BPEX Weekly: May 14 2010

Pigs are Profitable!

The British pig industry is profitable! That’s something we have been looking forward to for some time after many challenging years said BPEX Director Mick Sloyan at a briefing at Pig and Poultry Fair this week.

The DAPP is currently at about 143p and edging up. At the same time feed costs have levelled off.

Add all these together and we have a positive margin, averaging something like £4 per pig. The margin fell in the second half of last year but has been rising since January. Though it is positive, it wouldn’t take much to see that +£2 a pig flip to -£2.

Not only are we in the black, but we are also seeing improvements in productivity and the trend there is going in the right direction.

The number of pigs per sow per year as recorded by Agrosoft has risen over the last year and is averaging more than 22. What is most impressive is that the top 10% are managing 27 pigs/sow/year. The challenge is that this is still behind the best in Europe.

Now that the industry is doing better, it is the time to press on which is why we are launching the two-tonne sow campaign to help the English pig industry compete more effectively.

To read the full story, click here.

Two Tonne Target

English pig producers have a challenging new target, to achieve an industry average of 2,000kg of pig meat per sow per year by 2012.

The  Two Tonne Sow (2TS) project was launched by BPEX at the Pig and Poultry Fair and provides a single target for the industry to work towards collectively.

Speaking at the launch, BPEX Knowledge Transfer Research and Development Manager Mike Varley highlighted that, although physical performance continues to improve, there remains a significant productivity gap between the English pig industry and its major European competitors.

Latest available figures show the average carcase weight per sow per year for Great Britain is 1,608kg compared with the EU average of 2,000kg.

Closing this performance gap is crucial to ensure the long term competitiveness of the English pig sector. Producers need to ensure they are in a strong position to sustain profitability during periods when the market place and exchange rates are less favourable. To read the full story, click here. To see a presentation on the Two Tonne Sow, click here.

Growth in Anaerobic Digestion

Across Europe there are more than 4,000 anaerobic digester plants, but only some 25 of those are in the UK.

However, British interest in anaerobic digestion (AD) as a source of renewable energy is increasing rapidly and was the subject of a packed workshop at the Pig & Poultry Fair, led by BPEX environment expert Nigel Penlington and producer James Hart.

Nigel said “The opportunities that AD offers are multiple and pig farmers are well placed to develop biogas production and create new income streams from the sale of electricity, heat or gas into the renewable energy marketplace. AD can also reduce the carbon footprint of the site and aid odour control.”

To read the full article, click here. To see a presentation on AD, click here

Award for Nigel

This year’s Chris Brant Award winner is Nigel Penlington, who helps steer English producers through increasingly labyrinthine environmental regulations.

“Without his intervention in the debacle that is IPPC, there would be many whose investment plans would have been thwarted by impenetrable red-tape,” said chairman of judges Richard Longthorp.

“With his direct help, these businesses have managed to push forward and not, yet, been suffocated by IPPC.”

The award was presented this morning at British Pig and Poultry Fair, by television farming presenter Adam Henson.

Feeding Time for Adam!

BBC Countryfile presenter and farmer Adam Henson came back to the BPEX stand on day two of Pig Fair to do a piece for Countryfile on LIPs, interviewing chairman Sue Woodall. Provided it doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor, it is due for transmission in early June.

Honour for Glenda

At its tenth anniversary party, NPA presented Glenda Montgomery of Ladies in Pigs with a lifetime achievement award. Glenda is a founder member of the organisation and still one of its stalwarts.

Marketing News

Love Summer Love Pork

The consumer PR campaign for this Summer has just signed up an exciting celebrity, to be announced at the end of the month.

They will be staring in the Girls Guide to Grilling video, due to be filmed next week.

The BBQ video kicks off the Summer campaign, which is being hosted on the lovepork website and is to be seeded on to many other foodie sites during June and July. Along with the video will be a downloadable guide, as part of the BBQ activity supporting the main recipe booklet.

A copy of which can be downloaded by clicking here.

