French co-ops Cobiporc, Amelis merge pig activities

French cooperatives Cobiporc and Amelis Porc-Evolution have decided to unite their pig activities. A new entity will be formed on July 1 named YXIA.
This alliance enables the groups to create an autonomous entity which becomes a leader in French pig reproduction. The cooperative YXIA will lean on the resources of the group Evolution regarding research and development, export and equipment.


YXIA, a new leader in pig reproduction
Built by the pig breeders, this new entity allows Jean-Yves Trelhu, president of Cobiporc, and Jacques Coquelin, president of Amelis, to “create a major player to the service of the breeders of the western region of France.”
The cooperative YXIA will continue to maintain a strong partnership with the groups of pig producers and the breeding companies in order to serve the whole sector.
In the current context, this alliance between two healthy cooperatives is seen as the best way to create value for today’s breeders, while preparing for future stakes.
 “High quality” is at the center of the new cooperative’s ambitions. YXIA gathers the strengths of two structures and will have in the coming weeks a wide offer respecting the highest quality standards.
In this way, the cooperative YXIA will allow to continue to supply semen doses to the breeders, and in the best technical and economic conditions. The priority is given to the improvement of health quality, semen performances, quality of the deliveries and technical follow-up of the breeders.
On the occasion of the launching of YXIA, Trelhu and Coquelin point out the substantive work realized by both boards of directors, which has enabled to create with YXIA a structuring project for the pig sector.

Merger of French pig cooperatives proposed

One of Europe’s largest pig-producing cooperatives is being proposed in France from the merger of operations of co-ops Cap 50, CAM and Terrena. The proposal is due to go to a vote of members by the end of 2015.
If an agreement is reached, it would create a group of 420 producers with a combined output of 960,000 pigs per year.
Cap 50 is based near Saint Lô and is a specialist pigs-only co-operative of 120 farmers, delivering 360,000 pigs annually and with an annual turnover of EUR65 million (US$73 million). CAM is a multi-species co-op for 4,000 farmers in the Mayenne region around Laval, with sales of EUR300 million (US$337 million). About 120 of these farms produce pork, marketing 200,000 pigs in 2014.
An associated segment of the large national co-op Terrena produces 400,000 pigs per year at 180 farms. 
A merger is seen is as benefitting members principally through a sharing of operating costs.

French pork imports reach record high in 2013

Pork imports into France reached a record high in 2013, at 364,400 metric tons, a 2 percent increase from pork imports received by France in 2012. While domestic demand for pork in France remained broadly stable, higher imports were mainly a function of a small fall in production.
Spain is by far the largest supplier of French pork, according to BPEX, accounting for just under three quarters of the total, and shipments from this country increased by 3 percent in 2013. Imports from other smaller markets also recorded increases, including Germany and Belgium. The total value of French pork imports rose by 5 percent to EUR941.9 million (US$12.9 billion), largely because of the increase in the price of imports from Spain. France also imports over 50,000 metric tons of sausages, and supplies rose by 3 percent in 2013.
French pork exports increased only marginally in 2013 at 483,300 metric tons. The value of pork exports came down to EUR938.9 million (US$12.84 billion), marginally below 2012 export numbers. The rest of the EU is by far the main market for French pork, with a quarter of pig supplies sent to Italy alone, with a 1 percent increase on the previous year.

Pig slaughter declines in France during first 10 months of 2013

Pig slaughter in France declined during the first ten months of 2013, both in terms of the number of heads slaughtered and in terms of total weight. According to the most recent data released by the French Agricultural Statistics Service (AGRESTE), the number of heads slaughtered during the first ten months of 2013 declined by 1.7 percent, while the total weight of pigs slaughtered has declined 1.1 percent.
AGRESTE also reported that during the first ten months of 2013, French pig meat exports increased by nearly 7,000 metric tons, a 14 percent uptick. Pig meat imports into France dropped about 600 metric tones, a 1.2 percent decrease.

French poultry, pig crises fuel tension toward Prime Minister at SPACE

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault spoke September 12 at SPACE in Rennes, France, as protesters, who criticize Ayrault during this unstable time for French animal agriculture, gather outside the expo.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's visit to SPACE 2013 was met with protesters from the pig and poultry industries and the boos and jeers of angry farmers as he quickly made his way through the breeding hall late on the third day of the show. Escorted by a large security detail - and with a troop of riot police standing by - his visit comes at a particularly unstable time for French animal agriculture.
The summer of 2013 has delivered a series of blows to the poultry, pork and eggs industries.
France's poultry sector took a sudden and significant hit after the European Commission repealed its poultry subsidies, which had allowed it to remain competitive against the world market, before its original January 2015 expiration date. As a result, Tilly-Sabco, Europe's No. 2 exporter of frozen poultry, announced a 40 percent reduction in production. This, topped with the financial problems of major producer Doux that began in 2012, has left many in Brittany, France, in fear of the future. Many SPACE attendees wore shirts warning of the potential loss of 50,000 jobs in the poultry industry if action isn't taken.

