Page 609 of articles about news in Swine news

Pork prices are expected to remain strong for the next six to twelve months because of fewer domestic pigs. Australian Pork Council CEO Andrew Spencer says pork prices are currently at record highs because of a combination of low grain prices, a low Australian dollar and a general shortage of pigs.

Federal Agency for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) has lifted restrictions on meat product imports from some Danish enterprises, as Rosselkhoznadzor’ press-service reports.

The Government of Canada is implementing two key recommendations: to create a market-access secretariat, and to pursue commercially-significant access to beef markets as a first step to achieve full access as recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The Czech presidency of the EU Council has published its work programme for the next six months, pledging progress on the food labelling regulation proposal, debate on food quality issues, simplification of the CAP and discussions on the policy’s future.

Payments worth €35 million have been made by the Department of Agriculture in relation to December’s pig dioxin scare, the joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture was told yesterday.

CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate an ongoing multistate outbreak of human infections due to Salmonella serotype Typhimurium. As of Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 388 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 42 states.

The plan for Biodigestion of Manure passed by the cabinet will allow the treatment of 9,470,000 tonnes of manure per year, which will imply an expected reduction of greenhouse gases of 2.23 million tonnes of CO2 eq/year.

Pig producers have been granted a welcome relief from the tax man thanks to a new ruling on slurry storage facilities. New regulations on nitrate pollution, which came into force on 1 January 2009, mean that there is an increased need for slurry storage facilities, but up until now it was unclear how these facilities would be viewed in terms of tax allowances. Following a review of the regulation, slurry storage systems will qualify for capital allowances, which will enable producers to deduct a proportion of the cost of investment from their taxable profits, thereby reducing their tax bill.

There have been 1,600 jobs lost in the Danish pork industry in 2008, caused by the closure of pork processing plants in the country. The blame is being placed on the fact that 120,000 pigs per week, go live to Germany for slaughter in German meat plants. The meat trade unions are now lobbying the government to impose an export levy on live pigs leaving the country.

Scotland’s red meat sector is to appoint a dedicated pig veterinary advisor in a bid to maintain and improve the health of the Scottish pig herd. Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) is co-ordinating the appointment and the position will be funded by the Scottish government.

The Oireachtas agriculture committee inquiry into the handling of the pork dioxin crisis is to open this morning at Leinster House. Today's meeting is the first of a series of hearings which the committee will be holding in the coming weeks in order to investigate the issues surrounding the contamination of Irish pork products and consider how the difficulties now facing this industry might be overcome.

The Council adopted codified versions of two Directives laying down minimum standards for the protection of calves (8713/1/08) and pigs (8719/1/08). Directive 91/629/EEC (calves) and Directive 91/630/EEC (pigs) were substantially amended several times. They were codified for reasons of clarity and rationalisation.

On December 23, 2008 Ukraine’s Parliament (the Rada) adopted two draft laws with the intent to reduce imports and restrict trade in red meat and poultry by imposing tariff increases above WTO-agreed bound rates. These drafts may be signed into law by the President as early as mid-January.

In the US state of North Caroline rules banning waste ponds on new and expanded hog farms and setting higher standards for alternative waste disposal systems have taken effect.

South Korea and Japan reopened their markets to Chilean pork, according to a release in Seoul from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Wang Zhicai, director of the ministry's department of stock breeding said that live pig, milk and other major livestock products had experienced constant drops in price in 2008, and the weakness was expected to continue in the new year. Statistics from the ministry showed that by November 2008, the average pork price had been falling for nine months in a row, down 25.4 percent compared with its peak in February.