Page 523 of articles about news in Swine news

The European Commission has today announced that it will propose a temporary suspension of animal cloning for food production in the EU. The Commission also plans to suspend temporarily the use of cloned farm animals and the marketing of food from clones. All temporary measures will be reviewed after five years. The establishment of a traceability system for imports of reproductive materials for clones, such as semen and embryos of clones is also envisaged. The system will allow farmers and industry to set up database with the animals that would emerge from these reproductive materials.

Manila may start renegotiating with Singapore on pork trade that was stalled as the two sides wait for results of the Ebola Reston antigen test.

The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board today unanimously voted to create new euthanasia livestock care standards--the first such set of standards created in the state's history. Proposed euthanasia rules will be filed with the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) to begin the rule making process.

Foodborne illness outbreaks totaled 1,097 and caused 21,244 illnesses and 18 deaths in 2007, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report summarizing the epidemiological data for reported foodborne outbreaks in 2007 – the most recent year available.

Canada´s pork sector continues to struggle, with production having shrunk to its lowest levels since 2000/01. This has largely resulted from an industry goal of cutting production by 18% by 2014, with the government paying farmers to cease raising hogs. Exports have particularly suffered in the wake of the rising Canadian dollar and recent restrictions on pork imports into the US. Consequently, many pig farmers have gone out of business.

Global pigmeat sector cannot regard 2009 as a successful year with prices plummeting in parallel to the fall of feed costs after the hikes of 2007-08 and due to the strong drop in global demand.

More than 20 national food and agriculture organizations yesterday announced the formation of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). The alliance will work to enhance U.S. consumer trust in the modern food production system that provides an abundance of affordable, safe food.

According to information published by Abiceps, so far this year, pork meat export sales have suffered an 8,15% decline in volume, going from 448.731 tons in the first nine months of 2009 to 412.168 tons in the same period of this year.

According to the figures made public by the Agricultural Economic Institute (LEI), antibiotics use in the intensive livestock industry in the Netherlands has come down in 2009.

In a final report sent to the OIE, Botswana reports that the foot and mouth disease event having started in July 2010 is closed.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved higher blending rates for ethanol in gasoline for 2007 and newer vehicles, allowing mixtures with up to 15% of the corn-based fuel at the pump. The current maximum ethanol blend rate is 10%; a mid-level blend rate increase of 12% had been discussed in recent months.

The results of a survey conducted in June this year indicated that nearly 70% of producers already keep pregnant sows in group systems, which is in line with the requirements of the EU legislation due in 2013.

In a study of energy use on Iowa hog farms, Iowa State University (ISU) researchers found a huge drop in the use of nonrenewable energy for pig production over the last 35 years.

Offal imports grew from 174,000 tonnes in the first six months of 2009 to 286,000 tonnes in the same period of 2010. Pork imports rose from 65,700 tonnes to 88,100 tonnes in the same period.

A new set of implementing rules on animal by-products, endorsed today by the Member States in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH), is expected to simplify controls and reduce administrative burden, while maintaining the existing high levels of human and animal health protection.

In 2009, the total antimicrobial consumption in pigs was 103.7 tonnes active substance, representing an 11% increase from 2008, while the consumption increased by 12% when measured in doses.