Finding Last Feed Info
Delivered feed wheat prices in the UK have fallen over the past week. E.Anglia May prices fell by £1/t to £118.50/t. E.Anglia harvest prices also fell by £1/t to £124/t. In the futures market, nearby LIFFE feed wheat futures gained £2/t over the week, to close Friday at £122/t. New crop November prices gained £2.25/t to break through the £130/t mark, and closed at £131/t.

Marketing News

PAWI Wins Major Award
The Pigs Are Worth It! campaign has come out with a top award in the European PR Oscars.

The campaign picked up two awards, a prestigious Platinum SABRE Award for European, Middle Eastern and African PR Campaign of the Year, as well as winning a Gold SABRE for the category of UK and Ireland PR Campaign of £100,000 or more.

The Pigs Are Worth It! Campaign was run by BPEX and the National Pig Association with PR agencies Weber Shandwick, Good Relations and HD Communications.

BPEX Head of Marketing Chris Lamb said: “It is very gratifying to win this for our campaign that succeeded in highlighting the serious issues threatening the future of the English pig industry.

“The award recognises the professionalism and dedication of a team of very talented people working with and on behalf of English pig levy-payers. It really is the icing on the cake.”

The SABRE Awards is an international competition which seeks to recognise Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation.
They are awarded to those public relations, reputation management and brand building campaigns that exemplify a strategic approach in research and planning, innovative thinking, integrity and effectiveness. Over the past four years, the European SABRE Awards have become established as the most sought-after awards in the European public relations business, attracting more than 1,200 entries from more than 28 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This year the awards ceremony took place in Stockholm, Sweden where several hundred PR professionals came together to celebrate the best PR from Europe, the Middle Eastern and Africa.

Asda – On Pack Stickers
250,000 on pack stickers are being applied to pork belly joints and collar steaks from this week until stocks last. Featuring two of the recipes from the Jamie campaign earlier this year, they feature a cracking good roast belly on the front.  Look out for them in-store now.

Open Farm Sunday Latest
With only a week to go for farms participating in the Open Farm Sunday event, BPEX has a selection of promotional material available for use with children.  These include: pig tails posters & quiz sheets; a snackathon dietary game; pork carcase cut posters large & small; a set of technical cards which detail on farm best practice and a variety of recipe leaflets. If you would like to make use of these please email (sooner rather than later) info@ahdbms.org.uk with your address details.

Country of Origin Breakthrough
Retailers and processors opposed the move, but compulsory country of origin labelling has moved a step closer today, with the publication of European Commission proposals on agricultural product quality.

In responses to a consultation last year, many consumers and farmers called for labelling that identifies where an agricultural product, such as pork, is farmed.

After studying the consultation responses, the Commission was minded to come down in favour of a compulsory “place of farming” label, which would be a major gain for the British pig industry.

Processors and retailers opposed such a measure, saying it would be difficult to track the farming origins of ingredients in processed foods. But today the Commission has sided with consumers. It promises it will address place of farming labelling.

"To respond to many consumers’ and farmers’ preferences for labelling that identifies the place where agricultural product was farmed, the Commission will consider appropriate labelling within marketing standards for agricultural products," it says in its paper on Agricultural Product Quality Policy.

Brussels embarked on an Agriculture Product Quality consultation last year. In recent months honest labelling has become an important issue for consumers. The Conservatives have introduced their Honest Food campaign. They believe there is a case, under European law, for the United Kingdom to be allowed to pass its own country-of-origin law.
(Source: NPA website)

Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the Week: Feed Quality
Poor feed and straw quality can be a real threat to the physical performance of both breeding and finishing herds. Whether purchasing compound feed or home mill & mixing, producers should be vigilant, especially during the summer and autumn months.

To reduce the impacts of mycotoxin contamination on pig performance, particularly in the breeding herd which is likely to be the most seriously affected, make sure you only use the best straw for the breeding herd. If straw is grey and mouldy, don't use it!

Remember that barley straw is often better quality than wheat straw and lasts longer too.
More information can be found by clicking here.

Annual Technical Report
The BPEX Annual Technical Report (08-09) is now available! The report contains updates of all the KT R&D activity undertaken during the last financial year as well as the latest industry statistics. Chapters include Health, Welfare and Food Safety, Environmental Responsibility and Commercial Sustainability and Training and Continuous Professional Development. If you have not yet received a copy and would like one please get in touch. It will also be available electronically via the BPEX website in the near future.

Cost and Waste in Finishing
A fun interactive quiz highlighting management factors to improve efficiency in the growing pig. Contact Helen Thoday for more information.

