BPEX Weekly: January 14, 2011

Marketing News

Roadshow Hits Bolton

The Butchers Product Evaluation and Roadshow is calling at Bolton’s Reebok stadium next week. 

Entries are still being received in for products varying from sausages, bacon and pies to ready meals, as well as the new Pork Speciality Product category which can include products such as meatballs or home cured salami. 

So if you have a prize winning product, enter now, forms available if you click here.

And with over 14 trade exhibitors attending this show there will be lots on offer and plenty of chances to chat to them all or catch up with other like minded butchers.

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Bacon Connoisseur's Week

Entries are being received, from all areas of the industry, so if you have a winning cure or a best selling bacon with a secret ingredient, don’t forget to enter. 

This may lead to you being crowned the Butcher, Supermarket, Foodservice or OwnBrand, Bacon Connoisseurs Week Champion of 2011, by our mystery celebrity, at a prestigious luncheon on the weeks launch day of 21st March 2011. 

Judging of the products will be overseen by BPEX’s master butcher, Keith Fisher, along with a team of industry experts and consumer magazine editors. So download an entry form today by clicking here and you may also be in with a chance of some great media exposure.

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Video Star on Facebook

During British Sausage Week the Lovepork Facebook fan base increased to more than 18,000 friends (from just 7,500 pre BSW).

This number has stayed fairly static since the campaign finished over two months ago, with over half of them (9,000) interacting in some way with the page every week. 

The latest addition is the series of butchery video’s carried out by our Master Butcher Keith Fisher and they have been very well received with comments such as:

R Davies Fascinating and very interesting. Yes, I would love to see more videos of an experienced butcher at work. He made that look so very easy - it was a pleasure to watch!

P.Scott Great videos!  

To add your comments or to see what people are talking about click here.

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Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the Week - Biosecurity

It’s not only visitors who should be told the biosecurity requirements of your unit – any new staff, both temporary and permanent, should also be made aware of them and you must enforce them!

Safeguarding pig health is a high priority and it is important that farmers consider where the real risks are to draw up sensible rules and make sure staff and visitors abide by them.

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Producers for Profit

The latest edition for Producers for Profit, BPEX’s training-based newsletter, is now available to download here.

Hard copies will be included in Pig World but if you would like a hard copy sent directly to you contact BPEX. Some of the topics covered in this issue include the Fawley Farms ‘Managers of Excellence’ programme, new ideas for farrowing management, Trainee of the Year and how policy makers got the opportunity to find out about pigs first hand.

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Bungee Saves Time

Sows on Buddleford Estates, Devon, are served in a loose area in front of boar pens.

The operator used to have to remain with each sow during service before the bungee system was introduced. In countries where sows are served in stalls this kind of leave-alone system with the AI attached overhead is very common.

The bungee system enables a similar labour efficiency to be seen in a loose housed serving environment. For full details of this novel and time saving technique click here. You can also view a video of the system in action!

To view the video click here. Download the farm case study here:

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Studentships on Offer

Applications are now being sought for the pig sector PhD studentship programme for projects starting in October 2011.

The research priorities identified by BPEX are Pig Health, Pig Welfare, Cost of Production Reduction, Environmental Impacts and Product Quality. Project submissions within these areas will be viewed favourably but if you have a project you think merits attention please send it in.

The invitation is open to all UK universities, colleges and research institutes and we look forward to receiving your project proposals.

Applications should be sent by email to mike.varley@bpex.org.uk on or before 4th February 2011.

If you need further information please contact either Dr Mike Varley, Head of KT & R&D or Sue Wickham, Project Co-ordinator on 02476 478793 or at BPEX, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2TL. Full guidelines and an application form can be downloaded here.

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Secure Slurry Storage

Secure slurry storage is vital in order to comply with the NVZ closed periods for slurry spreading. It is also important in reducing the risk of pollution incidents caused by spills and leaks.

The regulations for slurry storage capacity in NVZs are changing and will come into force on 1st January 2012. Pig farmers must have at least six months storage capacity for pig slurry and it must be in place by this date.

We are therefore urging producers to start making plans as soon as possible in order to meet the deadline. Where breaches are made due to lack of storage after 1st January 2012 then the Environment Agency may apply for civil or criminal sanctions.

Also before the 1st January 2012 the Environment Agency can visit farms in order to check they are taking active steps towards putting storage in place and have already completed satisfactory slurry storage calculations.

Failure to complete the calculations can lead to a breach in the requirements of cross compliance and may lead to additional visits.

The BPEX NVZ calculator can assist you with your slurry storage requirements it can be found by clicking here.

For more information on NVZ regulations visit the Environment Agency’s website by clicking here or contact Anna Davis at anna.davis@bpex.org.uk

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National News:

Tesco Success

Supermarket giant Tesco today said severe winter weather hindered its Christmas trading performance as it posted modest 0.6% like-for-like sales growth.

The UK's biggest supermarket said the heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures particularly hit its non-food offering as customers were unable to travel to their larger stores.

Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive, said: "Our performance remains solid but was hindered in the run up to the important Christmas trading period in the UK by the disruptive effects of the severe winter weather conditions."

