BPEX Weekly: April 09, 2010

Improving Pig Health

Through the Yorkshire and Humberside Health initiative pig producers in the region are making strides in implementing control measures for endemic disease.

Project vet from the Ripon-based Bishopton group, Nigel Woolfenden, will discuss the success of the project a year on at the Pig Health forum on both days of the British Pig and Poultry Fair, May 11-12.

“The level of commitment from producers in the region has been astounding,” he says. “The initiative is all about communication and co-operation and I will demonstrate how this has been crucial in enabling the mapping out of units to happen and establishing the health status of each one.”

Chairing the forum is Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire pig producer Richard Lister, who will discuss the biosecurity protocols the Yorkshire and Humberside Health initiative is putting in place.

“We want to be confident that we have measures in place that will help prevent disease coming on to our units and also, in the unfortunate event of a disease breakdown, the systems are in place to stop it leaving the farm,” he said.

“We are developing comprehensive protocols that should stand us in good stead should there be a disease threat in future and I will be sharing these ideas with visitors to the pig health forum.”

Initiatives similar to that in Yorkshire and Humberside are being developed in other parts of the country so there will be a great deal of information in this forum to interest British pig producers.

The forum takes place at 12.30pm on the first day – Tuesday May 11 – and 11am on Wednesday May 12, in the theatre area between Exhibition Halls 1 and 2.

To see the Pig and Poultry Fair website, click here.

Marketing News

The Heston Effect!

The decision by Waitrose to feature Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal has given sales a spectacular boost. According to The Grocer Heston’s roast dish inspired purchases of Waitrose Essential British Pork Loin Roast to jump by 4,000% – the same amount the retailers would normally sell in 33 weeks.

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Farm Gate Signs Available

The signs are available to Red Tractor Assured Pig Farms, who wish to promote the fact that they are Assured Pig Farms. They are produced from durable outdoor material to ensure longevity in all weathers. 

Plus the NPA has also offered to pay for the first 100 NPA members who order a sign, to download an order form, click here.

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Red Tractor Activity

To support the move from the Quality Standard Mark to the Red Tractor trade activity is now actively promoting the New Mark – which has the same high standards and a wide recognition. 

This begins with a new Red Tractor advert in The Grocer,10 April issue and Meat Trades Journal, 16 April issue, to see a copy of the ad click here.  

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Knowledge Transfer

Improving Piglet Survival

Pig producers can sign up for expert advice on piglet management and survival at a series of free workshops.

Dr. Emma Baxter from the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) will lead the BPEX workshops on ‘The Future of Piglet Management’. Emma has a wealth of practical knowledge about neonatal piglet survival and livestock housing systems that optimise animal welfare – on both indoor and outdoor units.

The workshops will focus on understanding piglet viability factors for improving management and performance. They will also look at the future of farrowing systems – what are the criteria for an optimal farrowing system for both sow and piglets and how does this work in practice without compromising welfare and outcome?

The workshops will feature an interactive quiz and are PIPR registered. They are open for all producers, managers and stock people and there will be a hot fork buffet.

Dates:

Tuesday 20th April 2010 – The Croft Hotel, Darlington, DL2 2ST
Wednesday 21st April 2010 – The Feathers Hotel, Pocklington, YO42 2AH

Tuesday 27th April 2010 – The Crown Hotel, Boroughbridge, YO51 9LB

All workshops start 6.00pm for 6.30pm. Finish 9pm.

To register contact Lis Ravn at BPEX on 07891 656784 or e-mail [email protected].

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Hard, dry faeces indicate that sows could have a problem with constipation. Lack of food, water and reduced movement can all lead to constipation around farrowing. Check the faeces, especially close to farrowing, as it can give you an indication of problems.

If sows do seem to be suffering from constipation, bran, cod liver oil or linseed can be used to ease symptoms.

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Good Gilt Management

Good management and selection of gilts is fundamental for maintaining a productive herd. At any time 20 – 25% of production should be from gilts. A typical 45% replacement rate means that nearly half the herd will have been replaced during the year.

It is especially important to ensure that there are sufficient gilts available to serve in the correct condition, at the required time. This enables the planned culling of old or less productive sows and maintenance of the target herd parity profile.

