Finding Latest Feed Info
Following a rally early in the week, with prices reaching £124.50 on Monday (26th Jan.), LIFFE wheat futures for March Delivery then fell back to finish at £116.50 at close on Friday, down £4/t on the previous week’s close of £120.50/t. UK delivered feed wheat prices for Yorkshire fell back during the week by a range of £1.50-£2.50 with spot prices at £117.50 and May delivered prices at £122.50.

Marketing News
Love Pork Properly
Of the consumers who had won tickets and then braved the weather to attend the cooking demo's by former Atomic Kitten Liz McClarnon, they were given a lively yet informative and engaging session.  Liz cooked up five dishes using a variety of pork cuts. 

These included roast pork belly, curry with butternut squash, loin steaks with a cheesy topping, stir fry with chilli & lime and roast loin of pork with crackling.   While Liz cooked each of the dishes she talked about the ease & versatility of cooking with pork.  The audience were offered samples of each dish to taste, and upon leaving they were given goody bags to take home. All the samples were received with favourable comments, with quotes like 'I've never really cooked much with pork, but now I'm going to have a go if it tastes like this'…An on line press article from Liverpool Daily Post features a great video clip of Liz cooking live,  click here.  Regional media attendance was seen at each event including Newcastle Chronicle and Journal, Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Mail and Post, Nottingham - ITV Central, Mansfield FM, Nottingham Evening Post, Bristol Evening Post & BCFM.   In addition, mentions were secured across four Liverpool radio stations plus Birmingham & Nottingham.  Liz’s management team has also put a piece up on her official website and Liz did a lovely piece on her blog page too.

Love Pork Aprons
It seems the Love Pork aprons that Liz and the team were wearing, also went down well, with a number of email requests now coming in for further supplies.  For those wishing to order an apron, they are available for £6.95. Please email info@ahdbms.org.uk to place your order.  As modelled by Liz on http://www.pigworld.co.uk/Pages/news.html

The Jamie After Effect
Apart from confusing messages on Jamie's cooking times for roasts, and "where can I buy bone in shoulder  joints from", the messages we have received in about the programme seem to have had a general positive effect on the consumers who watched it.  Their awareness to buying and looking for British pork has increased and some of the email comments include…..'I tried the shoulder roast and it was lovely, will be buying British pork from now on'….'I am looking closely at the labelling information on the packs of pork I buy from now on'  Repeat orders of the promotional material produced around the recipes has been consistent over the past week, with reports of some butchers selling out of shoulders, and now worrying what they will be making their sausages from.!!  Also the online advertising on Channel 4 has been working well with a higher than average click through rate to the Lovepork website.  Across all the ads on the Channel 4 pages we are averaging a 2.24% conversion rate compared to the national average of 0.1%.  A fuller round up of the overall effect this programme and its issues has had on the industry is currently being produced, and will  include sales figures, qualitative research and  general comments.

An Evening in With Jamie
Being organised by a Pub in Herefordshire - The Stag.  During w/c16th Feb.  They are creating an evening menu based on the cuts featured on the show using the recipes from our recipe leaflet.  They are inviting customers to come along to have an 'Evening in with Jamie', although the main himself will not be turning up! Try out the dishes and then take home a copy of the recipe booklet.  Pop along if you're in the area.

Knowledge Transfer
Tip of the week: BPHS Results
Review your BPHS results for the last 12 months and identify any rising scores. Check Action for Productivity sheets 1, 6, 12 and 19 for advice on BPHS diseases.

Free Climate Change Workshop
Farmers in the South East are invited to attend a free workshop to discuss the risks and opportunities climate change presents to their businesses: Focus on anaerobic digestion and renewable energy. Organised by Farming Futures, in partnership with the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), the event will focus on the regional impacts of climate change, what farmers can do now to prepare their businesses and look at the opportunities provided by anaerobic digestion and other renewable technologies. It is on Wednesday 11 February from 10.00 – 15.00 with refreshments provided at Friars Court. Clanfield, Oxfordshire, OX18 2SU. To register, please contact: c.wyatt@forumforthefuture.org or 0207 324 3670 / 07825204434.

Preparing Pigs for Slaughter
Housing, careful handling, group size, stocking levels as well as loading and transportation can all have a major influence on the welfare of the finished pig and financial returns for the producer.

ADAS, together with BPEX and Vetscore, are to hold 10 early evening workshops (5 pm to 7.30 pm) with refreshments from early February which are free to all producers, unit staff and members of the wider pig industry. Besides focusing on the on-farm management issues, the most common problems seen in the abattoir will be shown and discussed how they impact on the health and welfare of the live pig. Meetings are taking place in the South West on the following dates (9th Exeter, 10th Shepton Mallet, and 11th Newbury). If you are interested in attending please contact Lynne Holmes on 01522 751374 or email lynne.holmes@adas.co.uk  to book your place. You will be able to collect PIPR points at these events.

EU Funding Available
Almost €1 million is on offer for the Q-PorkChains project aimed at improving the quality of pork and pork products for consumer. The grants will be available during the first half of this year to support promising innovative concepts. Companies are invited to propose their ideas and objectives for new pilot or demonstration activities (March till May 2009).

