Page 595 of articles about news in Swine news

There was a rapid increase in farms using vaccine in the BPEX-funded PCV2 vaccination project in spring of last year with the percentage of farms vaccinating later levelling off at close to 70 percent. But figures from NADIS do not show a significant decrease in PMWS. The reason is that, as expected, vaccination, at least in the early stages, does not lead to a complete disappearance of disease from farms, explains NADIS.

According to figures from the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, the consumption of meat and meat products increased by 0.6% in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, arriving at a total of 603,030 tonnes. The consumption of fresh meat decreased but the demand for transformed meat products rose by 8.7% reaching 138,026 tonnes, which is 23% of the total sold. (Original in Spanish. Read Google translation here).

American swine producers have introduced a new program designed to allow an equitable exit by sow owners from the farrowing business. Producer Retirement Plan Chairman Chuck Wirtz describes the initiative as an early retirement program to allow producers who exit the industry to re-capture the unused genetic productive value of their sow herds.

The floods of 2008 are fresh in Iowa pork producers' memories less than a year after rising waters from the Mississippi and its tributaries flooded thousands of acres of crops and dozens of pig barns following heavy spring rains. Helping pork producers prepare for this and many other types of emergencies is the goal of the Pork Checkoff's new emergency action plan tool.

Paraguay meat exports totaled 245 million US dollars in the first five months of the year, which represents a 25% decline compared to the same period a year ago (328 million US dollars), according to the latest official reports.

A contentious proposal to compel US food manufacturers to contribute towards safety inspection costs took a step forward yesterday after the Food and Drug Administration signalled its backing for the idea.

Import of live pigs, pork and its non-heat treated products (temperature of treatment shall be at least 800C, time of treatment shall be at least 30 minutes) from the Province of Quebec is banned until further notice because the situation on H1N1 influenza has been complicated. At the same time, earlier imposed restrictions on import of live pigs, pork and its non-heat-treated products from Alberta and British Columbia shall be lifted because the situation there stabilized.

With the second-highest recorded cereals crop expected this year and stocks replenished, the world food supply looks less vulnerable to shocks than it was during last year’s food crisis, FAO said in its Food Outlook report published today.

Chinese scientists have given cells from adult pigs the ability to turn into any tissue in the body, just like embryonic stem cells. They hope the breakthrough could aid research into human disease, and the breeding of animals for organ transplants for humans. It may also enable the development of pigs that are resistant to diseases such as swine flu.

The Rosselkhoznadzor considers it possible to lift restrictions earlier imposed on import of live pigs, pork and its non-heat-treated products from the whole territory of Spain to the Russian Federation because the epidemic situation on H1N1 influenza in Spain stabilized.

The National Pork Board has adopted a resolution urging all U.S. pork producers to become certified in the Pork Quality Assurance Plus® program by June 30, 2010, and to achieve PQA Plus® site status by Dec. 31, 2010. Additionally, the board is recommending that producers embrace the ethical principles the industry adopted in 2008.

Exports of frozen pork products from Canada to Australia and New Zealand during calendar year 2009 were forecast to be up from the previous season, according to projections made by officials at the Canadian Pork Council. Data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada showed that Canadian pork exports to Australia from January 1 to March 31, 2009 totalled 12,765 metric tons, which compares with 7,910 metric tons at the same time during 2008. Data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada showed that Canadian pork exports to Australia from January 1 to March 31, 2009 totalled 12,765 metric tons, which compares with 7,910 metric tons at the same time during 2008.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will make the master seed virus (MSV) for the novel H1N1 flu available to interested veterinary biologics manufacturers.

The large amount of agricultural waste generated in the EU each year is a headache for farmers who are obliged to get rid of it. The treatments they use tend to be cheap but inadequate. An alternative treatment is the use of biogas via anaerobic digestion (using microorganisms to break down the material in the absence of oxygen). The biogas treatment effectively fuels energy and nutrient recovery, with the added bonus of preventing pollution. The AGROBIOGAS project, backed by the EU with EUR 2.9 million in funding, set its sights on developing this technology, which offers an effective way to treat agricultural waste while being a realistic option for farmers.

The European Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) will today present the main findings of the two-year project 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)' in a policy seminar held in Brussels. The meeting will be attended, among others, by Member States' ministries and academia as well as farming, industrial and environmental organisations.

New cases of classical swine fever in feral pigs in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate have been reported. Accordingly, the plans for eradication and emergency vaccination of feral pigs for classical swine fever need to be applied in that area. Decision 2003/135/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.