PEDv becoming a notifiable disease in England

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus will become a notifiable disease in England, effective December 18. Pig keepers and veterinarians will be legally required to inform the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) of any suspicion of the disease. The measure has been introduced by government at the request of pig industry bodies, including the National Pig Association (NPA).
If a test for PED virus proves positive, government action will be limited to informing industry, so that tracings can be carried out and improved biosecurity measures put in place. This is similar to the consensual Canadian approach to combatting the disease, which has proved effective, stated the NPA.
PED remains a significant threat to British pig-keepers. Outbreaks of high-impact strains caused up to 100 percent mortality in young pigs in the United States, knocking out around 10 percent of pig production in 2013-2014, and the disease has since spread to Ukraine. Even with milder European Union strains, piglet mortality as high as 70 percent has been reported.
NPA is calling the new measure “lightweight” notifiable because unlike with other notifiable diseases there will be no statutory movement controls, no compulsory slaughter and no blocks on exports.
Under the new legislation in England, APHA will be legally permitted to inform AHDB Pork — which is the agreed “appropriate organization” — in confidence of suspect and confirmed cases. AHDB Pork will then provide biosecurity guidance to the pig unit concerned. It will also carry out tracings and alert at-risk contacts as necessary.
The aim will be to prevent spread of PED virus and to eliminate the disease from the pig unit. There will be no requirement to slaughter affected animals.
PED virus has been made lightweight notifiable following an informal consultation process with the pig industry. NPA and others called for the measure so that any outbreak can be identified as quickly as possible, spread can be prevented, and the disease can then be eliminated from the unit concerned.
“The industry’s method of tackling the disease and ensuring it doesn't spread will be to introduce a raft of biosecurity measures,” said NPA chief executive Dr. Zoe Davies. “It worked in Canada and we are confident it will work here — as long as it is identified at the earliest possible stage.”

GammonWatch will name and shame misleading labelling

Retailers that support Britain’s high-welfare pig farmers by offering a good choice of British gammon this Christmas will be publicly commended by pig farmers — but those that have put in a bulk Christmas order from countries with lower animal welfare standards, or that offer misleadingly labelled gammons, will be named and shamed.
National Pig Association’s Christmas GammonWatch campaign was launched this week and NPA members have already started conducting surveys in supermarkets across the country. Their findings will be reported in weekly bulletins from now to Christmas.
“In addition to carrying out our own checks, we are asking shoppers to check gammon labels carefully this Christmas to ensure the product they buy is made from cured British leg of pork, and not from imported pork that has only been cured in Britain,” said NPA chairman Richard Lister.
“If our prices fall any further we will see some pig farmers freezing all investment in new buildings next year and others quitting altogether, and either route will be a serious blow to an industry that is known the world over for its high-welfare, high-quality product.”
NPA chief executive Dr. Zoe Davies said, “We know from successive surveys that customers prefer to buy British pork and pork products even if it costs a penny or two more for the extra quality we offer. This is especially true since Horsegate in 2013 when most retailers sought to reassure customers by promising to stock more British meat.”
Typically only 30 percent of gammons for the festive market are British, despite there being a plentiful supply from domestic producers. NPA is determined this must change, particularly when many producers are sliding into the red.
In addition to member surveys, NPA’s Christmas GammonWatch campaign will include a special PorkWatch survey in December. Porkwatch is the industry’s professionally researched and compiled bi-monthly survey of British pork, bacon, ham and sausage facings in supermarkets, and next month it will be extended to include gammon.

New targeted vaccine could improve European pig welfare

A brand new vaccine, Hyogen, launched by global animal health company, Ceva Sante Animale will help to improve the welfare of European pigs. The vaccine, which protects against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, uses a unique field relevant strain and novel adjuvant that can boost innate and adaptive immunity. Respiratory diseases are still the biggest health issue for the swine industry worldwide with the associated loss of performance also having a major economic impact.

With 90 percent of swine farms worldwide affected by respiratory disease and an urgent need to preserve the future of antibiotics by reducing the previous practice of prophylactic use, the adoption of targeted, preventative health programs has become even more critical.