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Butchers Roadshow Finalists

Judging by a panel of consumers took place yesterday of all seven regional finalists from the last 2009/2010 series of Butchers Roadshows. It was a close call between four pork pies, two sausages and two ready meals. The overall national roadshow winner will be announced at the final to be held June 2nd in London at Butchers Hall.  The butchers in the running are:

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Quick Service is Growing

The quick service restaurant sector is the only foodservice sector to show year on year growth in traffic for the latest quarter. For more information, click here.

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Knowledge Transfer

2TS Tip of the Week

Accurate heat detection is essential for the correct timing of insemination, however, heat is often missed or misdiagnosed because the signs are overlooked. Make sure you are providing the optimum environment for accurate heat detection and aim for a farrowing rate of 85%+. For tips and guidance to ensure good timing, successful insemination and improved reproductive performance see BPEX Action for Productivity sheet 29 which can be downloaded here.

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Annual Technical Report

The BPEX Annual Technical Report 2009-10 has just been published giving an in-depth look at what the BPEX KT R&D team have been involved with during the past year.

Copies of the report are available from your KT manager or from BPEX by calling 0247 647 8793 or email [email protected] with your postal address.

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National News:

BPHS Assessment Dates

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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Sponsor a Pig

Producers who invite the public to sponsor a pig will be helping reconnect consumers with farming and, if the exercise is costed carefully, they will be assuring themselves of a fair return for their pigs.

This is the marketing idea put forward by student and pig producer’s son Tom Martindale. His idea made it to the finals of the ABN Innovation Award, against stiff competition.

In addition to helping educate consumers about how there food is produced, the scheme will provide complete carcase balance, as the sponsor of each pig would receive the whole carcase when the pig was slaughtered and butchered to his or her requirements.

And having committed to growing their own pig and ensured their supply of British pork, they would be far less likely to succumb to the temptations of cheaper imported pork on supermarket shelves.

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Keele University is offering support to businesses via a brand new fully-funded initiative. Project Green will fund a graduate on a short-term placement to complete an environmental project that will benefit your business in the future. Types of projects could include:

• Waste Reduction

• Energy efficiency improvements

• Specific work towards environmental standards

• Carbon reduction techniques

If you would like to register your interest email [email protected] or call 01782 733587

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Innovation Winner

This idea from East Anglia producer Alastair Butler won him the £1,000 ABN Innovation Award at British Pig and Poultry Fair.

Home-cooked hog-roast pork is cheap and simple, he said. A successful rebranding will significantly improve carcase balance which in turn will drive up prices to producers.

People know and love hog-roasts when they eat out and producers could piggy-back off this by introducing Red Tractor hog-roast pork at retail, he said.

"The shoulder is a quarter of the carcase and if we rebrand it the hog-roast joint, it will have a significant affect on carcase balance," he said.

In promoting pork shoulder as hog-roast pork, producers will be capitalising on the excellent Jamie Oliver Save Our Bacon programme broadcast in January last year.

"He educated two million viewers on how to slow-roast a shoulder of pork and sales spiked for about a month," he said.

The reasons were clear – pork shoulder is a great value for money, especially during a recession, it is tasty and it is very simple to prepare.

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International News:

Record US Corn Crop?

USDA forecast a record 13.37 billion bushel U.S. corn crop and record corn supplies of 15.118 billion bushels in the 2010/11 (September-August) marketing year — plenty to accommodate rising exports and ethanol use and still end the year with carryout stocks of 1.818 billion bushels, up 5 percent from last year.

On average, analysts polled by Dow Jones had expected 2010/11 carryout stocks a bit larger at about 1.884 billion bushels. USDA put 2009/10 corn carryout at 1.738 billion bushels, also shy of the average analyst forecast of 1.853 billion.

In its latest Crop Production and World Supply and Demand Estimates reports, USDA boosted corn ethanol use to 4.6 billion bushels in 2010/11 from 4.4 billion bushels expected use in 2009/10, based on rising federal biofuels mandates and strong blending incentives that continue to boost ethanol use.

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Chinese pork imports are up 18% at 409,000 tonnes for the first three months of this year according to the latest Export Bulletin. Local prices are expected to rise from their current low level for the rest of the year. Current inventories stand at 440 m. head down 1.6% on a year ago. To read the Export Bulletin, click here.

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International Prices

For the latest international prices, click here.

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