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Latest BPHS Dates

Assessment dates for January to July 2011 in all participating abattoirs have been published and are available on the BPEX website

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Live Debate on GMOs

A live debate on consumer opinions regarding genetically modified feed materials and processed animal protein in livestock rations will be held at Pig and Poultry Live 2011.

The debate will be chaired by BBC farming correspondent Adam Henson and the panel will include NFU president Peter Kendall, JSR boss Tim Rymer, Moy Park's David Gibson and food writer Rosemary Moon.

Pig and Poultry Live, launched in 2009, is the British Pig and Poultry Fair in-between-years event. It will be staged at Stoneleigh Park on 11 May, by the Royal Agricultural Society of England in partnership with event sponsor ABN.

"The event will maintain its reputation for innovation by introducing a radically different perspective on factors that influence shopping choices," said Angela Booth, of ABN.

"Anecdotal footage gathered from focus group work with shoppers prior to the event will also be shown and voting technology will allow the audience to have their say."

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Shake Up Your Wake Up!

HGCA’s flagship consumer marketing campaign, Farmhouse Breakfast Week, returns between 23rd – 29th January and aims to encourage the one in four breakfast skippers to Shake Up Their Wake Up and re-think their morning routine to ensure they make time for a healthy balanced breakfast every day.

The campaign website www.shakeupyourwakeup.com provides quick and easy breakfast ideas from weekday breakfasts to a more leisurely weekend brunch. There is also information about the benefits of eating breakfast and details of the events and promotions taking place around the country during the week.

If you would like to order some free resources and support the week by holding your own event or promotion, it’s not too late!  Just visit the website and order your resources by clicking here.

If you would like further information about Farmhouse Breakfast Week please call 024 7647 8735.

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International News:

EU Annual Report

The European Commission has published its annual report for 2010 on rural development policy, aimed at providing a comprehensive set of information on rural areas and on policy implementation.

This report provides statistical and economic information covering the three objectives of Rural Development policy 2007-2013, at national and regional levels.

There is also an overview of the Rural Development budget over the 2007-2013 period, together with information on the financial monitoring of RD programmes in the EU-27 and in Candidate Countries (p229-257).

The report is available by clicking here.

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Eire Producer Quits

Rory O'Brien is one the top five pig farmers in Ireland. His 2,300 sow herd is currently being cleared out, because of plummeting returns.

"The most efficient pig farmers in this country have costs of production of 165-170 cents a kilo (137-141p) but are only paid 135-136 cents a kilo (113p). You couldn't sustain those levels of losses. We took a look at it and decided there was no point in continuing," he said.

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Update on Dioxins

Pork, egg and chicken sales have slumped in Germany as a result of the dioxin scare.

According to the German food industry association, sales of eggs have fallen about 20 percent, chicken about 10 percent and pork about 10 percent in the first two weeks of January compared to the same period in 2010.

The German authorities have lifted restrictions on more than 3,500 farms and investigations of the remainder are continuing.

A statement from the Food Standards Agency says: “The FSA has been informed that levels of dioxins above the legal limit were found in pigs from two of the restricted farms. However, the levels found would not be a risk to health. At this time, we have been advised that all the animals from the affected farms have been destroyed and that no meat from these animals has entered the food chain.

“We have also been informed that some of the potentially contaminated feed from Germany was sent to France and Denmark. We currently have no evidence that any of the feed has been delivered to the UK and the feed industry has confirmed that it is highly unlikely that such feed would be imported from Europe.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and met with representatives of the UK food and feed industry on Tuesday 11 January to gather further information and to ensure the industry continues checking that their supplies do not come from potentially contaminated sources. We will continue to provide further updates as information becomes available.“

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Hungarian Plans for EU

Hungary is due to hold the EU Presidency next and the programme is built on four main priorities. Their shared central element is the objective of putting Europe to the service of its citizens: re-focusing policies on the sorely missed human face of European integration.

1. Growth, jobs and social inclusion for promoting the European social model (implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy)
2. Stronger Europe – building on the foundations and saving the future
3. A Union close to its citizens
4. 4.Enlarging responsibly and engaging globally

As to agriculture, here are the main points on the Presidency agenda:

Review of CAP

On the basis of the Communication of the Commission, the Hungarian Presidency intends to foster debate on the main orientations of CAP in the future. The Presidency will do its utmost to approximate the positions of the Member States with the aim of reaching a sensible consensus. As the programme shows “It is a priority of the Presidency to develop a modern agricultural policy which guarantees protection to European producers and to ensure the information flow reflects the real value of CAP towards European society”.

Debates on natural resource management and territorial balance in the context of the future CAP post-2013 are scheduled to take place at January and February agri Councils with the view o reaching conclusions in March.

Action Plan on animal welfare

The Hungarian Presidency will encourage the completion of evaluation work conducted during the last four years on the Action Plan on animal welfare, which will constitute an essential part of the new EU Animal Health Strategy.

Food labeling

One of the main objectives of the proposal on the provision of food information to consumers is to simplify current legislation and introduce new elements such as mandatory nutrition labelling. The Hungarian Presidency will encourage the adoption of this new proposal.

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German Progress

According to the organisation of Danish producers, LDS, some 70% of German sows are now housed in groups, a much higher figure than previously quoted, according to the latest Export Bulletin.

To read the Bulletin, click here.

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International Prices

For the latest international prices, click here.

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