Watch video reports from EuroTier 2012

Our editors are at EuroTier 2012 in Hanover, Germany, the week of November 12, filing up-to-the minute video reports using Tout.
Tout is a social media platform that allows users to shoot 15-second video status updates via smartphones and webcams. Touts are shared in real time and posted on the WATTAgNet Home, Poultry and Feed pages and via our Twitter feed @wattpoultry.
Watch for constant updates this week.
We hope you enjoy these short videos from the show.
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State of German egg market scrutinized at EuroTier Poultry Forum

The German egg industry has recovered swiftly from the downturn in production caused by the switch out of conventional cages. This was among the messages to emerge from an examination of the German egg market held as part of the EuroTier Poultry Forum.
The signals from the German market are positive with not only an increase in egg consumption but also an increase in the number of egg farms. Some egg farms closed as part of the transition, but some farmers have switched into egg production resulting in an increase in the total number of producers. For 2012, per capita egg production is estimated to stand at 214.
Almost two-thirds of German layers are now reared in barn systems, and this has been the favored option for those switching out of conventional cages. Prices paid to producers rose in 2011, following declines in the previous couple of years, and this increase is expected to continue into 2013. However, profitability has been affected by high feed prices.
Some 50 percent of eggs consumed in Germany are purchased by consumers, with the remainder going to caterers and processors, and while sales of organic eggs are increasing, the most profitable method of production remains barn rearing.
Despite the difficulties of the switch out of conventional cages now behind the industry and the expectation of price increases continuing, there remain challenges for the industry, in particular, welfare issues.
Germany is not self-sufficient in eggs; producers are expected to concentrate on supplying the home market rather than looking beyond Germany’s borders.
Half of those eggs purchased by consumers are sold by large discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl, which have gained market share over recent years.

EuroTier Poultry Forum examines European cage ban one year on

The impact of the switch out of conventional cages in the European Union was amongst the topics discussed at the Poultry Forum, held as part of EuroTier 2012. Despite not all the countries meeting the January 1 deadline, and significant declines in some European Member States, the European Commission forecasts that European egg production will be higher in 2013.
2012 will end with total European egg production slightly lower, largely as a result of the switch out of conventional cages but also, to a lesser degree, as a result of a decline in per-capita consumption. However, the region remains self-sufficient in eggs, and the often-predicted collapse in the industry has not occurred.
Yet the changeover has not been without its problems. As recently as 2010, 45.5 percent of the region’s layers were still housed in conventional cages. Many countries failed to meet the January 2012 deadline for full compliance, resulting in the European Commission issuing proceedings against 10 member states.
This was enough to spur most into action and, by mid-year, all but three countries were compliant. Yet, in this last-minute dash to comply some countries saw their output decline significantly. Spain, for example, is expected to end the year producing 15 percent fewer eggs.
Greece, Cyprus and Italy have yet to comply with the cage ban, according to the most recent European Commission documents. While the number of layers kept in conventional cages has declined in Italy over recent years, at mid-year, some 17 million birds were still housed this way.
Compliant ahead of deadline, Germany saw a decline in egg production in 2009 and 2010, while in 2011 and 2012 there was a recovery. A slight increase in output is forecast for 2013.
This variation in compliance has caused some to be upset with producers who have complied and so, while not legally binding, a gentleman’s agreement has been adopted by Europe’s Member States under which eggs from non-compliant farms can only be used for processing, and only in the country where they were produced. This has, however, resulted in some distortion of trade.
Despite these difficulties, the European egg market is expected to be well supplied in 2013. 

Mexico begins pork exports to Singapore

Mexico has sent its first shipment of 22 tons of pork to Singapore, according to reports, expanding its export market from current customers in South Korea, China and Japan.
2012 has been a year of advances for the Mexican pork industry as far as Asian countries are concerned. Such expansion includes the incorporation of Jalisco to the group of Mexican states authorized to sell their products to Japan after being deemed free of classic swine fever and the authorization granted by Chinese authorities to four Mexican meat processing plants.

