Time is running out, nominations for this year’s David Black Award close at the end of the month. Go to the BPEX website for a nomination form to put forward the person you believe has made an important and sustained contribution to the British pig industry.

Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the Week – Vermin Control
Step up vermin control as rats and mice are disturbed by harvest. Keep buildings and surrounding areas clean and tidy, any feed spills should be cleaned up promptly and feed hoppers covered. The building perimeters should be clear of all vegetation, equipment, rubbish and general clutter; any hiding place will assist the vermin by offering a safe and secure access route around and into the building.

BPHS – Are You a Member?
Don’t forget to join the new BPEX Pig Health Scheme and save money on your production costs! Members of the old scheme will stop receiving reports from September. Sign up to the new scheme today, take advantage of the new features and start reducing your production costs! Join by the end of August and you’ll be entered into a free draw to win a refund of your membership fee for the full three years! Call 01463 233184 for more information or apply on-line here.

Sow Condition
The KT Team has been body condition scoring sows on a number of units. Sow body condition is a critical factor and can affect health, welfare, productivity and longevity.

Target body condition at serving is 3 – 3.5 (on a scale of 1-5) and ideally a sow’s body condition should be individually assessed and managed on a continuous basis to maximise her lifetime productivity. The first unit assessed had an average sow condition score of 3.4 at serving and the second 2.7.

The unit with the better condition sows ad lib feeds during the last two weeks of lactation,  the other unit is on individual farrowings so does have the opportunity to make improvements to the condition of the sows at weaning.

It is important to be able to accurately evaluate sow body condition and to ensure appropriate nutrition is provided to every sow for maintenance, growth, reproduction and lactation, preventing sows becoming either too thin, through having to utilise body reserves or too fat with excessive weight gain. If you think it would be a worthwhile exercise to carry out body condition scoring of your sows and would like more guidance contact your regional KT Manager.

Keep Up-to-Date
Have you informed Animal Health of all premises where pigs are kept? The RPA has during cross compliance inspections come across a few instances where the details are not up to date. Ensure that Animal Health have been notified of the CPH number and location of premises where pigs are kept including those on B & B or temporary housing arrangements.

Marketing News

More Sign-up to Website
The Pigs Are Worth It website had a phenomenal upsurge in hits during last weekend, and it appears that another ‘deal’ website included a link to the PAWI merchandise: http://magicfreebiesuk.co.uk/. This caused a massive increase, matching the previously busiest day on 2 Aug.  

British Sausage Week
Entries are flooding in – after entry letters for the Landmark Banger competition were sent out last week, to all retailers, encouraging entries to the Landmark Banger competition, looking for regionally inspired sausages or flavoured with a locally sourced ingredient.  Competition deadline is 31st August, call for an entry form now, 01908 844107 or download by clicking here.

National News:

£300,000 Training Boost
BPEX has set out its stall to help the British pig industry boost its skill levels with grant applications worth more than £300,000 in the pipeline to a range of Regional Development Authorities (RDA).

Some £77,000 has already been agreed in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region and all the others are at various stages of development. The money represents 70% of the value of each project as there is a need for 30% match funding required.

If anybody is involved in training and would like to know more, please get in touch with Tess Howe on 07779 321078 or any member of the KT team. Contact details are available on the BPEX website – www.bpex.org.uk.

Headage Fee for Animal Health
Livestock producers will be forced to pay a headage fee on each animal they own under plans to shift the cost of animal health on to farmers, set to be formally unveiled by Defra this autumn.

In return, the department will propose setting up a brand new body, possibly with full independence from the Government, to give the industry a greater say over animal health policy.

Defra revealed this week that an annual registration scheme for livestock farmers would also form the core of the consultation on responsibility and cost sharing, due to start in ‘late autumn 2008’.

Under the scheme, a fee per head would be set for each species and farmers’ payments would be based on the number and types of animals they owned.

Defra Survey Published
The Defra "2008 Farm Practices Survey" was published last week and can be accessed by clicking here . It is 88 pages long but includes some very interesting information and charts on the time taken completing various bits of legislation such as ALMs, attitudes on environment, actions views on using computers and the internet percentage farms with health plans.

