//08 Dec 2011
European Union countries will soon see pork coming from Romania, as the country has been cleared to start pork exports as of 1 January 2012. A ‘channelled’ pork system will allow Romania to sell pork in the EU.
According to Radu Roatis, president of the National Medical Veterinary and for Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), the decision was a unanimous one and approved by member states. Classical Swine Fever has been the culprit causing Romania to be unable to export pork to EU countries.
The issue regarding Classical Swine Fever in Romania has ‘largely improved’ in recent years, said the EU. The last outbreak of Classical Swine Fever in Romania was in 2007, in Timis County (western Romania), at farms owned by US firm - Smithfield. At the farms 50,000 pigs were killed. However, Romania is still not yet considered free of the disease.
'Lifting the commercial barrier imposed on Romania because of the swine pest might bring between 600 million and one billion Euros in the first year, according to the estimate made by the representatives of the Romanian meat processing industry,' said Roatis.
Channelled pork system
“Trade will be possible from a ‘channelled system’ developed in Romania including selected pig farms, slaughterhouses and establishments that provide all necessary guarantees concerning biosecurity, hygiene and surveillance for Classical Swine Fever,” the European Commission said in a statement.
09 December 2011
01 December 2011
About 40% of Dutch male pigs are no longer castrated
//01 Dec 2011
Approximately 40% of all male piglets born in the Netherlands are not castrated anymore. This figure was revealed by Dr Gé Backus (pictured), Wageningen University & Research Centre, at the start of the Boars Heading for 2018 conference.
The conference, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Nov 30 and Dec 1, brings together 150 international experts, mainly from Europe, to discuss about the future of boar raising. In the European Union, piglet castration will be banned by 2018.
The Netherlands paved the way for this ban, which was agreed to voluntarily by stakeholders from all 27 countries of the European Union in the end of December 2009. In the Netherlands, a similar development had led to a similar agreement in 2007.
As a result, the vast majority of retail chains in the Netherlands do not sell pork from barrows anymore – those pigs castrated end up in other market segments, predominantly exports.
Pork consumption
Backus said that despite the decision to go for boar meat, and risk boar taint – pork meat consumption has been still the same, and retail organisations have reported to be satisfied. In addition, pig farmers have felt lower feed costs as boars grow more efficiently – and production has happened more sustainably.
The topic is ‘hot’ in Europe, Backus said as many new research projects are being started up to get to know more about the topic of boar taint and how to avoid it.
Backus briefly summarised that every year in the EU, 100 million piglets are castrated. He added, since boars grow more efficiently, in the situation of castration 700,000 ha of more land is needed to produce the additional feed.
Exception
He said that castration is performed throughout the EU with the exception of the UK and Ireland. In Spain and Portugal, about 30% of the male piglets is castrated.
The first speaker of the night was Mr Andrea Gavinelli, head of the unit Animal Welfare, DG Health and Consumers, European Commission.
Related weblog:
• A different subject: Talking about smaller litters
Related websites:
• Boars Heading for 2018
• Wageningen University & Research Centre
• European Union
Approximately 40% of all male piglets born in the Netherlands are not castrated anymore. This figure was revealed by Dr Gé Backus (pictured), Wageningen University & Research Centre, at the start of the Boars Heading for 2018 conference.
The conference, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Nov 30 and Dec 1, brings together 150 international experts, mainly from Europe, to discuss about the future of boar raising. In the European Union, piglet castration will be banned by 2018.
The Netherlands paved the way for this ban, which was agreed to voluntarily by stakeholders from all 27 countries of the European Union in the end of December 2009. In the Netherlands, a similar development had led to a similar agreement in 2007.
As a result, the vast majority of retail chains in the Netherlands do not sell pork from barrows anymore – those pigs castrated end up in other market segments, predominantly exports.
Pork consumption
Backus said that despite the decision to go for boar meat, and risk boar taint – pork meat consumption has been still the same, and retail organisations have reported to be satisfied. In addition, pig farmers have felt lower feed costs as boars grow more efficiently – and production has happened more sustainably.
The topic is ‘hot’ in Europe, Backus said as many new research projects are being started up to get to know more about the topic of boar taint and how to avoid it.
Backus briefly summarised that every year in the EU, 100 million piglets are castrated. He added, since boars grow more efficiently, in the situation of castration 700,000 ha of more land is needed to produce the additional feed.
Exception
He said that castration is performed throughout the EU with the exception of the UK and Ireland. In Spain and Portugal, about 30% of the male piglets is castrated.
The first speaker of the night was Mr Andrea Gavinelli, head of the unit Animal Welfare, DG Health and Consumers, European Commission.
