BPEX Weekly: July 09, 2010

Tip of the Week – Semen Storage

Check the operating temperature of your semen storage cabinet(s) and if necessary relocate if necessary. During periods of hot weather it may not be able to maintain the correct temperature range.

Those using DIY AI should check the ambient temperature where boars are housed and if temperatures rise above 23ºC make a note on the calendar to check for abnormalities for up to eight weeks afterwards.

Hidden Health Problems

BPHS reports can be used to identify costly health problems and help make changes on-farm to control them.

For example, BPHS reports highlight milk spot liver which can be a result of roundworm infection. In addition to the losses through direct effects on productivity, worms may be reducing the effectiveness of vaccines and making your pigs more susceptible to the diseases you were trying to prevent.

Research has shown that when pigs were infected with low numbers of eggs from the common roundworm (Ascaris suum) and then vaccinated against Enzootic Pneumonia (EP) the vaccine was less effective

To read more please click here.

There’s still a year left to join up to the BPHS and any farm that joins up now – at a cost of just £50 – will get all their results back-dated to the start of the scheme. These can then be discussed with vets and action plans developed.

To join, please get in touch with Jane Brennan on 01463 233184. A membership form is available by clicking here.

For more information on worm control see the BPEX 2TS Action for Productivity on Regular Worming.

Marketing News

Maple Bacon Coffee

Reminiscent of a hearty Saturday morning breakfast around the table, this sweet, savory coffee delights the senses with the smell and taste of home!

Maple Bacon Morning has a base that’s full-bodied and complex and it’s a delicious way to rise when the rooster crows! Further information click here.

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Bacon iPhone

If you’re a discerning eater, you know the age-old mantra: everything’s better with bacon.

Out in Germany, they’ve really taken it to heart, and have made fabric gadget cases that look like they’re constructed out of every gentile’s favorite pork product.

The Bacon Case seems to come in different sizes, at least one of which can fit the iPhone, and is selling for 25 Euro.

The description’s all in German and I don’t know what or who a "Frühstücksspeck" is, but the case is "Absolute Trendtasche!!!" and who am I to argue with that? More pictures here.

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PoS Material On-line

Want to refresh your shop with some new posters or recipe cards, click here and order directly, while stocks last, recent campaign and promotional material to promote pork and pork products.

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Knowledge Transfer

EPH on Target

Following very successful vet/client meetings and the support of the veterinary profession, Easter Pig Health (EPH) is on target to achieve 80% of the Eastern region sow herd registered by early August 2010. The most recent information from Defra shows 100,571 sows in the Eastern region.

A meeting for the ancillary trades on 6th July was well attended, with them offering considerable support to EPH. Suggestions for practical initiatives were brought to the meeting and work is underway to implement many of these.

Registration is free to the producer, on-line and a very simple process. Funding for stage two is dependent on the number of sows registered by early August so play your part in securing funding and enjoying the biosecurity benefits the scheme will bring. www.pighealth.org.uk

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YHH On the Move

Yorkshire and Humberside Health (YHH) is off on a field trip next week (13th-15th July) to the Great Yorkshire Show, which attracts 125,000 visitors every year! With nine pig showing categories this year, it’s the perfect opportunity for the team to get out there and meet pig keepers from across the region.

Armed with the new publication “Who is a pig’s worst enemy?” (which contains biosecurity advice for the smaller scale producers in our industry), YHH plans to equip the pig keeping population with everything they need to be responsible and productive pig owners.

If you are attending the show feel free to drop by for a chat. We will be on the British Pig Association stand (Tuesday and Thursday) and the Yorkshire Forward stand (Wednesday). Look forward to seeing you there! More information about the show can be found at www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk

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Ask BPEX!

“Ask BPEX" is a question and answer service brought to you by the BPEX Team. This includes experts in nutrition, the environment, health, meat science, practical on-farm advice and much more! To ask a question or read some previously asked questions, click here.
One question recently submitted was:
Question: I have to calculate whether we have enough dirty water capacity for 6 months storage. Are there standard figures to calculate liquid output per pig? I can calculate quantities amounting from rainfall on outside concrete and roofs but cannot discover how to estimate what the animals themselves produce. I have a reasonable idea of water consumption but clearly not all that water ends up in the lagoon.
Answer: To assist producers calculate their NVZ spreading and storage requirements BPEX have prepared two spreadsheets, one is for those who run continuous flow systems and one for batch systems as the calculations are slightly different. These can be found by clicking here. The spreadsheets use Defra standard data taken from NVZ Leaflet 3.

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IPPC Directive Revised

The IPPC Directive is being revised and is now called the Industrial Emissions Directive. Revision of a Directive is a long process involving the writing and approving of text at a number of different levels.

The EU Parliament in Strasbourg voted through the latest version this Wednesday (7th July). Early proposals included items of significant impact to pig and poultry producers including new thresholds for farms with more than one type of activity, these would have seen many breeder finisher farms with more than 210 sows brought in.

EU Parliament voted to keep the current levels for the time being, but has brought forward to the end of 2011 a requirement for the European Commission to conduct a review of thresholds to see if reducing them would be beneficial in reducing pollution.

Therefore the jury is still out and in effect the uncertainty continues. BPEX will be monitoring progress of the review and looking for opportunities to input where appropriate.

Manure spreading off farm and inclusion of Intensive Cattle Farming (not defined) are also to be reviewed with these being concluded in 2012.