Hyogen provides superior protection against the respiratory infection caused by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae bacteria. The one shot application at weaning makes it easy to administer and as a killed bacterial vaccine combined with a potent adjuvant, it confers the longest protection of up to 26 weeks, throughout the entire fattening period. Not all vaccines currently available in Europe, are able to achieve this leaving pigs vitally exposed at critical times in the growth cycle.
Ceva began extensive in-field research of a practical tool to support use of the vaccine with the launch of the Ceva Lung Program in Asia two years ago and now in Europe. Respiratory experts developed the program, which was then simplified into practical guidelines and an easy-to-use iPad and Android app, which have made it much easier to evaluate the presence and impact of the main respiratory pathogens on farms and in the slaughterhouse. As a result, it is much easier to target vaccination according to individual herd requirements.
In some European countries, investigated herds had a 100 percent infection rate of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, this level of infection can prolong the time to slaughter weight by 5.6 days. Following its rapid rise into the top 3 global poultry vaccine and equipment suppliers, Ceva decided to concentrate its swine research on respiratory health, an area where it felt it could have most significant benefit for producers.

English pig producers: Levy should be used for marketing

The English pig industry has sent an unequivocal message to government -- keep out of decisions about how the pig levy is spent. Almost unanimously, producers want more of their levy of 85 pence per pig to be spent on marketing, to encourage younger consumers to understand and embrace modern ways of cooking and serving pork.
In a poll on the National Pig Association website, more than 90 percent of members who took part agreed the sector's recent Pulled Pork campaign was a good pig levy investment. And over 90 percent said the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) should not dictate whether future Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Pork marketing campaigns get the go-ahead or not.
In the poll:

• 96 percent of respondents said, yes, the first phase of the Pulled Pork campaign was a good way to spend the pig levy
• 95 percent said, yes, they would like to see more of their levy spent on promotional activity like this
• And 97 percent said, no, DEFRA should not be able to dictate how the pig levy is spent.

Levy-payer concern about DEFRA interference in marketing matters was highlighted recently when AHDB Beef and Lamb chairman Stuart Roberts resigned amid fears AHDB levies will be ‘lost to the realms of a remote tax that the industry will have little or no influence over'.
NPA chairman Richard Lister, a Yorkshire pig, sheep and arable farmer, said: “As diets change in our sophisticated marketplace, intelligent and informative marketing to explain the benefits of red meat is absolutely essential if British producers are to grow or even just maintain the domestic customer base. If AHDB cannot achieve this on behalf of levy-payers because of government interference, then it is hard to see what its role will be going forwards.”
Independent research shows phase one of the six-week Pulled Pork campaign in May-June created a 19.2 percent uplift in volume sales of fresh pork shoulder. Phase two of the campaign will run in January-February next year, when one of the goals will be to continue rejuvenating pork's image with younger consumers. Currently GBP3.8 million (US$5.85 million) of the pig levy is spent on AHDB Pork marketing activity, about 40 percent of the sector board's total annual spend.

UK mulls making PEDv a notifiable disease

The U.K.’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has launched a month-long dialogue to determine whether porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus should become a notifiable disease.
According to the National Pig Association (NPA), if the effort to make PED virus a notifiable disease is successful, it would fall under a new category of disease, which the NPA refers to as “lightweight notifiable” because there will be no statutory movement controls, no compulsory slaughter and no blocks on exports.
If U.K. officials make PED virus a lightweight notifiable disease, a pig producer and the producer’s veterinarian would be legally obligated to inform the U.K. Animal and Plant Health Agency in the event of a suspected case. If the tests prove positive for PED virus, the agency will inform Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Pork in confidence, so a package of support measures can be put in place for the affected farm, as well as its neighbors and at-risk contacts.
Thoughts on the matter can be shared on the DEFRA dialogue page. Comments can be shared throughout August.
 A contingency plan for the U.K. pig industry was completed in February in preparation for a possible outbreak of the virus. However, the plan is a living document that was to change as the PED virus situation changed.

