EFRA Select Committee
Guidelines have been produced by the NPA for anybody wanting to make a submission to the Environment Select Committee inquiry into the pig industry.

It is essential the MPs on the committee hear individual perspectives on the problems facing the industry and, most importantly, what can realistically be done to make improvements. The following notes may help you with your submission.

Your submissions should answer the questions posed by the committee, which are as follows:

• What is wrong with the pig industry in England?  Are present problems more than just a cyclical imbalance between supply and demand?
• Are domestic pig welfare standards a principal reason for English producers having problems competing with those outside the United Kingdom? Are there other reasons?
• What could supermarkets and the hospitality industry do to alleviate pressure on the domestic pig industry?
• Can government do more to support the industry, either directly or through its public procurement policies?

Remember when addressing the above points to explain why the English pig industry is worthy of the Select Committee’s support; outline the benefits the industry brings to the nation.

Deadline for submissions is Thursday September 11. (So you have only a few days to get your submission written.).

Send your file in Word or Rich Text format. It should be no more than 2,000 words long and including an executive summary. Number the paragraphs.

Completed submissions should be sent as an attachment to efracom@parliament.uk. The email should be marked “For the attention of the EFRA Committee English Pig Industry Inquiry”. The body of the email should include: your contact name, telephone number and postal address. The email should make clear who the submission is from, if necessary including a short paragraph describing your farming business.

Supporting documents, such as pictures and reports, may be sent as attachments in addition to the submission.

Submissions may be made public – if any information included is private or confidential, contact the clerk and discuss. Submissions must be original work, not previously published – they can however reference prior work or reports.

If you need any further information, contact Barney or Zoe at NPA.

Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the week – Soil Management
Prepare soil management and site layout plans for land being prepared for outdoor pigs.

South West Training Groups
Helen Thoday, South West Knowledge Transfer Manager, has now organised the 2008 calendar of workshops for this area, with events in the following regions: Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Oxford and Wiltshire. Each of these events will provide the opportunity for farm staff to meet on a regular basis and have fun while improving their pig production knowledge and effectiveness on the unit.

To view the list of workshops click here, or to book your place at a workshop or find out more information, please contact Helen Thoday: 07973 701 202.

Consultation on Waste Exemptions
Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment Agency have developed proposals for revised exemptions from environmental permitting for waste operations.

A consultation paper has been issued and your comments on the proposals contained in it are welcomed.

You can let Defra know what you think by clicking here.

The main proposals are:

• The current exemptions will be replaced with updated exemptions under the headings of: use, treatment, disposal and storage at the place of production
• Some higher risk activities will move to be regulated through Standard Permits
• Simple exemptions will no longer be registered for life; you’ll need to re-register every three years
• A registration charge will be put in place to cover the Environment Agency’s costs of regulating the exemptions
• The majority of Environment Agency Low Risk Positions will benefit from one of the proposed updated exemptions
  The closing date for responses to this consultation is Thursday 23 October 2008.

Work Instructions
While general principles are the same, nearly every farm is different; therefore each unit needs tailored work instructions. A work instruction clearly states what should be done for a specific task, how and when this should be completed and the responsibilities and standards expected of the staff. A work instruction should never make an assumption of prior knowledge and should always be written by the manager and the person with responsibility for physically completing the work and the manager.

BPEX is developing a series of work instructions on an on-going basis, if there are any topics that you would particularly like covered please let us know and we will do our best to develop them. To view currently available work instructions click here.

Word versions of these documents, that you can edit to suit your own working practices, are also available electronically; contact BPEX if you would like these sent to you.

Costly Cross Compliance Failure
Farmers are receiving payment reductions of up to 5% for failing to comply with the European Commission's cross compliance requirements, sometimes worth thousands of pounds to individual farmers. This could, in most cases, quite easily be avoided by making a few simple changes.

Common failures to look out for on your unit include the following:

• Welfare of farmed animals
• Soil management and protection
• Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
• Hedgerows and watercourses
• Pig ID and registration
• Groundwater

To find out more and to and see what actions to take to avoid these visit the Cross Compliance website.

Marketing News

MTJ feature
This weeks edition (29 Aug) features ‘a year on’ in the Pigsareworthit campaign. Covering two pages it details the activity carried out during the past year, coupled with interviews and quotes from all the leading industry spokespeople.  Copy available from http://smartstore.bpex.org.uk/index.asp?296718.

