Finding Latest Feed Info
ADAS report that the total wheat area for the UK is expected to fall by 8% to 1.9M ha. Spring planting in the Ukraine is currently suffering from poor weather conditions which are affecting the whole country.

Soyabean exports from Brazil this year are expected to be strong as increased demand from China and the poor crop in Argentina has increased the competitiveness of, and demand for, Brazilian soyabean. It is expected that Brazil will export 24Mt of soyabean this year, with China being the main destination.

Pig Producers See Brighter Future
Confidence may be lacking in the English pig industry but there is certainly more optimism for the future than last year.

The results of the latest BPEX confidence survey, which has been running since 2006, have just been analysed.

While they show the industry as a whole is not too confident, producers are certainly more optimistic that they will have a better future.
The main points from the survey are:

• Overall producers confidence index was less than half it was in 2006 
• 34% of producers were, however, optimistic about the future 
• Fewer producers were looking at investing in buildings compared with 2007, though the allied industry sector showed an increase in confidence 
• When looking at reasons for capital expenditure, 23% of producers and 34% of processors says the reason was to comply with environmental legislation 
• All sectors reported improved competitiveness against UK businesses 
• In relation to EU competitors, 42% reported an improvement compared with only 13% in 2007

BPEX Head Supply Chain Development Andrew Knowles said: “One of the key findings was when we looked at the factors likely to limit output and the lack of skilled labour was cited by 13% of producers and 14% of processors. This is something of which the industry is aware and steps are being taken to improve training and attract and retain new staff. It was also gratifying to see the industry generally does use the services provided by BPEX and also values them highly.”

The survey also included a section where those taking part could put forward suggestions for ideas and services BPEX could provide in future.

These included: ‘It would be useful to develop stronger/clearer links between Allied Industry Groups and BPEX to aid how we help producers.’

‘I am a little disappointed in the response to the activity on meat quality.’

‘Increased information on the feed market would be useful going forward.’

‘BPEX should consider funding a recording bureau to give a comparison of farm performance against the rest of the industry.’

Marketing News

Asda’s Local Food Sales Rise
According to a report by talkingretail.com. The company, which has spent over £80,000 researching its customers’ views on local food, now stocks over 6,500 local products. 

Customer Planning Manager, Caroline Burgess was reported by as saying “41% growth in the last twelve months in England and Wales is a phenomenal result and means that local is now as big as more established areas of the business, such as fish.

“Asda’s hub system has been in place since 2002 and we have nine hubs working in fourteen regions across the UK working directly with local suppliers to guide them through the Asda accreditation process and act as a single distribution point, saving on average three million food miles a year.” Scotland and Norther Ireland have increased 29%. For more info click here.

New Pork Cuts Range
A foodservice version of the pork (carcase) cuts range poster featuring an ‘at a glance’ coloured coded cooking guide, and an accompanying cooking guide reference leaflet has been produced and offered to catering butchers and colleges.  Feedback so far has been positive, as per the following quote: Received the charts, many thanks. I think they are excellent. They have helped me educate my telesales staff. We have sent the A4 charts to all of our Chefs have found them useful for educating some of their junior staff. As a sales tool it has helped me as it’s clear and well put together. It is nice that we can be proactive in recommending a variety of pork products that may be the customer hadn’t considered.  Kind regards, Nigel - Catering Butcher, Derbyshire .
For a copy please contact Karen at foodservice@bpex.org.uk

All Day Dining
Pub Chef Features the ‘all day breakfast’ offering and the importance of using quality ingredients. It also references sausages as an ideal solution for all day dining menus, from sausage baguettes to bangers and mash.

Barbecue Feature
Caterer and Hotelkeeper offers advice for caterers and highlights the benefits of using pork and pig meat, to help them build profit from the barbecue occasion this summer.

Knowledge Transfer

Tip of the week: Night Check Issues
Have you run through a series of night check scenarios with your staff recently? It is important to have some clear strategies on dealing with different farrowing problems depending on who does the night check. Dealing with unsettled sows, mastitis and sows requiring assistance should be reviewed with new and existing members of staff. Also discuss when to assist and when to provide the farrowing tool box of drugs. Discuss with your vet and all staff at the next vet visit.