Yearbook highlights trends in English pork industry

The latest issue of the Pork Yearbook has been published by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Pork group – formerly the British Pig Executive (BPEX) – giving an overview of the sector in 2014.
Selecting some of the highlights in The BPEX Pork Yearbook 2014-2015, the board’s director, Mick Sloyan, said: “The yearbook reviews the first full year of the delivery of the technical element within the ‘Going for Growth’ strategy and the business plan for the continued delivery of the strategy in 2015-16.”
On the overall health of the sector, and referring to the Russian ban on EU pork imports, the weakness of the Euro relative to the UK Pound and African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks, he said that politics and pig disease have joined forces and had a huge impact on the pig industry over the last year - more so than any other year.
On overall performance of the British pork industry, Sloyan commented: “The industry has already made great strides in productivity and the work to improve still further must continue. We are now producing more pork than at any time since 2000.”


Progress seen in British pig industry
Among the improvements he cited are a 15-gram increase in average daily live weight gain and an 11-point improvement in feed conversion compared to 2013. Overall, the report says, performance was better than the EU average in the feeding herd, although this is partly because British producers finish pigs at lighter weights and males are not castrated.
For the breeding herd too, AHDB reports some progress in terms of performance with an increase in average piglets per sow per year up by half a pig to 24.1. This compares with the EU average of 26.1 pigs, reflecting the additional challenges presented by the “significant proportion” of sows kept outdoors in the Britain, according to the report.
Sloyan also commented on the “tremendous support” received from UK retailers, processors and within export markets, which helped maintain British pig producers’ premium over the prices in the rest of Europe although the premium has  narrowed in recent months.
Exports were worth around GBP350 million (US$541 million) in 2014 with Asia accounting for around 25 percent of the total and China the leading market.
As well as key industry statistics and pig performance data, both nationally and internationally, The BPEX Pork Yearbook 2014-2015 includes details of marketing, knowledge transfer and research and development activity carried out over the last year.
Copies of the Yearbook are available on the AHDB Pork website [http://pork.ahdb.org.uk/media/73777/bpex-yearbook-2015.pdf] or by emailing Pork.KT@ahdb.org.uk.
AHDB Pork is the organisation for pig levy payers in England and is a division of the AHDB.

Jackie Linden is a contributing writer for WATTAgNet.

British pork checkoff agency now known as AHDB Pork

The British Pig Executive (BPEX), the British pork checkoff agency, has officially changed its name to AHDB Pork.
The move follows an announcement made in January that the agency, a division of the national Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) would rebrand itself to include the AHDB name.
Similar groups within AHDB are also rebranding to include the AHDB name. Those changes include:


• DairyCo has become AHDB Dairy
• EBLEX has become AHDB Beef & Lamb
• HDC has become AHDB Horticulture
• HGCA has become AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds
• Potato Council has become AHDB Potatoes
“Our new brand reflects AHDB’s aim of looking, feeling and behaving as one organization, delivering better value for our levy payers across all sectors,” the organization stated.
The new branding will start to appear on all new material published from now on, but existing digital material using the BPEX brand will remain available. Other than the branding, people should not notice any difference in the services being provided by AHDB Pork, the agency stated.
In order to minimize rebranding costs, existing supplies of legacy branded materials will be run down over the next few months. Earlier in 2015, the AHDB Board said it aimed to keep the core costs of the rebrand at GBP60,000 (US$94,458).

NPA awards its first Lifetime Fellowship

The National Pig Association (NPA) has awarded its first Lifetime Fellowship, in recognition of exceptional service to the British pig industry. The association’s Board and Producer Group have unanimously voted to bestow the Fellowship on North Lincolnshire producer John Godfrey CBE, who together with the late Sir. Ben Gill, was responsible for bringing together the NFU pig committee and the commercial arm of the British Pig Association to form the National Pig Association in 1999.
“Pig producers had been calling for a single voice for the country’s commercial pig sector for many years but it took two exceptionally talented men, both respected and trusted by farmers, to overcome the obstacles and make it happen,” said North Yorkshire producer Richard Lister, chairman of NPA.
East Yorkshire producer Phil Stephenson, chairman of NPA Producer Group, said, “I am delighted we are recognizing John Godfrey in this way. NPA has proved itself to be an exceptional trade association which consistently punches above its weight — and without John’s wisdom and foresight, none of it would have happened.”
Hugh Crabtree, chairman of NPA Allied Industry Group, said, “I was involved alongside John at the foundation of the NPA and his clear vision was to retain and develop the allied industry members of the BPA which I was chairing at the time. He knew it was vital to have an organization that represented the whole sector. That's what makes us different and more relevant, and provides producers with specialist knowledge across many disciplines. Wise man that John Godfrey!”
Dr. Zoe Davies, chief executive of NPA, said, “John Godfrey is a giant figure in the British pig industry and has been a great support to me personally over the years. Many of us rely on him for his knowledge of pig production economics and his wisdom in helping us plot a way forward in a cyclical and sometimes volatile sector that doesn’t benefit from a subsidized safety net.”

