ThePigSite Newsletter - 19 March 2012

ThePigSite Weekly Newsletter

Monday 19th March 2012

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial – Warnings of Water Shortages in Europe

According to the UK Environment Agency, the current drought conditions could soon impact supplies of drinking water for livestock, especially in England. Drought across a large part of the country is already preventing water abstraction affecting crop farmers but the Agency has warned that things are going to get worse, with grass growth limited as well as water shortages that could affect supplies of drinking water for livestock.

The Agency’s Drought Prospects report, published last week, warns that the drought could spread as far north as East Yorkshire and as far west as the Hampshire–Wiltshire border if the dry weather continues this spring. The whole of the south–east and East Anglia are already in drought.

The report states that prolonged dry weather in parts of England over autumn and winter has resulted in restrictions on summer and winter abstraction, soil compaction and bare ground.

Continued dry weather could also increase risks to supplies of drinking water for livestock, particularly housed pigs and poultry. The Environment Agency and NFU are working with water companies to ensure that emergency plans are in place for this eventuality.

Due to an extremely dry winter, the Spanish fodder industry is also facing few challenges, which include reduced supplies of water for irrigation.

Spain represents over 50 per cent of the total dried fodder production in the EU and 80 per cent of the area is devoted to the production of alfalfa (lucerne). Although not directly impacting pig production, the drought could reduce water supplies to farms later in the year.

A new study at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that red meat and processed meat consumption is associated with an increased mortality risk overall and from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

However, the study has brought a swift response from the American Meat Institute Foundation, which says the research relies on “on notoriously unreliable self-reporting about what was eaten and obtuse methods to apply statistical analysis to the data”.

Betsy Booren, AMI Foundation Director of Scientific Affairs said: “Red and processed meat continues to be a healthy part of a balanced diet and nutrition decisions should be based on the total body of evidence, not on single studies that include weak and inconsistent evidence and stand in contrast to other research and to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.”

Turning to pig health news, outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) have been reported in cattle in Egypt, Libya and Russia. During routine surveillance, pigs have tested positive for FMD in the north-east and south west of Taiwan. The Russian veterinary authority has reported two further outbreaks of African swine fever in the Republic of Karelia and in Volgograd Oblast.

Jackie Linden

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 9 new features this week:

Swine–Infecting Torque Teno Sus Viruses
The latest knowledge on pig disease caused by torque teno viruses (TTVs) was presented by Tuija Kekarainen of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, at the International Symposium on Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases in Pigs in 2011.

Chinese Policies Attempt to Smooth the Cycle
Chinese officials use a variety of policy measures that are intended to reduce cyclical fluctuations in pork production, explain Fred Gale, Daniel Marti and Dinghuan Hu in a report entitled ‘China’s Volatile Pork Industry’ from the USDA Economic Research Service.

Lesion Severity at Processing as a Predictor of Salmonella Contamination of Pig Carcasses
The presence of lesions may be used to predict Salmonella contamination of pig carcasses, according to new research from Iowa State University. They also found that non–experts on the processing line could use their assessment of the lesions to discriminate between healthy and ill animals before the pigs entered the food chain.

Seven Key ‘Risk Drivers’ Pork Players Should Watch
Business today moves at a high rate of speed. Fittingly, so did the detailed analysis of Richard Shanks, national managing director for Aon Risk Solutions – a top risk advisor to many of the world's leading companies – who downloaded a wealth of thoughts and advice in a talk on risk management at the 2012 Banff Pork Seminar.

Is Aerosol Transmission an Important Risk for PRRSV Transmission?
There is a low risk associated with PRRSV spread by aerosols and reinforce the importance of maintaining good biosecurity procedures, B.R. Trible and R.R.R. Rowland of Kansas State University told delegates at the Kansas Swine Day 2011.

Split Suckling
Split suckling is a technique which can be used to help provide enough colostrum to all piglets within a large litter, according to no. 16 of the Work Instruction series from BPEX.

31st Annual Centralia Swine Research Update
The 31st Annual Centralia Swine Research Update was held at the Kirkton-Woodham Community Centre in Ontario, Canada on 25 January 2012.

Proceedings of the 1st International Phytase Summit 2010
Proceedings of the 1st International Phytase Summit, which was held in Washington, DC, US, in September 2010.

Irish Meat & Livestock Review & Outlook 2011/12
The combined value of meat and livestock exports grew by an estimated 11 per cent to almost €2.8 billion in 2011. All the main species experienced strong growth, with the exception of live exports.

Market Reports

» USDA GAIN: Korea Livestock & Products Semi-annual
» USDA GAIN: Still no Rain in Spain
» USDA Feed Outlook March 2012
» USDA GAIN: Russian Livestock & Products Semi-annual
» USDA Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook March 2012
» BPEX Export Bulletin – Week 11
» AHDB UK Market Survey - 16 March 2012
» AHDB European Market Survey - 16 March 2012

Company News

JSR Invests in People to Push International Sales
ASIA & EUROPE - Due to continued growth in Asia and Europe, JSR Genetics has expanded its international sales team.

Boehringer Ingelheim Sets Up First Asian Veterinary R&D Centre
CHINA - Boehringer Ingelheim yesterday announced the expansion of its Animal Health business in China. One of the major moves is the opening of the Asian Veterinary Research & Development (R&D) Center in Zhangjiang, Shanghai.

Pfizer Invests in Future of Veterinarians
US - For the third consecutive year, Pfizer Animal Health and the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) continue their ongoing commitment to invest in the future of the veterinary profession, announcing the recipients of this year’s student scholarship programme.

BIVI Announces 2012 PRRS Research Award Recipients
US - Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI), announces the three recipients of its annual Advancement in PRRS Research Awards. This year BIVI awarded a total of $75,000 to support three separate studies by independent swine researchers and practitioners in their investigations of novel ways to diagnose, control and eliminate this costly swine disease.

Global Pig Industry News