ThePigSite Newsletter - 23 August 2010

Monday 23rd August 2010

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial - Complaints of Double Standards

Australian pork producers, supported by Australian Pork Limited, have been protesting against what they say are the double standards around Coles' new sourcing policy. The retailer has announced it will source fresh Australian pork only from gestation stall-free farms from 2014.

Local farmers complain that the policy does not apply to overseas pig producers – including the US, Canada and Denmark – who provide the country with 70 per cent of its processed pork, such as bacon and ham.

One farmer commented: "How can Coles pretend this policy is about animal welfare when they continue to import bacon and ham from these countries? It's a con and Aussie farmers and our consumers are the ones who lose out."

The producers are asking Coles to apply its policy to all pig meat – fresh and processed, local and imported.

In Spain, pig producers in Catalonia have called for compensation over the EU's partial stalls ban from January 2013.

One farmers' group says the European Commission should compensate farmers, as the new rules will lead to a further erosion of their competitiveness against producers outside the EU.

Will the Spaniards – with the EU's second largest pig industry – succeed in gaining compensation or a derogation of the rules? Or, as with a similar protest against battery cages for hens, will the authorities firmly turn down producers' requests? And in that case, would EU producers also have grounds for alleging double standards?

Please note that, as next Monday is a public holiday in England, the next newsletter from ThePigSite will be sent out one day later than usual – on Tuesday 31 August.

Jackie Linden

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 7 new features this week:

Tianli Broadens its Horizons
A profile of Tianli Agritech, a leading producer of breeding pigs in central China, which has recently commenced trading on the Nasdaq Global Market.

Producers and Pigs Profit from Manure Management Process
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientists have worked with farmers, state agencies and businesses to improve pig manure management for healthier pigs, profits and environment, writes Ann Perry in the latest issue of Agricultural Research.

Evaluation of Methods for Controlling and Monitoring Occupational Exposure of Workers in Swine Facilities
While dietary manipulation can reduce ammonia concentrations, only the spraying of canola oil had the potential to reduce respirable dust concentration, according to B. Predicala and L. Moreno in the Prairie Swine Centre Annual Report 2009.

Canadian Hog Statistics - Second Quarter 2010
By Statistics Canada. There were 2.4 per cent fewer pigs in Canada on 1 July 2010 than one year previously and the number of breeding females was down almost five per cent. The number of farms with pigs declined by more than 10 per cent over the same period.

United Kingdom Pig Meat Market Update - August 2010
James Park, senior economic analyst with AHDB Meat Services Economic and Policy Analysis Group, explains the latest trends in pig production in the UK and European Union.

US Pork Outlook Report - August 2010
Pork exports for the first six months of this year were eight per cent higher than the same period of last year and pig prices are strong, according to the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) August 2010 Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook.

US Feed Outlook - August 2010
The 2010 corn crop is forecast to be a new record, according to USDA Economic Research Service.

Company News

Supermarket Chain Cuts Out Castration
BELGIUM - The country's largest supermarket chain has announced that it will stop selling pork from castrated pigs by the end of the year.

Top Pig Industry Award - Time is Running Out
UK - Time is running out to nominate somebody to receive this year’s prestigious David Black Award for service to the pig industry.

Day One M-Hyo Vaccination Possible
US - Pork producers can now vaccinate against mycoplasmal pneumonia (Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae; M-Hyo) when they are processing baby pigs, announces Pfizer Animal Health.

New TOPIGS AI Station in Germany
GERMANY - TOPIGS SNW is starting up an SPF AI station in Germany. The German subsidiary of TOPIGS has taken over the Stockhausen AI station in the east German federal state of Saxony.

Global Pig Industry News