UK study looks to fight joint disease in pigs

The U.K’s Newcastle University, with collaboration from Scotland’s Rural College researcher Dale Sandercock is conducting a project that looks for markers identifying pigs at risk of having a painful and degenerative joint disease.
Animals with degenerative joint conditions are likely to experience pain before they show any clinical signs or lameness. In U.K. pig herds, lameness is a serious welfare and economic problem which has been found to affect some 230,000 animals annually. Being able to predict clinical lameness will not only help inform earlier pain alleviation but will also help in the selection for breeding of non-affected animals which could gradually reduce the genetic pre-disposition to lameness.
The project is funded by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) and draws together a multi-disciplinary team of animal scientists and specialists in human osteoarthritis from Newcastle University, Nottingham University and Oxford University in addition to Scotland’s Rural College.
Researchers aim to identify molecular markers in the blood and joint tissue of pigs affected by degenerative joint disease which could in future be used to identify animals likely to develop the condition before any clinical signs appear. They will study the relationship between the disease, specific biomarkers and use sophisticated motion capture software to record and identify any subtle behavior patterns that might be used to identify early signs.
Once validated, pain and lameness biomarker data have the potential to be included within breeding selection objectives, both in genetic population improvement programs and the ongoing screening of animals sold to production herds. It would bring significant benefits to pig welfare.
The UFAW is an internationally recognized, independent scientific and educational animal welfare charity. UFAW Senior Scientific Program Manager Dr. Huw Golledge said: “UFAW is delighted to be able to support this important project which has the potential to significantly improve the welfare and health of farmed pigs.”

UK consumers loyal to British pork, study reveals

• 

  Freeimages.com/morderska

  A survey shows U.K. consumers prefer British pork over less expensive imported pork.

  From WATTAgNet:
  More than 80 percent of U.K. consumers want supermarkets to stock a high level of British pork, despite a surplus of less expensive pork imported from other parts of Europe, according to a YouGov survey that has been published by the National Pig Association (NPA).
  The price of pork has fallen across Europe since Russia imposed a ban on EU meat in August 2014.
  The survey also showed that two-thirds of consumers believed importing more European pork not produced under food assurance schemes like Red Tractor could increase the risk of another scandal such as horsegate.
  "Consumers have always been loyal to British pig farmers, particularly after horsegate, but even we have been surprised by this significant vote of confidence in the quality of our pork, bacon, sausages and ham," said NPA Chairman Richard Longthorp, an East Yorkshire farmer.
  "This research suggests supermarkets are delighting shoppers by sticking to their horsegate promises to sell more British meat, despite the current provocation of a mountain of cheap meat piling up in continental cold stores.
  NPA also praised U.K. retailers Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Budgens, the Co-operative Group, Aldi and Lidl for their commitment to sell 100 percent British pork.

Permits for large UK pig farm denied by environment agency

• 

  Andrea Gantz

  The U.K. environment agency has denied permits for a large pig farm in Foston, Derbyshire.

