Make Time to Evaluate and Reap the Rewards
UK - The start of a new financial year is a good time to review production targets and set new ones, says BPEX. More producers are now seeing a gradual improvement in herd health with the stabilisation of PMWS and most herds there are showing signs of...

Pigs Are Worth It
UK - Three little pigs will start a tour of Britain today (Monday) to help raise awareness of the crisis currently facing British Pig farming.

Levy Reduction Will Come in April
UK - A 10 pence cut in the pig levy has been announced as part of a strategy agreed by the board of the British Pig Executive (BPEX) to help the industry in its hour of need.

Exports - A Ray of Hope For UK Pig Industry
UK - Yorkshire-based pig breeding company ACMC has announced orders for breeding stock worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds. They come from a number of European countries, including Poland and Spain where new genetics company, Genetica Meidam Sl,...

New Veterinary Post in Pig Health and Production
UK - Garth Partnership, one of the leading pig practices in the UK, is creating a new veterinary post to further develop the high level of service provided to their wide range of clients, including leading pig producers, to meet the needs within the industry....

Conference Report: Energy Production - A Key Earner for Pig Producers
UK - Energy could be the prime earner for pig farmers. In fact, pigmeat production - in financial terms - might simply become a by-product.

Merial's SAPO Licence Restored
Merial Animal Health has been given the go-ahead to restart making vaccines to protect animals from foot and mouth and bluetongue disease at its Pirbright Centre in the UK.

ACMC Slams Cameron's 'Omissions'
UK - Stephen Curtis (pictured), chairman of Yorkshire-based international pig-breeding company ACMC, has written to David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, about two serious omissions from his speech delivered at the NFU's centenary...

Sign of Times: GB Nucleus is Cut Back
UK - Leading pig breeding and genetics company JSR Genetics intends to reduce its United Kingdom nucleus herd. The cut backs will be made during this year - but it's not all down to the sad consequences of the current economic situation.

FMD Free Status Puts UK Back on Track
UK - Britain's pig industry is hoping the country's re-instated Foot and Mouth Disease-Free status will aid survival. The British Pig Executive (BPEX) is delighted with the news and says it give a welcome moral boost to the beleaguered sector.

BOOK REVIEW: Handbook of Pig Medicine
UK - David Burch reviews this recently published book written by Peter Jackson and Peter Cockroft

Mossie's Pork Finds Five Star Favour
SCOTLAND - Executive Chef Mike Stoddart, of The Marcliffe Hotel near Aberdeen, was so impressed by the flavour and succulence of farmer Ian Davidson's pork that he put it on the hotel menu and gave it its own distinctive name - 'Mossie's Pork'.

Confidence Survey Issued
UK - The British Pig Executive (BPEX) is to carry out its second Annual Industry Confidence and Service Quality Survey to discover how the industry has changed over the last year.

Pork Hits the Heights
UK - British consumers would be happy to pay a little more to help British pig producers according to a survey by the British Pig Executive (BPEX).

Disappearing Act Proves Desperate Point, says BPEX
UK - The British Pig Executive says that pig farming is disappearing before our eyes - and its new advertising campaign is proving just that.

A Good Slap Needed
UK - Clear identification is a vital element of QA and traceability - and a legal requirement, so to help stockmen produce clear identification on slaughter pigs, BPEX has produced a slap marking instruction sheet.

Putting a Price on Faster Growth
UK - Improving growth rate in the finishing herd by just 70g per day could help hard-pressed pig farmers increase returns by £2.86 per pig. And that could add up to a benefit of more than £30,000 for the annual output from a 500-sow herd, says Ed Sutcliffe,...

Ileitis on a High Says Scottish Census
SCOTLAND - Results from a recent survey indicate that more than 60 per cent of slaughter pigs suffer some degree of Ileitis during their lives. The findings, collected from a comprehensive blood-testing programme carried out in Scotland, provides valuable...

New Site Holds Key, says BPEX
UK - Data on average feed prices in the major EU pig industries and weekly sow slaughterings throughout the EU are just some of the information available in a new Key Business Indicators section of the BPEX website.

Thompson's Tip: Lesson for Lumps and Lameness
Many cases of lameness in pigs are a result of mechanical injury and do not always need antibiotics, says vet Paul Thomson MRCVS, consultant practioner with breeding company ACMC.