Page 913 of articles about news

The european exportation of pig meat and derived products reached a record level of 2.6 million tonnes, 34% more than the previous year. (Original in German. Read Google translation here).

This publication from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), describes research indicating that the Australian livestock industry is including greater proportions of genetically modified (GM) crops in its stockfeed, and that consumers are not rejecting animal products raised on these products. The 48-page publication issued in 2009, also discusses the implications of the apparent changes in market acceptance of GM products.

U.S. imports and exports of red meats—beef, pork, lamb, and mutton—have expanded rapidly over the last several decades, linking livestock sectors of the United States to those of several major trading partners. Factors driving this trade growth include not only rising incomes, but also the preference of U.S. and foreign consumers for a greater variety of red meat cuts, facilitated by the expansion of free trade agreements.

The work group ProSchwein has made three proposals: castration with anaesthesia, chemical castration or breeding of entire male pigs. (Original in French. Read Google translation here).

Most crop prices are expected to be substantially lower in 2008/09. Even with larger quantities of most grains and oilseeds available to market, lower prices will pull down receipts and production value from 2008's record level. A substantial reduction in milk prices will signal the same outcome for livestock commodities. Despite increases for red meat and poultry receipts, overall livestock receipts are projected down by nearly $11 billion in 2009.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to widen its monitoring and surveillance of hog farms in Bulacan and Pangasinan after a joint investigation team confirmed ongoing transmission of the Ebola Reston Virus (ERV) among 6,000 hogs in a farm in Pandi, Bulacan.

The Russian authorities have reopened their market for imports from four Danish slaughterhouses from the turn of the year. They are the Danish Crown factories at Ringsted, Herning and Skærbæk, and Tican at Thisted.

The purpose of these reviews is to determine whether a State has developed and is maintaining a meat or poultry inspection program that imposes requirements “at least equal to” those imposed by FSIS under specified provisions of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) or the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA).

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction barring California officials from enforcing a new state law that requires all non-ambulatory animals to be diverted from the food supply and immediately euthanized.

The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday pledged to seek negotiations with Singapore on the resumption of pork exports, which have been suspended in the wake of the latest foot-and-mouth outbreak in Taiwan.

Representatives of the Ohio Pork Producers Council, along with representatives from other Ohio livestock and poultry industry groups met with representatives of the Humane Society of the United States this week in Columbus. HSUS asked the groups to have dialogue on the elimination of gestation stalls for sows, veal crates and cages for layers through legislation in an effort to avoid a ballot initiative in Ohio.

An estimated one million litres of pig slurry from the 10 pig farms hit by the dioxin contamination crisis in December, will be spread on tillage land and not land used for grazing animals. Following consultations with all the parties, agreement was reached that the slurry was safe and represented no threat to public health when disposed of in the manner specified.

Farming Minister Jane Kennedy, speaking at the annual conference of the National Farmers Union in Birmingham yesterday, announced a new joint initiative with the public and private sector to make greater use of anaerobic digestion – the technology which produces energy from organic material like food waste and manure.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith TD, today said that the Government had decided that the farm waste management scheme grants will be paid on a phased basis with 40 per cent being paid this year, as claims are approved, a further 40 per cent being paid in early January 2010 and the remaining 20 per cent in January 2011. The Minister said that the decision had been taken in the context of addressing the public finances and identifying significant savings in public spending this year.