Finding Latest Feed Info

Defra’s UK cereal supply and demand balance sheet forecast sharply higher supply thanks to a 22% rise in wheat availability to 24MT.LIFFE wheat futures closed at £94/t, up £4/t on the previous week while UK delivered wheat prices saw little movement last week with spot East Anglia values rising £0.50/t to £91/t. Click here for more

Knowledge Transfer

Pig Project a Huge Success
A unique £1.5 million project involving national mass vaccination of pigs – something that has never been tried before – is proving a resounding success.

The project was looking at the value of vaccinating against PCV2 and the results are so important for the English pig industry, the preliminary findings are being announced immediately.

They were presented at the PVS autumn meeting today (Fri) using replies from vets responsible for 100,000 sows and 2,000,000 pigs to finish.

The conclusion from the survey showed dramatic improvements in physical performance in all areas.

• increased weaned litter size up to half a piglet per litter; 
• up to 5% lower nursery and 6% lower finishing mortalities. 
• pigs were more uniform 
• pigs reached finished weight up to 10 days earlier.

On top of the results, BPEX Director of Pig Industry Development Mark Wilson, had more good news. He said: “We planned for a nine-month project to end in December but I am delighted to announce the research project will be extended for another month. We will be writing to all those who have taken part with the good news.”

Tip of the week: Boar Activation
Consider the following to help optimise boar performance:

• Wipe the sow's labia with a paper towel and throw this into the boar pen
• Supply titbits
• Train young boars eg with whistling
• Before using the boar for stimulation move him to another boar pen in which another boar has just been housed; this will increase the excretion of pheromones in the boar's saliva

Text Reminder Service
Don’t forget that you can sign up to receive both email and text alerts on the BPEX website. Just enter your mobile number and we can send out free text messages to remind you of events taking place in your area! And don’t worry about receiving unwanted messages; you will be given the option to select which categories of information you would like to receive notification for.
Follow this link http://smartstore.bpex.org.uk/ and once logged in/signed up click on “My signup options” down the left hand side. You will then be able to select the events (Smart Events categories) and publications (Smart Stores categories) you want to be kept notified of, don’t forget to include your mobile number when you sign up!

Permit Charges Consultation
The Environment Agency launched their annual charges (2009/10) consultation on 12th September; it will run through to 5th December. Proposals for the following charging schemes are under consultation, with further details available here.

• Environmental Permitting (IPPC) 
• Radioactive Substances Act Regulation (RAS) 
• EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)

They propose to introduce performance related charges for those with permits, providing an incentive for those who perform well.  BPEX will be submitting a response.

Avoid Performance Drop
Performance of the 2nd parity sow can be disappointing and badly affect the breeding herd performance average. This can lead to high return rates and subsequently early culling of young sows. This will affect the profitability of a herd with a decrease in output and an increase in gilt expenses as well as influencing the general staff morale. BPEX is this autumn running a series of open workshops aimed at producers and stock people focusing on management of the 1st and 2nd parity sow with the team from ABN/ Primary Diets presenting the latest information on feeding strategies. All meetings are PIPR registered. Workshops start at 6pm and finish at 8.30pm.

• Tuesday 18th November 2008, The Crown Hotel, Horsefair, Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, YO51 9LB
• Wednesday 19th November 2008 The Feathers Hotel, 56 Market Place, Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO42 2AH
• Tueday 25th November The Croft Hotel, Croft On Tees, Darlington, North Yorkshire, DL2 2ST.

Refreshments will be provided. To register contact Lis Ravn: phone: 0789 165 6784; Email: lisbeth.ravn@bpex.org.uk

Industry Structure
BPEX Senior Economic Analyst Tony Fowler has taken ABP data and used it to produce an overview of the structure of that part of the British pig industry. Click here for more.

Marketing News

Porkwatch Results
September’s Porkwatch survey shows a small downward trend in supermarket displays of British pork - British facings being down one percent and Quality Standard Mark facings down two percent. Only Budgens and Tesco showed increases. For full details, click here.

British Sausage Week 3-9 November 2008 – Brilliant Media Uptake!
As well as presenting Terry Wogan with a Porktrait (art using real sausage, mash & tomato sauce) other coverage highlights include…. ITV Loose Women (x 2 transmissions) •Sky’s Channel M (x 2 transmissions) •The Guardian • Live (Mail On Sunday) •        The Sun •The Times • Hello! Magazine • Delicious Magazine •        Country Life • BBC Good Food •Country & Homes  •Delicious •Good Housekeeping •Woman & Home  •BBC Radio 2 Wake Up Wogan (x 8) •BBC Radio 2 Chris Evans Drive-Time •Capital FM  •Heart FM • BBC Radio 2 Ken Bruce Show •BBC London 94.7 •XFM • ITV 1 Anglia East (x3) •BBC 1 East (x2) • ITV1 Meridian South • ITV Tyne Tees South  • ITV1 Central East •ITV 1 Thames Valley  • ITV 1 Central West (x2) •72 radio interviews … exact number to be confirmed •84 regional press cuttings received to date…To view some of the TV & radio clips and for info on all the regional winners visit http://www.britishsausageweek.com/BritishSausageWeekWinners2008.asp

Taste of Tradition Regional Radio Competitions
For another week, until 14th Nov. 40 regional radio stations will be carrying competitions to win a Virgin national trust experience day as well as highlighting the various ways of cooking with pork and the range of recipes available in the new booklet, the Taste of Tradition.

