Business Rises From the Ashes with a First for BD
FRANCE - A fire at that completely destroyed the breeding unit at Paul, David and Vincent Pelletier's farm in La Chapelle Thémer at Vendée in western France did not mean the end of pig production. No, it just spurred them into investment and within a...

New Appointment Supports 'Polish Push'
POLAND - Jacek Gajowczyk, Managing Director of Maxypro Jacek Gajowczyk, a pig production consultant based in the south of Poland, has been appointed as JSR Genetic's main distributor in Poland.

TOPIGS and Yurun Food Group Partners in Nucleus Farm
GENERAL - Thanks to a new partnership between TOPIGS and Yurun Food Group, a nucleus farm will be set up to supply TOPIGS genetics to an integrated pig production chain producing 3 million slaughter pigs per year. The aim of the partnership is to improve...

Hypor China Appoints Sales and Marketing Manager
CHINA - Pig genetics company Hypor China has appointed Mr. Wang Laixi (pictured) as Sales and Marketing Manager, for China.

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.

Open House for First Hi-Tech 'Finnish' System
FINLAND - A working partnership between equipment manufactured Big Dutchman and Finland's premier processer LSO Foods will officially unveil its first pig finishing operation tomorrow at Hämeenkoski.

Gian Giacomo Grandi New Manager Italian TOPIGS Company HBI
ITALY - TOPIGS is pleased to announce the appointment of Gian Giacomo Grandi (1958) as manager for HBI, with effect from 1 January 2008. HBI is the Italian subsidiary of TOPIGS.

Hendrix Genetics B.V. sells Plumex B.V. to its founder J. de Lange
GLOBE - Hendrix Genetics and Poultry Concepts signed an agreement in which Poultry Concepts acquires an 80% shareholding in Plumex, effective from 1st January 2008.

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.

Production Benefits from IIleitis Vaccine
MID WEST - Porcine ileitis, a common disease also known as Porcine Proliferative Enteropathy, is caused by the bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis. The costs of the disease can be high and have been projected to exceed US$22 per affected pig and production...

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.

Croatian Minister Opens New EU-standard Pig Unit
CROATIA - Zdravko Škarec, a committed and innovative farmer from Polonje, Croatia, has his sights set on the European Union.

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