Hotel Inspector Backing
BPEX has written to Ruth Watson (of the Channel 5 programme the Hotel Inspectors) asking her if she'd like to judge the foodservice sausage of the year competition. Unfortunately she can't owing to filming commitments but she did tell BPEX of her support for pig farmers and signed the petition. She was invited by BPEX Foodservice Sector Manager Tony Goodger after he heard her complain on air about the quality of some of the sausages served up for breakfast.

Nadis latest - PMWS
PMWS continues to feature prominently in reports by NADIS surveillance veterinary surgeons and despite the widespread uptake of vaccination it is worth reminding producers of the various manifestations of the disease:

• Rapid loss of condition in pigs from 6 weeks onwards.  Some farms still experience the condition up to 10-11 weeks of age whilst others see it in older pigs – a natural progression in the biology of the disease.
  
• Non-specific ill health in weaners and growers that may present as pneumonia, scours and anaemia (pale pigs).  Secondary infections are common and determine the presentation.
  
• Late onset acute PMWS – producing sudden death with massive fluid accumulation in lungs.

PDNS – spotted haemorrhages on the skin and complications in kidneys – normally in growers but sometimes in younger pigs

International News:

Export Bulletin
Click here for the latest export bulletin

EU Harvest Boost
Following months of protests across the world over food price hikes, the European Union has signalled it is expecting a boost in crop production which could go towards freezing soaring food prices.

According to a forecast by the Joint Research Centre, a scientific service for the European Commission, published on Thursday (7 August), the 27-nation bloc could see an increase of 16 percent in the total cereals harvest compared to last year, with some 301 million tonnes expected in 2008.

Brazil Soya Slump?
Brazil's soya exports could slump by more than a quarter over the next 12 years as the result of climate change, according to a study to be presented at an agribusiness conference opening in São Paulo today. The study will add to concern over worsening food shortages around the world. It shows that even moderate rises in temperatures would cause significant damage to a range of agricultural produce in Brazil, which has emerged over the past decade as one of the world's biggest suppliers of food crops.

By 2020, the study says, the value of six of Brazil's food crops - rice, coffee, beans, manioc, maize and soya - could fall by between 6.5bn reals ($4bn, €2.7bn, £2bn) and 7.1bn reals if average temperatures rose by between 1°C and 2°C.

Poor US Price Forecast
The 2008 survey of American Agricultural Economics Association members forecasts live hog prices will average $56.88 during 2009 and that hog producers will lose money, according to the University of Missouri's weekly Hog Outlook report.

The report said AAEA economists pegged live hog prices in the fourth quarter of this year at $48.36, rising to $51.61 per cwt in the first quarter 2009. They put second quarter 2009 prices at $58.46, third quarter at $60.25 and fourth quarter 2009 at $57.01.

The prices are based on assumptions that third quarter 2008 pork production will rise 7.2 percent from a year ago, with fourth quarter production up 2.4 percent. In 2009, the expectation is that first quarter production will be down 2 percent, second quarter down 2.8 percent, third quarter down 3.2 percent and fourth quarter 2009 production will be down 3.6 percent from a year earlier.

Bumper US Corn Crop
USDA forecast the 2008 U.S. corn crop at 12.3 billion bushels, the second-largest corn crop in history and well above the average trade estimate of about 11.94 billion bushels, sending corn prices lower on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday morning. As a result of the anticipated larger crop, USDA is now projecting ending U.S. corn stocks at 1.1 billion bushels, up 301 million bushels from last month. USDA also lowered it season-average farm price forecast for corn to a range of $4.90 to $5.90 per bushel, down by 60 cents on both ends of the range.

Olympic Games Hit Pork Figures
The Olympic Summer Games in Beijing are contributing to decreased pork consumption in China as citizens stay home to watch TV, avoid restaurants in Beijing and have fewer street hawkers from which to buy pork snacks as China attempts to put its best foot forward for the tourists.

"As a result, huge volumes of imported pork and poultry products have stacked up in Chinese cold stores, with some facilities reporting 100 percent capacity," according to Joel Haggard, vice president, Asia Pacific region, for the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

International Prices
Click here for the latest international prices