• 2nd June 3-5:30 pm Lanydrok Golf Club, Bodmin
• 3rd June 3-5:30 pm Darts Farm, Clyst St. George, Exeter, Devon, EX3 0QH

Good News For Producers
It looks almost certain that Brussels will drop plans to extend IPPC to more pig farms! Following vigorous campaigning led by NFU, with NPA and Defra, and with pivotal technical input by Nigel Penlington, the clause has been written out of the 'recast' IPPC, an action almost certain to be approved by ministers at Environment Council on June 25. This is a significant win for the industry and will take a large weight off many producers' shoulders.

National News:

NADIS Latest - Stocking Density
All producers should have long been aware that statutory space provisions exist for growing pigs within the farm.  These were first introduced in the 1994 welfare regulations.
However, whilst these standards apply to all types of accommodation – straw yards, scrape-through systems, semi-slatted and fully-slatted – it must be acknowledged that they represent minimum legal space allowances and have little relationship to the optimum stocking levels for health that apply to each type of accommodation.  In practice only the healthiest pigs kept on fully or part slatted accommodation are satisfactorily close to the legal minimum levels.  The recent winter has however, highlighted the need to balance optimum space provision with maintenance of temperatures. As the weather improves, stocking density should again be reviewed and reduced where appropriate.

International News

US Export Push
United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk told red meat industry leaders late last week his office is trying to unlock significant foreign markets for U.S. beef and pork through "enforcement and diplomacy."

The same approach that recently helped the United States gain expanded access to the European Union beef market will be applied to other desirable markets such as Russia and Japan.

"It is a USTR priority to make certain that meat products aren't frozen out of international markets due to myths without scientific justification," Kirk said.

Meat Production Falls
Commercial red meat production for the U.S. totalled 4.08 billion pounds in April, down 5 percent from the 4.30 billion pounds produced the same month a year earlier, according to USDA's monthly Livestock Slaughter report.
Pork production totalled 1.92 billion pounds, also down 5 percent from the previous year.

Gloomy Year Ahead
Pork processors are staring down the barrel of another gloomy year, predicted Purdue University Extension economist Chris Hurt in a recent report. Some companies won't be around when it's over.

Just as the pork industry was on the brink of operating once again in the black after a financially trying 2008, the H1N1 flu outbreak and its inaccurate nickname pushed it again into the red, where it's been since fall 2007, Hurt wrote.

Canadian Pig Industry Fears
The Chair of the Canadian Pork Council, Jurgen Preugschas, and board member Stephen Moffett, have appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri- Food as witnesses to the committee’s study on the competitiveness of Canadian agriculture.

Jurgen Preugschas expressed concern that the competitiveness of the hog sector has been severely impacted by the various shocks that have hit it over the past three years. “While we remain optimistic about the long term potential for the Canadian hog sector, it is increasingly difficult to be prepared for and manage the impacts that continue to face the industry.”

Stephen Moffett added that high feed costs, a strong Canadian dollar, low hog prices, the economic crisis reducing access to credit and Country of Origin Labelling “have all conspired to dramatically harm pork producers. And now we’ve been slammed with the negative consumer perceptions around H1N1 Influenza.”

Meat Science Congress
The 55th International Congress of Meat Science and Technology (ICoMST 2009) will take place at the Bella Centre near Copenhagen, Denmark, from the 16th to 21st August 2009.  The programme of events will be aimed at professionals within the Meat Science and Technology sectors, with internationally renowned experts on hand to give an insight into this year’s themes of ‘Meat – Muscle, Manufacturing and Meals’. 

The programme will include plenary sessions on the ‘Value Chain in Meat Production’ and ‘Manufacturing Technology’. Technical tours will include Danish Meat Research Institute (DMRI) at Roskilde, the Danish Crown slaughterhouse at Horsens and the University of Copenhagen/Technical University of Denmark. EU Seminars will focus on ‘Quality of Pig and Pork Products Matching Consumer Demands’, ‘Advancing Beef Safety and Quality Through Research and Innovation’, ‘New Trends and Tools in Food Safety’ and ‘Diogens - Diet, Obesity and Genes’.

Export Bulletin
For the latest Export Bulletin, click here.

International Prices
For the latest international prices, click here.

Tailpiece: Who Ate All The Pies?
British holidaymakers still cannot cope without their cuppa abroad, it was revealed today.
As many as 43% of UK tourists take teabags away with them on foreign trips, a survey by supermarket Asda found. Char champions are holidaymakers from East Anglia, with 60% of tourists packing teabags for overseas breaks and 43% taking biscuits as well. One of the 1,500 people polled admitted to cramming pork pies into his luggage on foreign holidays.