The most productive established herds, eg older than three years, have stable parity structures with a high proportion of sows in parities 3 – 5, indicating the ability to retain young sows in the herd. To read more on this subject, see our latest gilt management factsheet (no. 27).

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BPEX would like to invite you to our spring workshops in the midlands which will be led by John Chambers, from J C Consulting.

John has been troubleshooting problems caused by poor ventilation for many years and he will share his experience on managing ventilation systems so that they provide an optimum environment for your pigs.

The first evening workshop is on 27 April at Uncle Henry’s, Grayingham Grange Farm, Grayingham and the second is on 28 April at The Crossroads Premier Inn, Weedon. For more details contact Angela Cliff, BPEX: [email protected] or call 07967 788484.

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Red Tractor Assurance Scheme standards for manipulable material for pigs have been changed.

BPEX has produced a short introductory guide to help ensure that you comply with the new standards.  The guide will help assess some of the options depending on the system you have. More information and advice on enrichment toys and manipulable materials will be available from May 2010 and at the British Pig and Poultry Fair.

The revised standards – Red Tractor Farm Assurance, Section AH.1.1 – include the following:

• Chains alone are not acceptable
• Tyres are not acceptable as some may contain wire which could hurt the pigs
• Objects must be shown to be of interest to the pigs – i.e. not fouled
• Objects must be within the pigs’ reach

To download the guide, please click here to order hard copies please email Helen Brothwell.

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You maybe competent at your job, but can you show somebody else how to be just as good?

Passing on practical skills is an important part of the role of most supervisors and managers. BPEX is running a free event to help you design and deliver practical instruction that others will remember.

The one-day practical course includes:

• Benefits of effective training
• Effective instruction
• Use of questions
• Correcting errors
• Breaking down the skill
• Learning methods
• Defining the objective
• Plan of instruction
• Instruction practice and feedback

The course is being held on 29 April 2010 near York.

For further details and to book your place, contact Lis Ravn: 07891 656 784.

You need to reserve your place by 19 April 2010.

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National News:

Calling All Pig Farmers

Are you an indoor, outdoor, intensive or organic pig producer who is producing high quality meat for increasingly demanding consumers.

If so then you are the type of individual that should be entering this year’s Farmers Weekly Pig Farmer of the Year Award. We are on the search for innovating individuals who are running a profitable business and are responding to welfare, consumer and environmental demands.

If this is you then the clock is ticking to enter with the closing date 30 April 2010. For more information about entering the awards visit www.farmersweeklyawards.co.uk or contact Marion Phillips on 0208 652 4081

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The Market Intelligence section of the BPEX website offers a wealth of information on all aspects of the industry.

For example:

• Pork consumption has grown 5% since 2007
• The over 45s are the core pork consumer
• Sausages are the most popular item at a BBQ featuring in 53% of BBQ occasions

To see the information available, click here. A simple registration is required.

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The European Commission has authorised a UK scheme with a budget of approximately £20 million (€22.3 million) which aims at supporting farmers in UK who encounter difficulties as a result of the current economic crisis.

Aid under this scheme can be granted until 31 December 2010 and will take the form of a direct grant. 

The scheme is open to farmers in all sub-sectors of primary agricultural production, provided they were not already in difficulty on 1 July 2008 (i.e. before the beginning of the crisis).

It is limited in time until 31 December 2010 and complements other crisis measures already put in place by the UK authorities in application of the Temporary Crisis Framework. The scheme provides aid in the form of direct grants, interest rate subsidies, loans with an aid element and guarantee.

The approved scheme is UK-wide, allowing aid to be granted at country, regional and local level and is applied in a decentralised way by all relevant aid awarding authorities.

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Below are the latest BPHS assessment dates.

Assessment dates for January to June 2010 in all participating abattoirs have been published and are available on the BPEX website.

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Current data from NADIS covering the last three years shows clearly that piglet mortality follows a seasonal pattern of increasing in the cold weather. 

This pattern is common to both indoor and outdoor farrowings and in the latter case has shown a marked jump since the cold and wet weather, which set in late last year.

It is well recognised that the most important environmental factor affecting piglet survival is in chilling, both for its direct effects and for its effects on colostrum intake.