Response from Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault
Ayrault tackled the issue during his afternoon address by announcing that the government will roll out emergency measures to keep hatcheries and the poultry industry afloat and will file an appeal against the European Commission's decision.
Meanwhile, after being rocked by the swine crisis, France's primary slaughterhouse and processor Gad SAS announced the closure of one of its production facilities and elimination of nearly 1,000 workers in an attempt to balance its books after it entered into a receivership earlier in the year.
Ayrault noted the government stands with its people and hopes to save jobs; however, it cannot "substitute for the leaders of these companies."
SPACE and the aforementioned companies are located in Brittany, a region in northwestern France with a rich tradition of animal agriculture; it accounts for most of the country's animal production.
Ayrault ended his speech by stating, "The Breton agricultural model is not dead."
This edition of SPACE reports record attendance boasting more than 100,000 attendees from around the world. The event, located in Rennes, will be the largest European livestock show in 2013. 

French pig herd down 1 million head, says 10-year survey

In the past 10 years, The French pig herd has decreased by 1 million pigs (300,000 sows), according to the French Agricultural Statistics Service (Agreste). In 2010 France had 22,300 pig farms, compared to 59,500 in 2000. The number of pigs reached 13.8 million (1.1 million sows) in 2010.
Even though the number of pigs has decreased, the size of French pig farms have more than doubled, to an average of 620 pigs, reflecting the disappearance of small family farms. In 2000, France had 42,800 farms with less than 100 pigs and 20 sows (an average of five pigs) that represented 72 percent of the pig farms and less than 2 percent of the pig herd. In 2010 there were 10,700 farms, with an average of nine pigs or 48 percent of the farms representing less than 1 percent of the French pig herd.
The pig census has declined in all the regions except Poitou-Charentes, Champagne-Ardenne, and Alsace. The reduction in the number of sows is Nationwide, but especially in Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitaine. The west of France is home to 77 percent of pig production, and Brittany has 57 percent of the swine sector.

SPACE 2012: Animal nutrition specialist Olmix researching algae for pig gut health

French animal nutrition specialist Olmix is conducting further research and development into the use of algae to help improve the gut health of pigs, and it expects to have new products available for producers within a year or two, said the company's European business development manager, Olivier Biannic, at SPACE 2012 in Rennes, France, on September 13.
The company, which is already seeing success with its algae-based products for pigs, saw greater potential for further development of the beneficial effects of algae on pig health and productivity, said Biannic to Pig International. A product the company launched in 2011 — ecopiglet, which helps prepare piglets for weaning — is proving very popular, according to Olmix, and has resulted in a 50 percent improvement in the health of piglets in trials, while the use of antibiotic medications had been reduced by more than 50 percent.
This news followed a pre-SPACE seminar on “algae, the blue revolution for a sustainable chemistry,” organized in nearby Pontivy, France. Nearly thirty scientists, including Breton specialists in marine sciences and in algae; representatives of research labs; and representatives from CNRS Roscoff, the University of Western Brittany, the University of Southern Brittany, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research and the regional SMEs; presented the potential of algae to provide global solutions to the issues of nutrition and health, particularly of animals and plants.

Animal feed prices, production costs highlighted at SPACE 2012

Animal feed prices and production costs were the key topics of conversation among visitors and exhibitors at SPACE 2012, which opened in Rennes, Brittany, France, on September 11, with discussion about the new EU animal welfare regulations also a hot-button topic.
And in spite of the current difficult financial climate for all livestock farmers, the show, which runs until September 14 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary, is bigger than ever before, although attendance remained stable at about 22,100 visitors on the first day compared with figures from 2011.

A leading visitor on opening day was new French President François Hollande. While there, the president urged pig producers and other sectors of the agricultural industry to “go out and conquer new markets by boosting new farms, protecting agricultural land and calming volatility.”
His words were welcomed by many at the show, including Michel Rieu of the French Institute for Pigs, who told Pig International he believes there is plenty of room for French pig producers to grow and consolidate production for the domestic market, as demand for pork grows in the future. He also said he believes the balance of supply and demand will soon lead to higher prices for pork and that the prices will remain high through 2013 and maybe even 2014.
Pig farming, said Rieu, is becoming popular again in France with the number of young French people who want to be pig farmers growing rapidly. “This is a good sign and reflects the excellent model of farming that the industry has here — small, family-style farms with between 300 and 400 pigs per farm,” he said.
Jean-Michel Serres, president of the National Pig Federation in France, told Pig International that “France is a good place for the future.” He said that producers need to consolidate production to secure the domestic market, and that French producers are used to high input costs and can remain competitive under the current wave of high international prices.

Arnaud Buchet, commercial export manager for French pig breeder Nucléus SAS, said the company has been selecting for feed conversion rate, rather than growth, to help French pig producers produce more with less feed for several years, so it is now ahead of the game as feed prices continues to soar on the international markets. As a result, according to Buchet, the company’s sire and female lines are now attracting many new customers in several new markets, including China, Korea and the U.S.

French pig producers protest pork prices at SPACE

Dozens of French pig producers staged protests against low pig prices and lack of government action at the SPACE livestock event in Rennes, France.
The protesters also demanded action against retailers that were charging consumers more for pork while paying lower prices to pig producers. The farmers claim that they are losing up to €15 on every pig that they finish and sell. Pig producers are demanding some action from the French government to help them improve conditions, or else they are threatening to cut off all relations with the ministry of agriculture. Protesters said they would also like to see the European Union’s agricultural policy restructured to recognize the problems within the pig industry and to force prices up for high-quality French pork.
SPACE is celebrating its 25th anniversary and organizers are reporting record attendance and more exhibitors at this year’s show. Exhibitions Manager Paul Kerorton said the number of pig industry exhibitors has remained stable in spite of the problems currently facing the animal agriculture industry in Europe.