Finding Latest Feed Info
Nearby wheat futures hovered around the £121/t mark for the week.  Rain in May has brought relief to crops in Europe, although lack of rain remains a concern in Hungary, Bulgaria and Spain.  LIFFE Nov 09 Wheat is quoted at £130/t. The Argentine soyabean crop is now forecast at 30.5-32Mt, well below the previous harvest of 46Mt. The Brazilian soyabean crop is estimated to be in the range of 55.5-58.2Mt. The soyabean harvest in both countries is now very nearly ended.  Click here to go to the feed area.

How We Beat PMWS
There was a rapid increase in farms using vaccine in the BPEX-funded PCV2 vaccination project in spring of last year with the percentage of farms vaccinating later levelling off at close to 70 percent.

But figures from NADIS do not show a significant decrease in PMWS.  The reason is that, as expected, vaccination, at least in the early stages, does not lead to a complete disappearance of disease from farms, explains NADIS.

"This is not to say the effects of disease have not decreased – anecdotal reports widely include reduced mortality, reduced sick pigs and more even growth. It will be interesting to see over the next year whether, as a result of prolonged vaccination, the number of farms still seeing clinical disease declines."

Find out more about the results of the vaccination campaign at NPA's three meetings this month.

• Yorkshire on June 8
  Sandburn Hall Golf Club, Scotchman Lane, Flaxton, York YO60 7RB. Starts 6pm with buffet supper. Meeting starts 7pm. 
• Suffolk on June 15
  Broome Grange, Broome, near Eye Suffolk IP23 8AP. Starts 4pm, followed by a buffet supper.
• Swindon on June 16
  Marsh Farm Hotel, Wootton Bassett, Swindon SN4 8ER. Starts 4pm, followed by a buffet supper.

Marketing News

Sausages a Hit at School
BPEX believes there is a way to get children eating at school again – and it involves putting more sausages on the menu!

Even though sausages are a top meal choice with children, they don’t tend to feature on school menus very often. So to encourage caterers to get creative with sausages in the canteen, BPEX has produced a second edition to its already popular ‘Great It’s Lunchtime’ pork recipe booklet. The new issue includes 10 delicious sausage recipes such as Sausage Tagine with Spiced Couscous and Sausage and Courgette Creamy Pasta.

BPEX foodservice trade manager, Tony Goodger, said: “Following research carried out at last year’s LACA conference, we learnt that the number of pupils opting for a meal in school increased by 12 per cent if sausages were on the menu. What’s more, our research also showed that 70 per cent of school meal managers felt that sausages should appear twice on the menu cycle. That’s why we decided to produce our new recipe booklet to inspire school caterers to get cooking with sausages.”

Not the Ashes!
The Love QSM Pork summer campaign, Not The Ashes, kicks off next week with none other than Phil Tufnell (our favourite British Sausage Week celebrity) hosting a morning of local radio interviews with BPEX Home Economist, Clare Greenstreet to encourage consumers to consider the full range of pork cuts for BBQing this summer, including joints traditionally associated with roasting, such as shoulder and belly. Following the radio interviews Phil will be filmed barbequing for a Video Feature which will be sold in to food and lifestyle websites, as well as being featured on the Love Pork website.

With eating out the most common area consumers say they are cutting back on, the activity will demonstrate that an informal summer BBQ with pork is an easy cost effective way to socialise. Phil will also be promoting our new ‘BBQ’ing Pork’ recipe booklet and Clare will be on hand to lend advice to ensure everyones BBQ doesn’t become a burnt offering.

Pork Farms Sponsors The Ashes
It seems we are in good company this summer as Pork Farms will be sponsoring The Ashes cricket series and will be using Darren Gough to promote their pork products.

Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the Week: Summer Warning
“Twisted Gut” is a problem causing sudden death and summer can be a particularly high risk period. There are two main reasons why heat would exasperate digestion problems.
The first is hot daytime temperatures; this can cause pigs to gorge at night, when it is cooler.

The second is that hot temperatures can affect the quality of liquid feed. This is a risk to pigs’ guts due to gas production, bacterial build up and the risk of haemorrhagic bowel syndrome.
So what can you do to reduce this risk?

• Look at feed hygiene
• Ensure good gut flora
• Improve ventilation to reduce gorging in cool times
• Ensure adequate water supply

Mini Muck
Find out how to apply for grant aid and get an update on NVZ regulations (cross compliance). There will also be a demonstration of a grant aided slurry tanker with innovative shallow injector, saving the host farmer over £6,000/year!

Book your place at this free event (which includes a free lunch) now!

