 01908 844734.

National News:

Scottish Government meets with representatives from pig sector

Environment Secretary, Richard Lochhead has met with stakeholders in the pig sector to discuss the future sustainability of the industry, asserting that it was crucial to involve the whole food chain in finding solutions to problems facing different parts of the sector.

The meeting forms part of a Government drive to further support the industry, with other measures including a £30,000 strategic review into the pig sector to help develop market resilience; setting up a task force to examine the feasibility of proposals to alleviate pressure on the pig sector; and highlighting the difficulties faced by the sector at the highest levels of the European Commission.

The meeting held at the Scottish Parliament was attended by representatives from; the British Hospitality Association, Scottish Retail Consortium, major supermarkets, Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, Scottish Federation of Meat Traders, Scottish Pig Producers, Scotlean Pigs, NFU Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland, Officer of Fair Trading and Campbell’s Prime Meats.

International News:

Record Danish pig prices are expected

The decrease of as much as 10% in the Danish sow herd has caused a stir in the European pig industry. Many people regard the decrease in Denmark as a sign the decrease in the production has been grossly underestimated and it will be shown during the next few months how strong it really is going to be. The decrease may be so strong that the UK is now talking of a pig quote that during autumn may reach £2. “We are facing a supply problem that is bigger than ever before in Europe” writes Stewart Houston, president of the British National Pig Association, NPA, in a letter to the four largest retail chains in the UK.

The latest statements from Danmarks Statistik show that the number of sows fell by 10 to 11 per cent during the past year. At the same time the number of first time pregnant sows fell by 2.8 per cent, the number of gilts by 4.7 per cent and the number of piglets below 50 kg by 14 per cent.

Furthermore, Canada is half way through its planned 10 per cent decrease in its number of sows, and US pig producers envisage a pressure to reduce their production as well. According to the NPA this will even more add to the lack of pig meat in Europe over the next few months. (Source, Landbrugsavisen).

Cereal import duties

As you may recall, cereal import duties were already suspended once for six months until I July 2008. It now seems that the EU is likely to prolong the suspension of cereal import duties for a year in order to meet the demand and fight the price increase.

EU pig welfare website

The Commission has dedicated a webpage to pigs’ welfare where you will be able to find the EFSA’s opinions as well as legislation related to this issue:

http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/welfare/farm/pigs_en.htm

Russian watchdog aims to ban processing of frozen meat

Russia’s consumer rights watchdog ‘Rospotrebnadzor’ wants to ban the processing of frozen meat into sausages, hams, dumplings and other products, which, producers say, may cut imports and damage the industry.

Russia imports around 30 percent of the beef and pork it consumes and 40 percent of its poultry meat, practically all of which arrives in frozen form. Imports are restricted by tariff quotas.

Russia’s main beef and pork suppliers are Europe and Latin America, notably Brazil and Argentina. The United States is Russia’s main poultry meat supplier.

“(Rospotrebnadzor head Gennady) Onishchenko has signed an order banning the use of frozen meat in meat products. It is currently being checked by the Justice Ministry,” a Rospotrebnadzor spokeswoman said on Friday. “The order will become effective if the ministry finds that it does not contradict the legislation and endorses it,” she added without giving more details.

Meat industry officials say that the order, if it becomes effective, might have a negative effect on imports, reports Reuters.

Export Report

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International Prices

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