Polish Work Instructions
Following the success of the foreign language guidelines, printed a couple of years ago, and demand for a selection of the template work instructions to be translated, you can now download many of them in Polish from the BPEX website.

Abattoir Hygiene Tenders
Under the BPEX Strategic Priorities, AHDB wishes to commission work that will provide additional information that can be utilised within the FSA Pig Risk Based Process Monitoring scheme. A number of invitations to tender have been announced, details can be found on the BPEX website.

Closing date for applications is no later than 12:00 noon on 30.04.2009 but please see the full instruction enclosed with each tender. For further information please contact John Goodman: john.goodman@ahdbms.org.uk or 01908 844151.

Change for Success
The BPEX Change for Success KT event that took place in March was a huge success with more than 100 delegates attending. The speakers, hand picked by the KT team, presented topics about management factors that could be changed now, with little or no capital investment. “The idea was that producers can change certain aspects of management which should be quite simple, but have a big impact on production which would lead to success” explained Helen Thoday of the KT Team. Presentations can be downloaded by clicking on the appropriate link below.

• If my business was a pig farm – David Hughes
• I manage my business by numbers – Roger meadows
• Why did my last good member of staff leave? – Asger & Dorthe Krogsgaard
• Piglet survival: New thinking for an old problem – Emma Baxter
• The biosecurity question – David Chennells

National News:

Task Force Latest
There is now a pig task force section on the Defra website including a summary from the first meeting. It can be found by clicking here.

Cranswick Buys Bowes
Cranswick has bought rival firm Bowes of Norfolk for £17.2m. The deal sees the East Yorkshire firm acquire one of Norfolk's longest standing family owned businesses, which specialises in pig-rearing and pig meat processing.

The arable farming business will be retained by certain members of the Bowes family together with a portfolio of properties.

On completion - expected to be within 10 weeks - the pig-rearing business will be sold to a management buyout (MBO) team comprising certain members of the Bowes family and certain members of Bowes' management. A pig supply agreement will be entered into by both parties on completion.

The net assets of Bowes on completion excluding the arable farming business and after disposal of the pig-rearing activities are expected to amount to £9.6m.

The adjusted profit before interest and tax attributable to the assets being acquired by Cranswick included in the audited accounts of Bowes for the year ended March 29, 2008 amounted to £2.1m on sales of £75.8m and the gross assets of the business at that date were £21.8m.

Cranswick said that Bowes was a significant operator in the pig-meat processing sector and that the acquisition re-inforced its Cranswick's position in the sector.

"The business will continue as a separate operation within Cranswick with its own management team reporting directly to Adam Couch, the Cranswick main board director responsible for the Group's fresh pork operations," it said in a statement.

Procurement Poser
The thorny question over who uses how much hom,e-produced meat raised its head in the Commons again when the Secretary of State for Justice was asked what proportion of (a) ham, (b) pork, (c) beef and (d) chicken served in public sector prisons was produced in the UK in the last period for which figures are available. [264663]

Mr. Straw: Percentages of meat used by HM Prison Service that were produced in the UK in 2007-08 are shown in the following table.

Percentage
Poultry meat  29
Beef and veal  13
Pork  23

Boar Taint Website
Pfizer Animal Health has launched a website explaining boar taint and promoting its product Improvac, which is an alternative to physical castration. In launching the website the company is aiming for increased consumer acceptance and understanding. The site describes how Improvac works and how it affects growth rates and consumer safety. It also includes video footage and comments from experts and the results of market research among consumers.

Fly Numbers
Geraint Price of Novartis has had several queries over the past week or so regarding fly numbers building up on pig farms.  He said:

“Warm weather is on its way bringing with it ideal conditions for flies to breed and multiply. Since the entire life cycle of the house fly can be completed within 8 days, staggering numbers can build up in a short space of time. Flies are more than a nuisance; they carry bacteria (such as Salmonella and Brachyspira) and may cause carcass condemnations in abattoir. It is worth checking fly breeding sites (such as under the slats in your sheds) for fly and larvae activity.  It may be necessary to apply a larvicide (Neporex®) and adulticide (SpY™ or Oxyfly®) to control the fly breeding population on your site and reduce the risk of an outbreak later in the spring.   More details can be found on the Novartis Animal Health website.”

International News

Export Bulletin
For the latest Export Bulletin, click here.