Canadians look for business in East European pig markets

A Canadian pig business, BMR Genetics International, which is opening its first nucleus unit in the Ukraine in December, is exhibiting at the international EuroTier event in Hanover, Germany, in the hope of winning even more new business in Eastern Europe.
Richard Stein, president of Stein BMR Genetics International, said he hoped his company could help countries in the region, including Russia and the Ukraine, to improve production and reduce their high mortality rates, for example, with new genetics and modern management expertise, as well as better housing, improved veterinary treatment and nutrition.
Although he has been to EuroTier before, he believes the opportunity to attract interest from pig business in the former Communist countries is better now as they start to expand their pig farming activities.
“We are working with partners in the Ukraine at the moment, and I will be managing the new herd as well as setting up new distribution links so that I can eventually sell the genetics across the country.
“The country has great potential to expand its pig industry, with its current crop production, plenty of labor at reasonable costs and an abundance of land – and I am sure there are similar business opportunities available in other Eastern European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
“It’s an exciting time, especially for me, because I have been involved in genetics in Canada since 1966, and this is a great new challenge.” 

China turns to Monsanto, others to boost corn yields

With China's corn demand growing steadily, the country's government has approved the use of more hybrid seed varieties like those from Monsanto Co., DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta AG to boost yields, according to reports.
China imported a record 5.5 million metric tons of corn in 2011–2012, but with the new hybrid seeds some domestic farmers are already reporting yields at double the average five metric tons per hectare. China's corn crop is forecast at a record 200 million metric tons for the current year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "My view is that within the next 7–10 years the gap in terms of demand and supply will probably be reduced to close to zero if the technology can reach the farmer," said Diego Diz, China corn marketing lead for Monsanto.
China is under significant pressure to meet the growing demand for meat, and the corn to feed the animals that supply it. "Over the next 15 years, China needs 80–100 million metric tons of corn, additional corn, a year," said Hardeep Grewal, Syngenta's head of corn marketing for the Asia-Pacific. "It means yields have to go up 50–60 percent." Hybrids have modernized planting as some seed firms guarantee 95 percent germination. Crop density, which has a direct impact on production, is up by around half to 60,000 plants per hectare from five years ago, though still lagging behind the U.S. level of around 80,000. New varieties also mean reduced fertilizer use and improved water efficiency — a critical factor in the increasingly water-stressed northeast.
By 2025, much of China's northeast will become either severely or extremely water stressed, according to the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas managed by the World Resources Institute in Washington. Water shortage was one factor cited by China's agriculture minister as a threat to the country's ability to feed itself, along with growing land and labor shortages. "To ensure grain security ... We will breed a new type of agricultural player and develop proper-scale mechanized farming," said Han Changfu at a session of the ruling Communist Party congress.

Pig industry leaders look to India as new market

Plans to open the door to a potentially lucrative new pig market in India were revealed at the EuroTier Show in Hanover, Germany, November 13.
International pig trade veteran Chris Jackson, of the British Pig Association, who has been investigating and promoting interesting markets for the pig sector for the past 25 years, told Pig International that he was intending to visit the country in December to survey opportunities to export pig genetics to India and help the country build up its fledgling pig business.
Jackson said people would be surprised about the number of pigs already produced there, in spite of the fact that a major percentage of its population followed the Muslim religion and did not eat pork.
“I really do believe there are some great opportunities there, especially for modern genetics, new management systems and up-to-date production methods, as well as the pig health and food safety sectors,” he said.
His optimism was shared by at least one pig breeding company also exhibiting at the international event, which describes itself as the top event for animal production and boasts of more than 2,000 exhibitors from some 50 different countries this year.
Paul Anderson, international sales director for JSR Genetics, said his company was also sending out a team to India to study the market. In fact, it is so optimistic that it has already appointed an agent in the country.
“We are sure there are some opportunities for us over there, especially as the government recently announced plans to set up 16 nucleus units,” he said.
Other pig producing countries are expected to follow in the near future, especially as the region was described as a possible “rising star” by the respected pig industry observer Dr. Mike Varley at the international pig conference in Hanover November 12.