Doux takes drivers to court as they threaten strike

French poultry group Doux, currently in the midst of considering several takeover bids, went to court on July 12 to stop its drivers from striking over unpaid bills, according to reports. The drivers have said they will stop work if around 8,000 bills aren't paid by July 13.
Doux, which in June received enough money to continue day-to-day operations, is still in negotiations to find the capital to pay off debts to its breeders, which take precedence over the company's other debts. Doux said it is asking the drivers not to add a crisis to a crisis. "The administrators would like to remind the drivers as to the consequences which would unfold from a day of stoppage in terms of loss of turnover in an already critical period," said Doux. "This day would have no possible advantage for the transporters."

Heat-damaged corn crops may raise poultry prices in Delmarva

Heat-damaged corn and soybean crops in the Delmarva Peninsula (an area that includes most of Delaware and some of Maryland and Virginia) could lead to higher poultry prices in the area as feed prices are affected, according to farmers.
Twenty-six percent of corn and soybean crops were poor or very poor in Maryland as of July 8, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Forty-nine percent of corn in Maryland is less than good quality. Soybeans still have time to improve, but corn is a little farther along, said Geno Lowe, the director of the United Soybean Board.
According to Buddy Hance, Maryland's secretary of agriculture, poultry hasn't been very profitable for the last three to four years and grain prices haven't been conducive to helping the economy. The U.S. average corn price in 2010 was $3.83 per bushel, according to the University of Illinois. In 2011, the price was $6.01 per bushel, and as of May 2012 it was $6.33 per bushel. “That’s not good for us in Delmarva,” said Hance.
Higher grain prices will put a strain on poultry farmers, which could cause some to lose their jobs, said Lee Richardson of the Wicomico County Farm Bureau. “There’ll be less employees that have to do more work,” said Richardson. “That’ll be the most direct effect on the area.” He said he also expects poultry prices, and meat prices in general, to increase.
According to Hance, early predictions indicate there will be a 7 percent price increase for poultry in the Delmarva area, but others believe the increase won't be as big.
“All our corn and soybeans go into chicken feed, but I don’t think it’s going to affect the supply here,” said Richard Nottingham, the agriculture agent at the University of Maryland Extension. “Farmers are going to see a reduction in what they can harvest, but I don’t see it being that severe.”

Mexico avian flu outbreak causes $50 million in losses

The H7N3 avian flu outbreak in Jalisco, Mexico, has caused the loss of 2.5 million chickens and $50 million, according to reports in the country's poultry sector.
Jalisco accounts for 55 percent of the country's egg output, and while Japan (Mexico's main foreign customer for eggs) has resumed imports, European and African countries have continued their bans. Roughly 3.4 million birds are currently carriers of the virus, according to reports from Mexico's food safety agency, Senasica.
Authorities are calling for more healthy chickens to be vaccinated against H7N3 to stop the spread of the virus, and private labs in Mexico are working to produce 80 million doses in the next three weeks to meet demand.

Gene-swapped poultry vaccines create lethal strains of respiratory disease

Three poultry vaccines meant to prevent respiratory disease have swapped genes, creating two new lethal strains of the virus that have killed tens of thousands of birds across two Australian states since they were discovered in 2008, according to scientists.
The strains appeared a year after Australia began using a European vaccine along with two similar Australian vaccines to fight acute respiratory disease in poultry. The virus usually kills roughly 5 percent of the birds it infects; this new type kills up to 17 percent. "What could have happened was one chicken was vaccinated with one vaccine and later was exposed to the other vaccine somehow, from nearby chickens," said Joanne Devlin, lead author of the paper published on the scientists' findings.
Australia's agricultural authorities have been informed of the scientists' results and are working on how to prevent crossovers from happening in the future. "Use of only one vaccine in a population of birds will prevent different viruses from combining," said Devlin. "Authorities are reviewing labels on vaccine to change the way vaccines are used and prevent different vaccines being used in one population."

Scientists respond to report linking chicken, antibiotic-resistant infections

Scientists and members of the veterinary and food safety fields are responding to a report linking the E. coli found in chicken and the E. coli that causes human urinary tract infections, saying that chicken is safe and that the claims made may be misleading.
“Bacteria move dynamically, not just in one direction from animals to humans; all pathways must be considered,” said Randall Singer, DVM, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. “The studies in question make the assumption that humans carrying these E. coli acquired them from poultry. The strains did not originate in poultry and likely entered these farms from sources originating in human communities. Perhaps most importantly, the potential transmission of antibiotic-resistant E. coli to humans says nothing about why these E. coli are antibiotic resistant in the first place. The resistances observed in these E. coli are common globally and are unlikely to be attributed to chickens given the few antibiotics available for use in poultry in the U.S.”
The report also said that, according to the Food and Drug Administration, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are fed to livestock and even healthy chickens — a statistics the National Chicken Council said is not attributable to the FDA and isn't accurate. "Fully 40 percent of the animal antibiotics counted are compounds not used in human medicine, and therefore, their use in animals cannot be compared with those used in humans," said the council.
“While we question the overall conclusions of these findings, the study’s researchers point to improper food handling during meat preparation for food-borne urinary tract infections,” said Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., National Chicken Council vice president of science and technology. “So it is always pertinent to remind consumers about the importance of safe food handling and cooking — washing of hands, cutting boards and utensils, cooking chicken to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and preventing cross contamination in the kitchen.”

PIC, GreenFeed partner to capture Vietnam pig breeding market

PIC and GreenFeed are expanding their Vietnam partnership to develop a complete pig breeding pyramid, with a portfolio of male and female PIC genetics for nationwide distribution. The two companies previously worked together in the production and distribution of genetically advanced swine semen.
PIC and GreenFeed have registered a new company, GreenFarm, and plan to capture 18 percent of the projected commercial market in Vietnam by 2017, according to the two companies. Parent gilt production will be jump-started with the stocking of three multiplication farms, one in Hung Yen province in the north of the country and the other two in Binh Thuan and Dong Nai provinces in the south. The farms will be populated by the import of grandparents from PIC North America in late 2012 and early 2013, ahead of the stocking of the first 1,200 nucleus facility in mid-2013. In addition to the genetic seed stock, PIC will provide technical management and a complete suite of support services.
“The new agreement builds on the success of PIC semen sales from GreenFeed’s 500-boar stud in Dong Nai," said Andrew Bateson, business development director for PIC in Asia. "PIC-sired slaughter pigs have exceeded the market’s expectations in growth rate, feed conversion, carcass yield and pork quality. By putting the female side of the equation in place, our partnership with GreenFeed will also set new standards for sow productivity."
Vietnam’s national herd is estimated at around 3.5 million sows, which puts it second only to China in the regional rankings.

USDA cuts corn crop estimates on Midwest drought

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has cut the nation's corn harvest to an average of 146 bushels an acre, down 20 bushels from June estimates, due to a continuing Midwest drought that is doing more damage to crops than analysts thought, according to reports.
The USDA's revised numbers, a 12 percent cut, drop the expected 2012–2013 harvest to 12.97 billion bushels — the third-largest on record, but the lowest yield since 2003. The USDA also reduced its forecast for corn ending stocks by 37 percent from June numbers, more than the 32 percent expected, said analysts. U.S. stockpiles are predicted to be at 1.183 billion bushels, up one-third from current levels.
Global corn stocks have also been cut, by 14 percent, although inventories will still be the highest they've been in three years. The overall report "tells me they feel pretty confident this crop has been hurt in a big way," said Shawn McCambridge, an analyst at Jefferies Bache. Additional cuts are likely, said McCambridge, when the USDA's August 10 report makes the first estimate of the harvest.