Pigorama DVD
Filming is now completed on the DVD, and it is now in post production and should be available in a few weeks time, when there will be more press activity to raise awareness of its availability. Again many thanks to all concerned in the appearing, making & supporting of the film-makers during this process.

Tesco Pack Stickers
Tesco will be applying large visible Pork Quality Standard Mark stickers to all packs of fresh British pork from next week. This will be in a bid to raise the profile of its offering of British produce and initially will be for around 12 weeks.

Aldi Predicts Tesco Flop
Aldi UK Managing Director Tony Baines has predicted that Tesco’s new discount range expected to be launched within weeks will be a flop. Speaking to The Times he said, “They will be able to compete with us on price but not on quality. For that reason I don't think it will work.”

Export Update
For the latest export marketing update, click here.

National News:

Latest Pig Market Trends
The August issue of Pig Market Trends includes a special feature on the opportunities for British pig meat in China.  In the first half of 2008 the Chinese pork import market was worth the equivalent of £163 million, with the US being the main supplier.  A weak dollar and low pig prices in the US have helped the US secure this position.  The pig meat offal import market is almost as important, worth the equivalent of £139 million in January-June 2008.  France and Denmark were the largest suppliers of this fifth quarter meat.  The incidence of PRRS in 2007 and bad climatic conditions in the first part of 2008 have resulted in a contraction in the Chinese breeding herd.  Strong domestic demand and reduced production have led to increased domestic prices, making China a very attractive export destination. 

Pig Market Trends, a monthly publication available from the Economics department of AHDBMS, reviews the recent narrowing in the differential between finished pigs prices and the average cull sow price.  Sows are fetching almost double what they were at the beginning of the year.  Firm export demand is reflected in the January - June 2008 UK export figures. 
For further information on how to subscribe to Pig Market Trends, contact Jo Stanton on 01908 844396. 

NADIS Update
Swine Dysentery is bacterial enteritis of growing pigs that continues to be a problem on specific pig farms. The classic signs of the disease are scour containing blood and mucus, loss of condition and death.  However, in recent years milder strains of the bacteria have emerged and the disease can present as a non-specific looseness (very similar to that seen in grower scours or ileitis). Many herds are free of the causative organism, which is largely spread from farm to farm by pigs or by faecal transfer. Close attention to biosecurity measures is highly effective and necessary to keep this potentially devastating disease out.

International News:

Smithfield Loss
As expected, Smithfield Foods Inc. said it lost money in its first fiscal quarter, partly due to higher feed grain costs.

Smithfield reported a net loss of $12.6 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, in the period ended July 27, compared to a net profit of $54.6 million, or 41 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Sales at the Smithfield, Va.-based company rose 20 percent to $3.14 billion from $2.62 billion in the quarter, as pork sales soared, fuelled by increased exports.

CEO Larry Pope noted that increased exports to China, Russia, Japan, Mexico and the European Union benefited from the weak dollar and high pork prices in many countries.

Russian Import Quotas Down?
Russia is contemplating reducing its poultry and pork import quotas by hundreds of thousands of tons, the country's agriculture minister was quoted as saying Wednesday.

"It is time to change the quota regime and reduce imports, which have unfortunately built up in recent years," Alexei Gordeyev told reporters.

Russia has been cited as an important and growing export market for U.S. pork.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation lists Russia as the fourth largest export market for U.S. pork. In the first six months of 2008, U.S. pork exports to Russia totalled 75,730 metric tons, up 143% in volume from the first six months of 2007.

Smithfield Foods CEO Larry Pope said Russia was one of the key growing markets that has helped boost the company's fresh pork sales. At a time when there is a large domestic supply of pork, strong and growing exports have been critical to keeping U.S. pork prices afloat.

Maple Leaf Recall Latest
Maple Leaf Foods' Bartor Road processing facility in Toronto — which recalled more than 200 brands of ready-to-eat deli meats and sandwiches because of a listeriosis outbreak will remain closed for now. Maple Leaf President Michael McCain said at a news conference on Wednesday the situation is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis. The outbreak has claimed the lives of at least six people in Canada.

International Prices
Click here for the latest international prices