Related weblog:
• A different subject: Talking about smaller litters
Related websites:
• Boars Heading for 2018
• Wageningen University & Research Centre
• European Union
Canadian poultry farmers told to stop use of bovine antibiotic
//01 Dec 2011
The Public Health Agency of Canada (CIPARS) is warning British Columbia poultry farmers and veterinarians to stop using a bovine antibiotic on chickens.
The agency believes the practice is behind a significant spike in a strain of Campylobacter in chicken that is resistant to an antibiotic commonly used to treat respiratory infections in human beings and cattle.
Routine testing of chicken from grocery stores detected a dramatic spike in drug-resistant Campylobacter bacteria in retail samples of B.C. chicken in 2009 and levels have remained stubbornly above normal in the province ever since.
Positive tests for the resistant strain of Campylobacter in retail chicken have ranged as high as 40% in B.C. and 28% in Saskatchewan compared with an average of less than 4% in the other provinces monitored by the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance.
Campylobacter is the most common food-borne pathogen in Canada. It is usually associated with substandard food handling and consumption of undercooked chicken.
The rate of human Campylobacter poisoning in B.C. has been about 30% above the national average during the past 10 years, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.
CIPARS is comparing Campylobacter from human cases in B.C. and Saskatchewan to the bacteria from retail poultry to determine whether the same pathogen is infecting people who eat poultry.
‘Off-label’ fluoroquinolone
A bulletin to be released this week by CIPARS attributes the increase in drug-resistant Campylobacter in B.C. chicken to use of the antimicrobial drug fluoroquinolone.
The agency says veterinary fluoroquinolones labelled for cattle are being used "off-label" to prevent salmonella in chicken in breeder flocks.
Health Canada requires fluoroquinolone-based veterinary drugs for cattle to carry a warning not to use them in any other species.
Public health authorities want to curb the use of fluoroquinolone in chickens because the risk of spreading drug resistance could render those medications ineffective.
It is not unusual for veterinarians to use antibiotics labelled for one species on another species, but steps are being taken within the poultry industry to stamp out the practice.
Association warning
B.C.'s poultry farming association has issued a warning written by Ministry of Agriculture veterinarian Bill Cox in a July bulletin instructing producers not to use prescription drugs on their flocks except under veterinary supervision and not to use any drug without a veterinary diagnosis.
Chicken Farmers of Canada executive director Mike Dungate said antimicrobial resistance is one of the industry's "critical" concerns.
Chicken producers are required to report all medications given to their flocks to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before they are sent for processing. That information is verified by government veterinarians, according to CFC safety program manager Steve Leech.
The CFC and CIPARS are developing a national on-farm surveillance program designed to record antimicrobial use and pinpoint the sources of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
"The CFC hopes the program will explain B.C.'s persistently higher incidence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter and correlate that with on-farm practices," Leech said.
The CFC maintains there is no conclusive use of veterinary drugs on farms with the drug-resistant bacteria detected in samples taken from chicken in B.C. grocery stores
The Public Health Agency of Canada (CIPARS) is warning British Columbia poultry farmers and veterinarians to stop using a bovine antibiotic on chickens.
The agency believes the practice is behind a significant spike in a strain of Campylobacter in chicken that is resistant to an antibiotic commonly used to treat respiratory infections in human beings and cattle.
Routine testing of chicken from grocery stores detected a dramatic spike in drug-resistant Campylobacter bacteria in retail samples of B.C. chicken in 2009 and levels have remained stubbornly above normal in the province ever since.
Positive tests for the resistant strain of Campylobacter in retail chicken have ranged as high as 40% in B.C. and 28% in Saskatchewan compared with an average of less than 4% in the other provinces monitored by the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance.
Campylobacter is the most common food-borne pathogen in Canada. It is usually associated with substandard food handling and consumption of undercooked chicken.
The rate of human Campylobacter poisoning in B.C. has been about 30% above the national average during the past 10 years, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.
CIPARS is comparing Campylobacter from human cases in B.C. and Saskatchewan to the bacteria from retail poultry to determine whether the same pathogen is infecting people who eat poultry.
‘Off-label’ fluoroquinolone
A bulletin to be released this week by CIPARS attributes the increase in drug-resistant Campylobacter in B.C. chicken to use of the antimicrobial drug fluoroquinolone.
The agency says veterinary fluoroquinolones labelled for cattle are being used "off-label" to prevent salmonella in chicken in breeder flocks.
Health Canada requires fluoroquinolone-based veterinary drugs for cattle to carry a warning not to use them in any other species.
Public health authorities want to curb the use of fluoroquinolone in chickens because the risk of spreading drug resistance could render those medications ineffective.