This data suggests that producers have not fully embraced the thermal requirements of the newborn piglet. Producers should review heat lamp manage-ment, creep construction, bedding, temperature control of heat pads in indoor farrowing units and overall arc and bedding management outdoors.

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International News:

MRSA Research Project

A three-year project is being undertaken by the Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre (VARC) and the Free University Brussels (VUB) with the aim to eliminate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from pigs.

According to VARC, MRSA are multi-drug resistant bacteria that cause severe problems in human medicine. A new reservoir of MRSA was discovered recently in pigs, but different domestic and non-domestic studies show that other species may be colonized as well.

The aim of this project is to eliminate MRSA in pigs, or at least achieve a significant reduction in the level of colonization, thus lowering or preventing the risk of human beings being infected. To achieve this, phage endolysins are over-produced in E. coli or Pichia pastoris. They are purified for use in the in vivo treatment of experimentally infected animals.

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Reports in Chinese local media outlets suggest that Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in China may be more severe and widespread than has been hitherto reported.

The website of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) reports that local media reports suggest there have been Foot and Mouth outbreaks in Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, although these have not been reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

The country reported three outbreaks to the OIE during 2010, a new outbreak of FMDV serotype A in dairy cattle in a village in Daxing district, Beijing.

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Boar Taint Project

It is highly probable that apart from skatole, indole and androsthenone, there are other components for boar taint, Dutch agricultural newspaper Agrarisch Dagblad reports.

Researcher Coen van Wagenberg, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), reported this. He is responsible for a research project related to the ceasing of castration.

He heated boar taint infected meat, caught its gases and separated them. A panel then sniffed the various components and this way it became possible to point out new components that also contribute to boar taint in pork.

Van Wagenberg also researched the system in which people actually determine boar taint at the slaughter line. This is a possibility in practice, Van Wagenberg said. He added that it is possible to schedule breaks as alertness may dwindle after a while. In addition, it may be possible that different people may judge differently.

The researchers also wish to investigate electronic boar taint detection and literature studies have been made. Van Wagenberg commented that a smell detector could be implemented, similar to those on airports for drugs detection.

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Over the next few years, 30-35% of pig farms in the Netherlands are expected to go out of business, according to the Dutch agricultural newspaper Agrarisch Dagblad.

Several sources within the industry have reported this, when being involved in drawing up future-proof development plans for the industry.

Animal husbandry farms had to submit a development plan, before April 1. In these plans, the farms have to report how they plan to deal with legislation with regard to ammonia odours.

Advice bureau DLV-intensief is mainly focusing on the larger farms, but still Paul Bens, director, agreed around 30% will quit the pig business.

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The EU has published a survey of  of people’s attitudes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) , according to which European citizens broadly support the new aims of agricultural policy.

That means helping farmers to meet the challenges arising from climate change, becoming  more market-orientated, allocating  support more fairly and making  it conditional on compliance with environmental standards, maintaining  the countryside and to develop the rural economy. They are also in favour of maintaining its budget. 

According to public opinion, the agricultural policy should focus on ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural products, provide a decent standard of living for farmers and ensure reasonable prices for consumers, protect the environment and rise to the challenges of climate change.

The support for agricultural policy is accompanied by a general preference for the policy to be conducted at European level. Whether it is the protection of the environment, rising to the challenges of climate change, security of supply, ensuring the quality and safety of food or providing a decent standard of living for farmers, citizens believe all these issues should be dealt with at European level.

To see the report, click here.

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New EU Organic Logo

The new logo for organic products has been published by the European Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It will become obligatory from 1 July 2010 and will appear on the market over a transition period of two years. It will be used inside and outside the EU borders on pre-packed organic products.

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Real Meat Lovers

According to a research conducted by the pharmacy newspaper ‘Apotheken Umschau’, four out of ten Germans eat meat or sausages at least once a day. Every second man interviewed stated that a day without eating meat would be absolutely out of the question, according to the latest Export Bulletin. To read the full bulletin, click here.

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For the latest international prices, click here.

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A slip of the pen can set up some interesting alarums. The Danes were accused of buying whale-meal from Iceland, to feed illegally to their pigs.

This sparked a full-scale investigation which has discovered that what the Danes actually imported was fish-meal. The Icelandic exporter had filled in the export declaration incorrectly.
( Source: NPA website)

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