  From WATTAgNet:
  Midland Pig Producers’ plan to build a 24,000-head pig farm in Foston, Derbyshire, has hit a snag after the U.K. environment agency rejected permits for the operation, saying the farm would have resulted in “significant pollution due to odor.”
  Midland Pig Producers had planned to build the facility on a plot of land near the Foston Hall women’s prison. Its proposal included an anaerobic digester and a biogas combustion plant for treatment of manure and slurry at the site, which would have been situated yards from the prison.
  The proposed project had seen a large number of opponents, including more than 34,000 people that signed a petition against the farm. The Soil Association had earlier said it had concerns for the health of prisoners at Foston Hall and for nearby villagers.
  Midland Pig Producers accepted the outcome of the agency’s recommendation, but added that it will continue to pursue building such a farm.
  "While not wishing to second-guess any decision by any other body, it seems inevitable that this outcome will provide others with the reason to refuse any application connected with our plans,” a spokesman for Midland Pig Producers said.
  "However, now that we have an actual decision, we can move forward. This is not the end of the matter, but the beginning of the second stage."

UK PEDv contingency plan prepared

A contingency plan for the pig industry, to be activated should porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus arrive in the U.K., has now been completed. However, the plan is a living document and will change as the situation changes.
This is just the first of many outcomes of the work under way which is being collated by British Pig Executive (BPEX) veterinary team manager Martin Smith.
A database is being created so if the disease does hit the U.K., information of all sorts can be captured and used to tackle it. This ties in with a questionnaire which will be asking about the type of farming system and the outbreak of the disease.
“This will be vital in gathering the information we need for the epidemiology of PEDv and how it behaves under different conditions,” said Smith. “We also have some standard procedures which are in the pipeline and are due to be published in the next couple of months. They will probably be published as individual sheets because they too will change according to the conditions.”
A disease charter, based on that created for swine dysentery, has been completed and this will all be online as part of the Pig Hub.
“Producers will sign in and register as part of the Charter so information gathered can be used to combat the disease and notify producers of outbreaks occurring near them,” said Smith.
“Phase two will be to link it in with vets, feed companies and the allied industry so they are aware that one of the units in an area has a problem. We are hoping to have this completed by late spring.”
The diagnostic testing, funded by BPEX, is already in place and this is being extended to any diarrhea sample so they will be routinely checked for PED virus.
“In the early stages it can be difficult to diagnose PEDv as it is similar to a number of other diseases,” Smith said.
“We have achieved a lot in quite a short time but there is still much more to be done. All this work will be valuable in fighting all exotic and emerging disease, not just PEDv.”

MRSA isolated in piglets in eastern England

The isolation of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) from piglets in eastern England has been reported.
According to Veterinary Record, two 10-day old piglets with skin lesions were submitted to an AOHA veterinary investigation center on December 30, 2014. Eleven litters were affected, and six of 60 piglets with the condition died.
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and Pig Veterinary Society (PVS) in a joint statement said while there is no official requirement to test for MRSA, the British pig industry is actively promoting testing of live pig imports or the herds from which they derive.
“With the movement of different livestock species and humans between the U.K. and countries with high prevalence of LA-MRSA, it is disappointing but perhaps not surprising to have detected LA-MRSA in pigs in England,” the organizations stated.
“Some media reports have speculated about the infectivity of the organism. An opportunist infection of the skin or other sites in MSRA-colonized animals is a recognized occurrence and does not, in itself, imply that LA-MRSA has greater infectivity. It is also worth noting that while antimicrobial use has played a role in the emergence of MRSA, its subsequent spread relates mainly to it being a successful bacterial species, not to antimicrobial use. LA-MRSA has been found in animals in which no antimicrobials have been used.”
Public Health England has advised that LA-MRSA represents a very low risk to public health because this type of MRSA rarely causes disease in humans.

UK pork industry targets trade with Philippines

Trade of pork products between Britain and the Philippines could be greatly enhanced after a recent trade mission organized by the British Pig Executive (BPEX) and UK Trade and Industry (UKTI).
Half a dozen people paid a visit to Manila and the party included traders and abattoir representatives.
BPEX export marketing manager Jonathan Eckley said: “There is already some pig meat being exported but it is a growing economy and there is scope to expand that trade. We have been working with UKTI locally and the mission included a visit to a cold store, a cutting plant, a wet market and retailers.
“This was followed by a meet the buyer session, attended by 20 Filipino companies which included some the of the country’s leading meat importers. The business to business meetings were extremely successful.”
According to Eckley, the aim of these meetings was to build relationships between traders and for those from the UK to meet significant players in the Philippines.
“We had a great many inquiries so we are hopeful that will result in enhancing the trade between the UK and the Philippines. The Philippines has a population of 100 million and import about 100,000 [metric tons] of pig meat a year,” said Eckley.