It is not unusual for veterinarians to use antibiotics labelled for one species on another species, but steps are being taken within the poultry industry to stamp out the practice.
Association warning
B.C.'s poultry farming association has issued a warning written by Ministry of Agriculture veterinarian Bill Cox in a July bulletin instructing producers not to use prescription drugs on their flocks except under veterinary supervision and not to use any drug without a veterinary diagnosis.
Chicken Farmers of Canada executive director Mike Dungate said antimicrobial resistance is one of the industry's "critical" concerns.
Chicken producers are required to report all medications given to their flocks to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before they are sent for processing. That information is verified by government veterinarians, according to CFC safety program manager Steve Leech.
The CFC and CIPARS are developing a national on-farm surveillance program designed to record antimicrobial use and pinpoint the sources of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
"The CFC hopes the program will explain B.C.'s persistently higher incidence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter and correlate that with on-farm practices," Leech said.
The CFC maintains there is no conclusive use of veterinary drugs on farms with the drug-resistant bacteria detected in samples taken from chicken in B.C. grocery stores
Bird flu confirmed at Nepalese poultry farm
//29 Nov 2011
The Veterinary Epidemiology Center has confirmed an outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm in Nepal’s Bhaktapur district.
An expert team dispatched from Department of Livestock Services under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had initiated works in the disease prone areas following a complaint from local farmer Chandra Bahadur Tamang that 35 of his chickens died on Nov 9 and 10.
A sample of the dead chicken was sent to England for tests after the veterinary center suspected the disease. This test confirmed that the chickens had died of Bird flu. Meanwhile, more than 500 chickens and ducks have been killed in the area as a way of controlling the spread.
The Veterinary Epidemiology Center has confirmed an outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm in Nepal’s Bhaktapur district.
An expert team dispatched from Department of Livestock Services under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had initiated works in the disease prone areas following a complaint from local farmer Chandra Bahadur Tamang that 35 of his chickens died on Nov 9 and 10.
A sample of the dead chicken was sent to England for tests after the veterinary center suspected the disease. This test confirmed that the chickens had died of Bird flu. Meanwhile, more than 500 chickens and ducks have been killed in the area as a way of controlling the spread.
Cotton as potential hay substitute
//30 Nov 2011
The search for hay substitutes has led some to consider cotton residues as a potential supplement for other animal feeds. Dr. Tyron Wickersham of Texas AgriLife Research, a nutrition scientist at Texas A&M University analysed the feed potential of cotton.
Cotton is treated with pesticides and defoliants before it is harvested, and hence is under restrictions prior to its release for consumption.
The question was whether the chemcial pre-treatment affected the cotton residue’s nutritional value.
Dr. Wickersham of Texas A&M University found that cotton residue can be given to livestock with some precautions.
A far better nutritional option is giving the whole cotton plant for consumption. There is more crude protein in cotton plants than in the commonly used hays.
The cotton seed gives the feed a high fat content, higher than what would normally be given to cattle, and some scouring may occur, Wickersham said.
Dr. Wickersham and his colleagues plan to continue their research on feed cotton.
The search for hay substitutes has led some to consider cotton residues as a potential supplement for other animal feeds. Dr. Tyron Wickersham of Texas AgriLife Research, a nutrition scientist at Texas A&M University analysed the feed potential of cotton.
Cotton is treated with pesticides and defoliants before it is harvested, and hence is under restrictions prior to its release for consumption.
The question was whether the chemcial pre-treatment affected the cotton residue’s nutritional value.
Dr. Wickersham of Texas A&M University found that cotton residue can be given to livestock with some precautions.
A far better nutritional option is giving the whole cotton plant for consumption. There is more crude protein in cotton plants than in the commonly used hays.
The cotton seed gives the feed a high fat content, higher than what would normally be given to cattle, and some scouring may occur, Wickersham said.
Dr. Wickersham and his colleagues plan to continue their research on feed cotton.
Thai deteriorated rice goes to animal feed
//30 Nov 2011
The Thai Commerce Ministry has put up for auction 92,000 tonnes of rice in storage, mainly deteriorated stock for animal feed producers, says a ministry source.
Of the total up for auction, 66,927 tonnes is mixed-grade rice damaged by disasters, a supply that entered the government's mortgage scheme from 2008-09.
The remaining 25,153 tonnes is second-grade fragrant rice and white rice that entered the mortgage scheme from 2005-07.
Chanchai Rakthananon, the president of the Thai Rice Mills Association, said the auction might not be well received by the private sector, as deteriorated rice cannot be made into packed rice.
More likely was that the government would have to sell at a loss to millers which the government originally contracted to keep the rice.
