Page 15 of articles about costs

The National Pork Board has approved domestic and international marketing budgets that will help drive pork demand at a critical time.

All the countries that participate in Interpig, except USA, suffered losses in 2011.

China's banking regulator announced that its regulations on farmer loans will come into force on Jan. 1 next year.

At present the average pig price is less than 152p per kg, resulting in an average loss of over £14 on every pig produced.

The grain-intensive pig and poultry sectors recorded particularly strong gains, increasing by 6 percent and 2 percent respectively.

Pig meat production, on top of higher feed costs, would also be affected by the new animal welfare rules mandatory from January 2013, and would decline by -3.2% in 2013.

Researchers estimated that PRRS was costing the swine industry $66.7 million per year in the breeding-farrowing phase, $201.34 million per year in nursery pigs and $292.23 million per year in finishing pigs.

Skyrocketing agricultural commodity prices are causing the world to re-enter a period of "agflation", with food prices forecast to reach record highs in 2013.

The plan aims to protect French livestock and food industry and to limit the impact on the consumer end.

In recent days two of Canada's largest pork producers, Humboldt, Saskatchewan based Big Sky Farms and Niverville, Manitoba based Puratone, have filed for bankruptcy protection citing high feed costs due to drought in the U.S. coupled with low hog prices.

Output, prices and export values rose by 9%, 12% and 18% respectively.

Current forecasts for agricultural products are at 279 million tonnes of cereals. This is 2% lower than the average over the past five years.

According to Da Silva, the establishment of the agricultural market information system (AMIS) makes us better prepared for the current situation.

The Index, which measures the monthly change in the international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 213 points, up 12 points from June.

The world needs to take a hard look at speculation on the financial markets and its potential impact on food price volatility.