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National News:

Strong Growth for Bookers

The UK’s biggest cash and carry chain, based in Northamptonshire, put its supermarket rivals in the shade by reporting another strong quarter of sales growth.

Booker, which has 172 branches in the UK, said on Wednesday that like-for-like sales were 4.8% higher in the 12 weeks to June 18, despite strong comparisons from a year earlier and the backdrop of virtually no food price inflation.

Recent figures from supermarkets Sainsbury and Tesco showed like-for-like sales growth of around 1% as the sector struggles with comparisons against particularly high food inflation a year ago.

Helped by good weather over the period, Booker said its fresh food departments traded well, with sales of fruit and vegetables up 60% and meat 11% higher.

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Latest BPHS Dates

Below are the latest BPHS dates.

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

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Campylobacter Research

Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK, causing over 300,000 cases per year and costing the economy more than £583 million.
The most common source is poultry meat, although it is also found in red meat, unpasteurised milk and untreated water.

To support the Agency’s five-year campylobacter risk management programme, the Agency is looking to commission a range of research as part of a new campylobacter research programme.

Where appropriate, the FSA will work with other funders to help deliver the evidence needed in a coordinated way.

The initial areas of research are:
• feasibility of developing a rapid on-farm test
• effectiveness of biosecurity training
• controlling campylobacter in the slaughterhouse
• monitoring campylobacter
• predictive models
• measuring the impact of interventions

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Food and Farming Awards

The BBC is now accepting nominations for this year’s Food and Farming Awards.
There are 10 categories covering the entire industry and the BBC is seeking as many nominations as possible.

For more information take a look at the website www.bbc.co.uk/foodawards.

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Red Tape Task Force

Agriculture and Food Minister Jim Paice has set out how the new Task Force on Farming Regulation will work to reduce the bureaucratic burdens that English farmers and food producers face.

The Minister also announced the membership of the Task Force that will take this work forward. Led by Richard Macdonald, it includes individuals with wide experience in farming and growing, retail, food processing, conservation, private and public sector management and regulatory implementation and enforcement.

The Task Force has been asked to identify ways to reduce this burden on farmers and food processors by reviewing regulations and their implementation. They will advise how best to achieve a risk-based system of enforcement whilst maintaining high environmental, welfare and safety standards. Their work will cover:

• farming (including horticulture)
• food issues as they apply on farm
• food processing where farmer and processor interests overlap
  processing of farmed produce
• the group will focus on identifying and making recommendations on:
• unnecessary measures, which might be revoked or, if EU-based, re-negotiated
• alternative approaches that could reduce the burden of existing regulations – removing ‘gold-plating’
• disproportionate or overly complex implementation and enforcement that could be made more simple, empathetic, risk-based and outcome driven.

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Nuffield Scholar Update

BPEX Knowledge Transfer Manager and Nuffield Scholar Helen Thoday writes: I attended my first Nuffield pig group event and it was an excellent introduction to the ongoing network of pig scholars that I have become part of.

"The group, which was chaired by Chris Fogden and organised by Wendy Houston, attended an excellent day of visits followed by a session of presentations from current Nuffield Scholars Richard Hooper and Andrew Freemantle."

To read about it click here.

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International News:

Brussels Seeks Views

The European Commission is in the process of retuning to national and local governments the freedom to decide whether to grow GM crops.

The new policy is aimed at overcoming a stalemate that has severely curtailed the market for biotech seeds in Europe for years. Only two crops, produced by Monsanto and BASF, are sold for cultivation.

he new flexibility is supposed to open up markets in countries such as the Netherlands, where governments are broadly favorable toward growing and trading biotech products, while countries such as Austria, where the products are unpopular, can maintain a ban.

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Danes Forecast Rises

Pig price forecasts in Denmark have been revised upwards as favourable currency movements continue to boost the competitiveness of Danish pigmeat.
The last forecast from the Danish Agriculture and Food Council (DAFC) raises the average quotation price for 2010 to DKK9.45/kg (€1.27/kg), some DKK0.47/kg (€0.06/kg) more than last year.

This figure, which refers to prices paid for slaughter pigs by Denmark’s two largest pigmeat processors, Danish Crown and Tican, is DKK0.29/kg (€0.04/kg) higher than the previous forecast in March (See AE2407, 09.04.10, p.22).

This upward revision would give a typical pig producer, finishing 10,000 slaughter pigs annually, extra earnings of around DKK250,000 (€33 565).

For integrated pig production of both weaners and finished pigs, the price improvement will increase profits to DKK5.0/pig (€0.67/pig), compared to the break-even situation predicted in March.

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Seeking Fairer Supply Chain

The European Union has given scant attention to the sometimes fraught relationship between farmers and supermarkets, according to a report published this week.

It says inefficient middle-men are contributing to unequal price transmission, price rigidity and unfair contractual conditions being imposed on primary producers.

The 11-page text, Towards more efficient and fairer retail services, does not come up with any solutions.

But it notes that concentration at retail and processing level have impacted on small independent shops and small agricultural producers.

It notes a lack of rules governing unfair commercial practices and contractual relations between different parties along the supply chain and poor application of rules where they do exist.

The European Commission is now calling on interested parties to submit responses to the report by Sept 10.

These will be fed into a communication on re-launching the internal market, scheduled to be published in the autumn.

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International Prices

For the latest international prices, click here.

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