Best Butchers Roadshow to Date….
Butchers Product Evaluation Regional Roadshow – 12 November.

Was held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate. Entries were the highest so far with 188 products from 34 butchers.  With 13 exhibitors in attendance the event was one of the busiest to date.  The overall winner was J A Mounfield & Son from Selby, E Yorks with his Speciality Hot Eating Pie.  For further details on winners go to http://www.britishmeatnpd.com/product/britmeatroadshows/index.html or call Jackie on 01908 844107.

Marketing Activity Update – November 2008
An updated marketing activity leaflet has been produced which highlights some of the current or recent campaigns being run, to download a copy please visit http://www.bpex.org.uk/publications/marketing.aspx

Gammon Consumer PR Activity Planned for December
With the support of Lesley Waters, Gammon is being promoted throughout December through a number of different mediums.  From next week until Xmas consumer journalists will be receiving weekly gammon recipes for them to feature in their publications. In early December Lesley will do a day of radio interviews about how to cook gammon and recipe usage of gammon leftovers.  Plus during the first few weeks of December 20+ regional papers will be carrying a promotional competition to win Gammons for Xmas. 

For details on how to cook gammon go to http://www.lovebacon.info/BaconCookingGuide.asp
For some gammon recipe ideas go to http://www.lovebacon.info/documents/Butchers-gammon.pdf

National News:

Pfizer Trainee of Year
Two highly promising livestock managers on farms in Staffordshire and Norfolk are the 2008 winners of the Pfizer Trainee of the Year Awards for the pig and poultry industries.

The awards, each worth more than £2500, were presented to Zoltan (Justy) Lovas and Daniel Bush by the former Farm Minister Lord Rooker at a ceremony at the House of Commons.

The awards were introduced last year by Pfizer Animal Health in conjunction with the journals Pig World and Poultry World, recognising the importance of training in helping UK producers to meet higher animal welfare and food safety standards in an increasingly competitive global market.

Zoltan Lovas began working with pigs in his native Hungary, and then on two units in Denmark, before moving to England to join J D Leavesley at Needworth, Staffordshire, in 2006.

The judging panel - Stewart Houston, BPEX and NPA chairman, industry consultant Gerry Brent and Pfizer veterinary relations manager Dave Roberts - described Zoltan Lovas as a shining example of how to apply experience and training to improve self-performance to enhance unit output.

Zoltan, whose first challenge was to learn English at night school, is now completing Certificates of Competence at NVQ Level 2 through the Agskills training programme.

Sausages Sought
A catering butcher is looking for a new sausage supplier. The supplier needs to be flexible enough to produce be-spoke ranges and must be able to deliver to London. They purchase £750,000.00 per annum. Further details contact Tony Goodger, tony.goodger@bpex.org.uk, tel 07775 535212.

PIPR New Entrant
The first new entrant member of PIPR, the Pig Industry Professional Register, has been enrolled this week and, as well as receiving all the necessary information, has also been entered in a free draw to win Red Letter Day voucher worth £125.

To qualify for the new entrant category – and the chance to win the voucher in a draw - you need to meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Be in full-time post-16 education
• Be registered on a Pig related course (including General Agriculture)
• Be working full time in agriculture, involving pigs, and be able to provide a supporting letter from your employer to say that they are supporting you with PIPR related training in order for you to gain 30 PIPR points which will then let you qualify to become a full member

Pig Programme for Jamie
Jamie Oliver will be focusing on pigs in a programme to be broadcast in January next year. In the 90-minute programme, Jamie will be trying to get viewers to buy British.

The chef said that the British pig industry was "on its knees" because so much pork was imported from EU countries with lower welfare standards.

He said: "We showed that if you give consumers the facts about chicken welfare they will make up their own minds and the sales of higher welfare chickens and eggs have gone through the roof as a result.

"Now I want to see if we can do the same for pigs. Pork is our second favourite meat, but the British pig industry is on its knees.

"Our farmers say that 70% of the pork we import is from countries with lower welfare standards than ours and would have been illegal to produce here.

"All our farmers want is a level playing field with Europe. The support of the British public, as well as government and retailers, is critical in deciding the future, possibly the very survival, of our pig industry."

Cost Report Due
The annual BPEX report on the cost of production across Europe and beyond now encompasses 14 countries and will be published at the end of November. It will only be available as a hard copy to English pig levy-payers and anybody who would like a copy should get in touch with Senior Economic Analyst Tony Fowler on 01908 844 281, email tony.fowler@ahdbms.org.uk.

International News:

Pork Chain Responsibility
More than 200 pork chain professionals are expected at the second annual Responsible Pork Symposium, to be held February 23-25, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Last year's attendees included representatives from all segments of the pork food chain including consumers, university leaders, retailers, nutritionists, veterinarians, producers, packers, activists, government officials and general industry consultants.

Pork Magazine, in partnership with the Center for Food Integrity, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), National Pork Board (NPB) and National Grocers Association (N.G.A.),will host industry stakeholders for a combination of panel-based discussions and presentations that will focus on the pork food chain's responsibilities in the following categories:

• Animal Well-Being
• Human Capital
• Environment
• Consumer Choices

International Prices
Click here for the latest international prices