English pig industry introduces confidential reporting service

To help maintain high standards of animal welfare on British pig farms, the National Pig Association (NPA) is introducing a confidential reporting service. The service will also protect pig-keepers from bogus claims by animal rights activists who periodically attempt to gain unauthorized entry to pig buildings.
The service places an obligation on everyone employed on, or visiting, a participating pig unit to immediately report any concern they may have about any aspect of animal welfare, either directly to a senior member of staff, or using a confidential hotline.
The service is operated independently by a specialist provider and is free to farm assured pig-keepers. It will be funded from the statutory pig levy, which is administered by the British Pig Executive (BPEX), a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
“The British pig industry is globally renowned for its high animal welfare standards and this new service will help us demonstrate to consumers that our reputation is well-deserved,” said NPA chief executive Dr. Zoe Davies.
“Many of our members will want to sign up for the service because they, more than anyone, want to know if any aspect of their husbandry is falling below acceptable standards.
“Importantly, it will help us deal quickly and responsibly with the claims of animal rights activists who from time to time trespass on livestock farms. In [the] future, if they see anything wrong they will be under a moral and contractual obligation to report it immediately, so that appropriate measures can be taken.”
The service guarantees caller confidentiality, and can provide translation services for Eastern European workers on British pig farms. It will also filter out vexatious calls (if any).
A poster will be prominently displayed on all participating pig units, giving the hotline number and advising all employees and visitors: “Whether you are an employee or a visitor, by entering this site you accept that everything you see is confidential, except that if you observe any aspect of animal welfare that causes you concern you must report it immediately to the unit owner or a senior member of staff or to the confidential reporting service Safecall (where there is no need to give your name).”
In the event of being notified of any concerns about a pig unit, NPA will work with BPEX to determine a proportionate response, which may include asking Assured Food Standards to carry out a spot check using an independent auditor.
Confidential reporting services are an accepted part of the landscape of commercial, construction, and industrial sectors these days. It is likely such services will increasingly be used in primary food production, as a way of ensuring high standards.

New BPEX strategy established to reflect pig industry changes

A new strategy was launched by British Pig Executive (BPEX) Director Mick Sloyan at the Pig and Poultry Fair at Stoneleigh Park, UK. Over the last 15 years, the industry has faced a series of challenges, however, there are clear signs the industry has not only stabilized but is now expanding.
As the industry has changed, BPEX has needed to change so the strategy has been developed to reflect those changes.
The key is the five-point plan to:


• Close the gap
• Protect the environment
• Enhance pig welfare
• Encourage safe and traceable pork
• Help to sell more pork
Sloyan said: “The challenges the industry has faced include a global pig price collapse, animal disease outbreaks, unique welfare legislation and volatile feed costs. These took a terrible toll on the industry with producers and primary processors leaving the business. For a number of years BPEX pursued the Road to Recovery strategy. The time has now come to move on, to build on the progress made and go for growth. It is the job of BPEX to use the resources invested by producers and processors through the levy to help the industry maximize opportunities in the next five years.”
The vision contained within the strategy is “a growing English pig production and primary processing industry.” The BPEX mission is “to help English pig production and processing businesses become more competitive and profitable.”
BPEX Chairman Stewart Houston said: “The strategy of differentiating us from our main competitors, which we have been pursuing for a number of years, has served us well. However, this is the first time for a long time that we have been in a settled financial environment. This has allowed us to start looking forward rather than just battling crisis after crisis. The position the industry is now in, after years of losing money, has allowed the BPEX board to look at ways of taking the industry to the next level.
“The primary aims of the strategy will be growing the market, especially for assured pork and pork products, and getting our production costs onto the same level as those of our major competitors.
“Exports are becoming increasingly important to the profitability of producers and processors. This is an area we need to expand. But we remain aware of the threat from exotic and emerging diseases such as PEDv (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus) and African swine fever. Our first line of defense has to be continued vigilance both on pig units and at our borders.”

