Recently in pigs Category

Have you got an innovative idea but not enough cash to try it out?

BPEX is offering grants of up to 50% to pig producers and businesses to help them develop their idea and, if it works well, spread the word to other producers.

The scope is broad, from home-grown ideas from the farm, to technology from another sector or overseas, or a new process to improve efficiency or save labour.

A BPEX Knowledge Transfer Manager can help develop ideas further and give guidance on the application form. Previous projects have ranged from £6,000 to £24,000 in total value - contact kt@bpex.ahdb.org.uk for more information.

Sheep producers received a bigger share of the retail price for lamb in December 2011, but beef and pig farmers saw little change, according to AHDB’s latest UK Market Survey.

Strong export demand and tight supplies saw the average deadweight ex-farm price for lamb increase by 42p/kg in December compared with the month earlier. Over the same period the retail price declined slightly, so producers received almost 60% of the final retail price, up 6% on the month.

Overall during 2011 producers received 59% of the retail price, compared with 55% in 2010.

Beef producers received on average 54% of the final retail price during December, 1% down on the month, but 5% higher than December 2010. Pig producers saw a smaller improvement on the year (up 2%) and still receive a much lower share. The average ex-farm deadweight pig price equated to just 39% of the retail value in December.
 
 

Producers and others from the pig supply chain have been urged to take part in the annual confidence survey carried out by BPEX.

Questionnaires have just gone out to farmers, vets, retailers, civil servants and the allied industry and the survey should provide a vital snapshot of the industry and how confidence has changed from previous years.

It also asks whether people think BPEX is meeting the needs of the industry and gives respondents the opportunity to suggest what the organisation should do, head of communications Andrew Knowles said.

Anybody who would like to take part but has not received a questionnaire can do so via the BPEX website.

Production costs for British pig producers increased by nine percent last year and were above the European average, according to BPEX.

Its annual InterPIG report found that the cash cost of production, excluding finance costs, was 125.5p/kg in 2010, 10p/kg higher than the previous year and 9p above the EU average. The increase was largely due to increased feed costs, which came on the back of the rise in grain prices.

But while costs were up, there was some good news in the report. Physical performance, such as litters/sow/year and mortality had improved and this trend looked to have continued into 2011, senior analyst Mark Topliff said.

“It highlights just how important it is for the industry to achieve two tonnes of pig meat per sow per year. The 2TS campaign was launched in May 2010 with the objective of closing the gap in competitiveness that this report highlights.”

Global meat supplies are likely to tighten further next year, which should help keep prices firm, according to a Rabobank report.

Barring any major economic disruption, it predicted GDP growth - particularly in countries such as China, India and Indonesia - would outstrip protein supplies, resulting in “another year of record prices in most markets for most proteins around the world”.

There was likely to be reduced supplies from the US in particular, where a steep drop in meat and poultry production was forecast for 2012. Drought in the south and southwest US had exacerbated the long-term downtrend in the cattle herd, while the chicken industry was cutting back production due to lower profitability, it said.

The US pork sector had so far held relatively steady, but Rabobank said there were signs of increased sow slaughter as the industry got to grips with some of the tightest corn supplies in history.

The wide variation in cost of production figures for pig producers around the world is starkly illustrated by provisional figures from BPEX’s annual Interpig report.

The report, which covers 2010, shows a massive 96p/kg difference in pig production costs between the highest, the Czech Republic at 183p/kg deadweight, and the lowest, the Mato Grosso state in Brazil at 87p/kg dw.

While Britain sat roughly in the middle with total costs of 146p/kg last year, this was 8% above the EU average. Costs across the EU were up 2% in 2010 compared with 2009, partly due to higher feed costs.

Over half of the InterPIG group reported a fall in post-weaning mortality, while most countries also experienced an increase in daily liveweight gain.

BPEX will publish the full Interpig report at the end of October.

Pig farmers and confidence might not be an obvious combination right now but the NFU wants many more producers to communicate their opinions on the future of their businesses.

The union’s annual confidence barometer survey has had only a handful of pig producer responses - which could mean many things. At least 50 responses are needed to make a statistically significant sample, so have your say here http://www.nfuonline.com/websurveys/fcons0611/fcons0611.htm

After years of negotiations, it looks like British pork products could soon be heading to China.

Attempts to open the Chinese market -estimated to be worth up to £40m a year - began in 2004, but were interrupted by the 2007 foot and mouth outbreak.

Negotiations reached a milestone last November when business secretary Vince Cable and ministers from the Chinese quarantine inspectorate signed an export health certificate agreement. Half a dozen UK plants have now been formally granted export health certificates after a recent visit to the UK by the Chinese premier.

“Pork and pork product prices are currently at record levels in China. We have a fantastic opportunity to improve returns from selling all parts of the pig,” BPEX Chairman Stewart Houston said.

China is the world’s biggest pig meat market, producing 46m tonnes a year and consuming more than that. So-called “fifth quarter” products can command a premium there, despite being of limited value in the UK.

“This is much needed as pig prices in this country still lag behind the cost of production caused by continuing high feed costs and other rising input prices,” Mr Houston said.

Pig and poultry compound feed manufacturer ABN has bought Exeter-based Uffculme Feed Mill.

ABN managing director Simon Heath said the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval by the UK competition authorities, would improve the company’s ability to service an expanding customer base in the southwest.

“For the last several years, we have been investing in our ability to deliver quality nutrition products to the entire UK pig and poultry supply chains, and this is just another step in that direction for our business.”

A 40% increase in exports helped Scottish meat processors increase their total turnover by 15% year-on-year during 2010 to around £930m.

The figures, revealed in Quality Meat Scotland’s Scottish Red Meat Industry Profile 2011, are an encouraging sign, but do not indicate profitability, QMS head of economics Stuart Ashworth said.

Increases in wholesale retail values have not been enough to offset higher raw material and energy prices, he said. With the five largest abattoirs in Scotland handling more than two-thirds of the slaughter of cattle, sheep and pigs, throughput remains an important driver of profit.

There was a 4% increase in the number of cattle slaughtered in Scottish abattoirs in 2010, but sheep throughputs fell 2.5% and pigs were down another 3%, on top of a 12% fall the previous year.