Topics include:

• Sustainability aspects in pig production (innovative pig production system based on integrated sustainability criteria or sustainable breeding strategies)
• Development of biological markers for meat quality
• Development of non invasive on line evaluation of the total and intramuscular fat content in green hams and loins
• Regional pork chain concepts for local food in European niche markets
• Implementation of cold chain management systems to improve quality and safety of pork products
• Validation of life cycle assessment tools
• Implementation of drying technologies for salt reduced dry-cured meat products to improve quality and health
•  Implementation of certification systems to guarantee the conformity with quality standards / labelled products
• Benchmarking and demonstration of a centralised data register model for animal health management data
  Further information click here

NVZ Factsheet
A factsheet is expected to be available on the EA website from Monday outlining situations when dilute slurry will be treated as dirty water and therefore not subject to the closed periods for spreading or the six-month storage rule. Examples are diluted seepage from under FYM stored on a poorly constructed pad and wash water, but not slurry which has been diluted.  More on this will follow, but remember this has been written with cattle in mind as well as pigs. 

National News:
MEP Enters the Fray
An EU-wide ban on the use of ‘sow stalls’ should be brought forward to ensure a level playing field for pig farmers across the European market, Neil Parish, Conservative MEP and President of the European Parliament’s Animal Welfare Group said.

The farming practice by which pigs are kept in small spaces for the duration of their pregnancies was banned in Great Britain in 1999 but is not due to be banned in rest of the EU until 2013. A campaign introduced on Thursday by the chef, Jamie Oliver and the actress, Joanna Lumley, warns that the unfair commercial advantage gained by farmers in the EU who still use ‘sow stalls’ could cripple the British pork industry.

Mr Parish said: “British farmers must not face a commercial disadvantage as a result of our progressive animal welfare laws.

Healthy Pork Message Wins
The message that pork is a healthy option is increasingly getting through to consumers according to a new report from BPEX. The ‘Pork and Healthy Eating’ report, highlights that more than 4.3 million people everyday eat pork and they are increasingly doing so within a balanced diet.

When fresh pork is considered, consumers instinctively regard it as ‘good’ food.
The report also makes it clear that red meat including processed products such as bacon and sausages are actually a low overall contributor to fat in the diet. While households purchase on average 71.7kg of fat a year only 2.7kg – less than 4 per cent – of that comes from fresh meat (much less than comes from yellow fats or savoury home cooking products).  When it comes to saturated fats, slightly more than 4 per cent is accounted for by fresh meat but less than 2.5 per cent by sausages. For copies of the report, please email insight@ahdbms.org.uk.

Scottish Pig Industry Revisited
The Rural Affairs and the Environment Committee in the Scottish Parliament has decided to give further attention to Scotland’s pig industry, following a discussion on the sector, to which NFU Scotland submitted evidence. This follows a concerted effort by the industry to get the Scottish Government to re-consider its unsatisfactory ‘pigs package’, which was produced following a report by the Scottish Pig Industry Taskforce in the summer of 2008.  The Taskforce’s recommendations were largely ignored.

Outlook Conference Postponed
Bad weather forced the postponement of the Outlook Conference sponsored by BPEX and EBLEX, due to be held this week in London. It will be rescheduled for the Spring.

The latest BPEX quarterly market forecasts, which were to be presented at the event, point to a further fall in the UK breeding herd to 390,000 in 2009. But the impact of lower sow numbers on production is expected to be offset to some extent by further growth in sow productivity, partly arising from the wider distribution of PCV2 vaccine. Lower clean pig slaughterings are also forecast in 2009. Overall, pork and bacon production are forecast at 592,000 tonnes and 168,000 tonnes, respectively, for the year. These figures will now be updated to take the forecasts to the end of 2010 and will be presented at the rescheduled Outlook. To see the slaughtering forecast, click here and for the supply forecasts, click here.

NADIS Latest
A number of producers have been finding in the last 2 to 3 months that weaned gilts have been slow to come on heat after weaning, and in many cases have suffered noticeable fall off in condition during lactation.  Whilst the autumn time is traditionally a period of seasonal infertility, and delayed weaning to oestrus intervals is a feature of such problems, more recent delays are more likely to be due to negative energy balance rather than declining day length.

To reduce the drain on lactating gilts – which can itself also lead to leg weakness problems and premature culling – producers should consider:

a. Increasing lactation feed intake to gilts
b. Providing high protein/energy supplements to gilts on top pf normal feed
c. Reduce the number of piglets sucking on gilts by cross fostering and if necessary late fostering.  However, remember that these extra pigs should be removed by 7 days of age to minimise the risk of lactational oestrus following what would in effect be partial weaning.

International News:
Chinese Support Measures
A recently released Chinese central government administrative regulation aims to prevent large declines in pig prices, according to a news release from AgFeed Industries, a U.S. company that is China's largest commercial hog producer in terms of total annual hog production as well as the largest premix feed company in terms of revenues.  Depending on the severity of any decreases in hog prices, the Chinese government plans to implement one or more of the following strategic initiatives:

• Publish hog price decline warnings 
• Purchase market hogs for its strategic reserve 
• Grant subsidies to farms 
• Adjust pork imports and exports
  In the event of a severe drop in hog prices, hog farms in the largest hog producing areas will receive a subsidy of $15 for each gestation sow, and nationally designated hog breeding farms will receive a subsidy of $15 for each breeding boar.

International Prices
Click here for the latest international prices