Numbers permitting, a free bus to the event from Horncastle and back again will run, those that are interested in this service should mention this when booking. It is at Thorpe Farm, Hathersage, Hope Valley, Derbyshire. S32 1BQ on  Wednesday 10th June 09, 10:30am - 3:30pm
E-mail: emlmas@naturalengland.org.uk or call the booking line: 0115 900 5350

New PVS President
The new president of the Pig Veterinary Society is Peter Bown of the George Veterinary Group, Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Nigel Woolfenden of the Bishopton Veterinary Group, Ripon, Yorkshire, becomes vice-president.

Peter Bown, who has spent his career in private practice since graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1968, plans to make control or elimination of endemic pig diseases, such as PRRS and swine dysentery, a priority for the Society during his year of office.

“This will help the United Kingdom pig industry to reduce its cost of production and become more competitive in the European market place. Disease currently costs the industry at least £7 a pig” he said.

Success in controlling pig diseases associated with PCV2 will now enable vets to help producers focus on other ailments, including sarcoptic mange as well as the economically-significant PRRS and swine dysentery.

Improving Pig Health
BPEX is helping to bring together farmers, veterinarians, breeding and feeding companies, processors, retailers and others involved in pig production to develop their own initiatives within the regions to improve pig health. BPEX will be supporting the initiatives and providing national co-ordination across the regions.

This initiative is national in vision, but some of the funding (through the Regional Development Programme for England) for implementation will come from the Regional Development Agencies. The project has started in Yorkshire and Humberside with other regions at various stages of development.

Please come along to the 1st stakeholder’s meeting on Wednesday 1st July at Malton Rugby Club, N Yorkshire (3-8 pm) and be part of this exciting initiative. The event is open to everyone in the Yorkshire Forward area. To book your places contact Sam Hoste by 22nd June. Tel: 01653 694490 or email: sam.hoste@quantechsolutions.co.uk. Alternatively contact Derek Armstrong of BPEX for more information, Tel: 01908 844216, email: derek.armstrong@bpex.org.uk.

Revisions to NVZ Booklets
Defra has revised the NVZ Guidance for Farmers leaflets published in October 2008 clarifying text and including some of the points which have arisen as questions for interpretation. New booklets are available on the Defra website along with a summary of the changes. The summary can be found by clicking here.

National News:

Cost of Production Report
The latest Cost of Production report for the UK, Europe and selected other countries is now available as a download from the BPEX website. It can be accessed by clicking here.

Casualty Pig Booklet Update
The Pig Veterinary Society with support from the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation has updated the booklet, “The Casualty Pig.”
The updated booklet was launched at the Pig Veterinary Society Spring meeting in Bristol on May 19, 2009. The booklet is available in hard copy from PVS (secretary@pigvetsoc.org.uk)  and also from BPEX.

Most producers should receive a copy from their own veterinary practice, who will have copies for distribution. All pig producers and veterinary surgeons are advised to have a copy of the 2009 revised booklet which has been substantially updated and provides up-to-date guidance on compliance with the current regulations. Farms in the ABP assurrance scheme are required to be in possession of this latest version. To request a copy please contact BPEX (kt@bpex.org.uk), stating your name and postal address.

International News

Irish Dioxin Report
A report has been published by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on the contamination of Irish pig meat by dioxins. To read the report, click here.

Danish Crown Shifts to Germany
Danish Crown is busy working out how much of its production it needs to move to Germany.

It will be closing more of its slaughterhouses in Denmark. This will take up to 18 months, during which time the co-operative will be attempting to build sufficient slaughtering capacity in Germany.

Danish Crown continues to be in crisis because increasingly producers are sending their pigs to Germany, where they get a better price.

Labour costs are too high in Denmark to run slaughterhouses competitively, according to Henning Otte Hansen, senior advisor at the Food Economic Institute of University of Copenhagen.

US Producers Hopes Dashed
Kerplunk - the sound of pork producers' hopes for profitability this summer. The hog futures market bottomed out on Tuesday afternoon as the industry is showing no signs of returning to profitability even during the traditionally profitable summer months of May, June, July, August and September.

Purdue University economist Chris Hurt said indications were the profitability that hog producers were holding out for after suffering 18 months of losses would continue to elude them at least until spring of 2010 as grain prices rise, hog prices stay low and export demand lags.

Chinese Pig Sector Challenged
The National People's Congress, China's legislature has launched an inspection program, to examine the challenges the industry is facing.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture has informed the NPC inspection team which issues were most pressing for the industry, including the losses pig farmers are suffering as a result of a significant and sustained slump in pork prices since the beginning of this year.

Animal-related epidemic diseases are another prominent problem.

Gao Hongbin, Ministry of Agriculture, said, "The risks and uncertainty about animal-related epidemic diseases are increasing and have become a common problem facing all people.

The bird flu, and swine blue ear epidemics in recent years, as well as the current A/H1N1 flu pandemic have caused significant impact on the stable development of China's stock raising industry."

Export Bulletin
For the latest Export Bulletin, click here.

International Prices
For the latest international prices, click here.