Chanchai agreed with this year's policy of milling paddy into rice every 10 days and releasing stocks as soon as possible, as keeping the stockpile for longer periods would result in huge losses such as happened in the past.
If the government wants to keep rice for several years, a standard warehouse could ensure management of stock without quality deterioration
The Thai Commerce Ministry has put up for auction 92,000 tonnes of rice in storage, mainly deteriorated stock for animal feed producers, says a ministry source.
Of the total up for auction, 66,927 tonnes is mixed-grade rice damaged by disasters, a supply that entered the government's mortgage scheme from 2008-09.
The remaining 25,153 tonnes is second-grade fragrant rice and white rice that entered the mortgage scheme from 2005-07.
Chanchai Rakthananon, the president of the Thai Rice Mills Association, said the auction might not be well received by the private sector, as deteriorated rice cannot be made into packed rice.
More likely was that the government would have to sell at a loss to millers which the government originally contracted to keep the rice.
Chanchai agreed with this year's policy of milling paddy into rice every 10 days and releasing stocks as soon as possible, as keeping the stockpile for longer periods would result in huge losses such as happened in the past.
If the government wants to keep rice for several years, a standard warehouse could ensure management of stock without quality deterioration
CP Foods is aiming for global top three position
//30 Nov 2011
Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) said the acquisition of CP Pokphand Co (CPP) in Hong Kong is part of its strategy to become one of the world’s top three animal-feed firms.
The acquisition will cost the equivalent of Bt66 billion (US$2.17 billion) to purchase a 74.18% stake from Orient Success International, Worth Access Trading and CPI Holding – three companies owned by the Cheravanont family under the Charoen Pokphand Group (CPG).
Adirek Sripratak, president and CEO of CPF, said the strategy was to encourage CPF to restructure its business in the region to achieve synergy, security and cost competitiveness.
"We intend to become one of the world's top three feed-meal producers. Now we rank as the sixth or seventh," Adirek said.
The deal will also help increase total CPF sales to Bt300 billion ($9.6b) next year from this year's estimated Bt210 billion ($6.7b).
Bargaining power
"CPF is to spearhead exploring business opportunities overseas by itself rather than relying on its subsidiaries. The strategy will strengthen the company's bargaining power with trading partners," Adirek said, adding that this restructuring was similar to what CPF did in 1999 to consolidate all related subsidiaries into branches of CPF.
He said the acquisition was predicted to generate 18% return of investment per year thanks to CPP, which manages business not only in China but CP Vietnam Corporation (CPV).
CPP's main business in China under the Chia Tai brand has focused on animal feed in 28 provinces, accounting for 95% of its total sales.
The deal will also support CPF's strategy of directly expanding business into both China and Vietnam. It will increase the contribution from its overseas business from 26% of total revenue to 50%.
Adirek added that the company had to lower this year's total sales target a little from Bt220 billion ($7.0b) to Bt210 billion ($6.7b) because of the flooding. However, sales are still set to grow by 10-15% next year.
Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) said the acquisition of CP Pokphand Co (CPP) in Hong Kong is part of its strategy to become one of the world’s top three animal-feed firms.
The acquisition will cost the equivalent of Bt66 billion (US$2.17 billion) to purchase a 74.18% stake from Orient Success International, Worth Access Trading and CPI Holding – three companies owned by the Cheravanont family under the Charoen Pokphand Group (CPG).
Adirek Sripratak, president and CEO of CPF, said the strategy was to encourage CPF to restructure its business in the region to achieve synergy, security and cost competitiveness.
"We intend to become one of the world's top three feed-meal producers. Now we rank as the sixth or seventh," Adirek said.
The deal will also help increase total CPF sales to Bt300 billion ($9.6b) next year from this year's estimated Bt210 billion ($6.7b).
Bargaining power
"CPF is to spearhead exploring business opportunities overseas by itself rather than relying on its subsidiaries. The strategy will strengthen the company's bargaining power with trading partners," Adirek said, adding that this restructuring was similar to what CPF did in 1999 to consolidate all related subsidiaries into branches of CPF.
He said the acquisition was predicted to generate 18% return of investment per year thanks to CPP, which manages business not only in China but CP Vietnam Corporation (CPV).
CPP's main business in China under the Chia Tai brand has focused on animal feed in 28 provinces, accounting for 95% of its total sales.
The deal will also support CPF's strategy of directly expanding business into both China and Vietnam. It will increase the contribution from its overseas business from 26% of total revenue to 50%.
Adirek added that the company had to lower this year's total sales target a little from Bt220 billion ($7.0b) to Bt210 billion ($6.7b) because of the flooding. However, sales are still set to grow by 10-15% next year.
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