UK pork exports in March reach highest point since 1998

Pork exports from the United Kingdom amounted to just less than 18,200 metric tons in March, a 13 percent improvement from the same month in 2013. That amount is the highest monthly figure since 1998, when British pork production was much higher.
In addition, exports to Greater China, which includes Hong Kong, topped 5,000 metric tons for the first time ever. Offal exports also reached a record high in March at 2,600 metric tons.
British Pig Executive (BPEX) Export Manager Jean-Pierre Garnier said: “The exports to China are a massive figure bearing in mind that market has not been open to us for very long. There has been some very good growth and the overall figure is evidence of the global demand for British pork is strong.
“We are benefiting from a favorable market but the commitment of British exporters has been exemplary. For instance, six exporters attended a very busy in SIAL Shanghai this week and we are back next month to Beijing. Even this week, we are holding discussion in Nigeria. Pork was exported to 30 countries and territories in the period. To complete the picture, the prices achieved by our processors on export markets have also risen strongly. Exports are definitely making a major contribution to the renewed health of the sector.”

UK pork output boosted by higher productivity

Pork production in the UK is on course to achieve its sixth consecutive year of growth by reaching a total of 850,000 metric tons of carcass weight in 2014, says the British Pig Executive (BPEX). Its director, Mick Sloyen, told the 2014 British Pig and Poultry Fair that the expected increase will have been due to a combination of higher carcass weights for finishing pigs and greater productivity at both breeding and grow-out levels.
“Our breeding herd performance was lagging behind other countries and results in the finishing herd such as for daily weight gain were only on a par with those of other parts of Europe. It is a testament to the resilience and commitment of pig producers in this country that there has been considerable re-investment in recent years, with the result that productivity has recovered and we have seen a gradual improvement in slaughtering.”
 “Pig Pocketbook 2014,” published by BPEX, summarizes the statistics for UK productivity and production between 2000 and 2013. In that time the average number of pigs per sow per year has increased from 19.0 to 23.0, boosting the volume of pig meat produced annually per sow from almost 1.35 metric tons to more than 1.8 tons.
With the average carcase weight up from 75.2.8 kilograms in 2005 to 79.2 kilograms in 2013 and over 1 million more pigs per year sent for slaughter, annual pork production (excluding sow meat) rose in that time from 674,000 metric tons to 796,000 metric tons.

Environmental costs increase for UK poultry, pig farmers

The U.K.’s Environment Agency has increased the cost of a pig and poultry environmental permit by 2.7 percent. As of April 1, 2014, the cost of an application has risen to GBP3,750 (US$6,361). U.K. businesses need an environmental permit if they manage or produce waste or emissions that pollute the air, water or land.
Annual subsistence charges have increased to GBP2,490 for non-accredited installations and GBP1,580 for accredited farming installations.
The country’s National Farmers Union objected to the agency’s proposals to increase baseline charges for environmental permitting facilities and installations without further information to support the charges, and rejected proposals to introduce either a new application or a new subsistence charge in its abstraction charging for internal drainage board transfers. 

UK pig supplies to remain tight for much of 2014

Numbers of pigs in the United Kingdom will remain tight for most of 2014, according to a British Pig Executive (BPEX) and England Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) forecast. The agencies have projected that UK pig meat production in 2014 will increase by 2 percent to just less than 850,000 metric tons.
Factoring in the decline in the UK breeding herd in 2012 with no signs of recovery since then, pig numbers are set to remain close to last year’s levels until at least the fall of 2014, BPEX assessed.
With producer confidence still fragile, no significant expansion of the breeding herd is expected in the near future. However, with the UK pig herd having stabilized, further productivity gains should mean a modest rise in slaughterings towards the end of 2014. Nevertheless, slaughterings for the year as a whole are only expected to be 1 percent up from 2013. Carcass weights have started 2014 at a higher level than in 2013, a trend which is set to continue, enabling UK pig meat production to rise by 2 percent for the year.