Page 569 of articles about news in Swine news

As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), compared with the first quarter of 2008, pork production was up 4.7%. The increase was in particular based on a climbing number of slaughtered pigs of foreign origin.

Russian Agriculture Ministry’ press-service reports that as of April 1, 2009, pork production output in farms of all grades grew by 8.2% to 606 thousand tons, if compared with the same period last year. Poultry production was up 12.4% to 776 thousand tons.

EFSA’s BIOHAZ Panel (Biological Hazards) concluded that some bacteriophages, under specific conditions, have been demonstrated to be very effective in the targeted elimination of specific pathogens from meat, milk and products thereof. The Panel, however, could not conclude whether bacteriophages can protect against bacteria in case the food becomes re-contaminated.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has evaluated whether methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in livestock may constitute a health risk for humans. "It is unlikely, based on the knowledge currently available, that MRSA can be transmitted to humans from livestock via food like raw meat or raw milk", said Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel, "as we estimate that the amount of germs in and on food is low".

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 386/2009 of 12 May 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the establishment of a new functional group of feed additives.

A pig health improvement scheme is being rolled out in Yorkshire ahead of other regions after the county's pig farmers joined forces with Yorkshire Forward to tackle disease and welfare issues. It will include the mapping of all pig units in Yorkshire and Humberside and an attempt to determine their health status as well as looking at how disease enters the country and spreads.

The Danish government has just launched a DKr 13.5 billion Green Growth plan that will ensure better conditions for the country’s nature and environment while allowing agriculture to develop.

With an increase of costs expected this year, a new system suggested by Inaporc will be in place on 18th July but beforehand, this system needs to be approved by Brussels. In this new system managed by Inaporc, the contract with renderers would be reduced from 3 years to 1 year renewable twice.

Ecuador, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Honduras have lifted temporary restrictions on pork imports from Mexico, the Economy Ministry said Tuesday.

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) issued provisional Import Heath Standards (IHSs) for pig meat, pig meat products and by-products from Canada, the EU, Mexico and the USA.

After 18 months of talks and intense negotiations, the 3,900 pork producers represented by the Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec (FPPQ) and almost all abattoirs representing 98% of slaughter pigs have signed a new agreement establishing an innovative and expansive way of doing business.

The Official Diary of Brazil (Diario Oficial de Brasil) last week published (“Portaria Interministerial” n° 279) the conditions for the contracting of a special credit line(Línea Especial de Crédito [LEC]) for pig meat which the Brazilian government has made available to swine producers, cooperatives and agro industries connected to pig meat. (Original in Portuguese. Read Google translation here).

Last year Spain exported 828,000 tonnes of fresh pig meat at a value of 1,632.7 Million euros. The main destinations were France (235,904 tonnes), Portugal (118,401 tonnes), Italy (98,195 tonnes) and Germany (80,380 tonnes). After these countries, the next highest Spanish sales were to Hong Kong and Russia. (Original in Spanish. Read Google translation here).

Last year, 119 cases were identified in eight different ‘non-bovine’ species in England, the latest figures from Defra show. This is more than the previous five years put together and represents a four-fold increase on 2007 when 29 cases were identified in six species. There were 30 cases identified in 2006 and 29 in 2005.

Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez, announced a packet of eight measures to reactivate the swine sector on which 350,000 jobs directly depend and 1.7 million jobs indirectly depend throughout the country. (Original in German. Read Google translation here).

The LEI (agricultural economic research institute) was asked by the Ministry of agriculture and food (LNV) to work out how things will be in the agricultural sector in 2020. The expectation is that the Netherlands will remain a major agricultural producer, but the share of agriculture and horticulture in the Dutch economy will continue to go down.