Page 538 of articles about news in Swine news

U.S. and Canadian inventory of all hogs and pigs for June 2009 was 78.2 million head. This was down 3 percent from June 2008 and down 1 percent from June 2007.

Productivity is rising again in Ireland and sow output is now up to 23.4 pigs per year.

The voluntary movement restraint was lifted on 23 October 2009.

The Commission has agreed a Communication that aims to improve the functioning of the food supply chain in Europe. The recent sharp decline in agricultural commodity prices alongside persistently high consumer food prices has raised concerns on the efficiency of this crucial sector of the European economy.

Specialist pig farms saw the largest percentage increase in farm business income in the 12 months to February 2009, but this was from a particularly low base.

Chinese officials have agreed to lift the ban on U.S. pork imports they imposed last spring out of fear of swine flu.

The European Commission agreed to allow Member States to pay farmers a one-off payment of up to €15,000 in state aid.

The federal and provincial governments announced that an additional $70 million has been added to the AgriStability program, allowing producers to get an advance on 75 per cent of the estimated public funding they would receive for the year.

The European Commission adopted today a report in which it outlines a series of options for animal welfare labelling, to facilitate an in-depth political debate with the other institutions. The overall goal of policy in this area is to make it easier for consumers to identify and choose welfare-friendly products, and thereby give an economic incentive to producers to improve the welfare of animals.

The Food and Vetarinary Authority in Iceland has reported to the OIE the first case of A/H1N1 in pigs in the country.

Ukrainian frontier guards are taking measures to avoid appearing and spreading of the African swine fever virus in Ukraine.

Hog inventories on Canadian farms declined 7.3 per cent between the third quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009.

The American Academy of Microbiology convened a colloquium October 12-14, 2008, to discuss antibiotic resistance and the factors that infl uence the development and spread of resistance.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the demands of farmers’ unions and agricultural employers in a speech on Tuesday, promising to protect the industry through one billion euros in government loans, 650 million euros in aid, and tax cuts.

According to Rabo Bank in their report entitled “The future of swine livestock in the Netherlands”, Netherlands will have only 4,400 swine herds by 2015, which is somewhat less than half the number of herds in 2005.

Pork production totaled 2.00 billion pounds, up 1 percent from the previous year. Hog kill totaled 9.94 million head, down slightly from September 2008. The average live weight was up 4 pounds from the previous year, at 270 pounds.