Page 619 of articles about news in Swine news

The revision of the regulation could contemplate mechanisms for the authorisation of storage systems for animal carcasses. (Original in Spanish. Read Google translation here).

The National Senate unanimously passed a modification to the Law 22,939 (Brand and identification). The modification permits safer and more modern methods to be applied than cutting the animal’s ear such as ear tags or tattoos which comply with international regulations, and also make the traceability of the food chain quicker. (Original in Spanish. Read Google translation here).

The European Commission wants its agriculture officials to swap their pinstripes and laptops for overalls and shovels in obligatory "farm stays" to help take policy-making back to the land.

The use of individual gestation accommodations (IGAs) for dry sows in commercial pork production is an issue that has generated intense public debate. In an effort to provide objective, scientific information on the subject, CAST is releasing this new Issue Paper, Scientific Assessment of the Welfare of Dry Sows Kept in Individual Accommodations. The international Task Force provides an authoritative review of the available scientific literature as well as expert opinion on the topic of overall humaneness of IGAs.

The Thai government’s committee for agricultural restructuring fund has approved a budget of THB 29.9 million (USD 829,093) for a project aimed at enhancing swine production efficiency and adding value to the animal. Of the amount, THB 25.12 million (USD 696,549) will be interest-free loans for farmers or farmer institutes to investment in facilities such as pig feed mill, competent farming system and technology or good-quality piglet production, while the rest would be for training and developing farmers’ ability and knowledge.

While the presence of salmonella in imported pig meat has decreased, the presence of this pathogen in Danish pig meat has increased slightly from 11.3% in 2007 to 11.9% in 2008. (Original in Danish. Read Google translation here).

This report provides an outlook for agricultural commodities (cereals, oilseeds, meat and dairy products) in the EU-27 over the 2008-2015 period, based on specific assumptions on agricultural and trade policies and the macro-economic environment. They do not consider the potential outcome of the multilateral trade negotiations within the framework of the Doha Development Round. Therefore the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture and other existing trade commitments are assumed to remain unchanged and to be met over the period 2008-2015.

In the year 2008 a total of 5,729,125 tonnes of fresh meat from different species was produced in Spain. This quantity supposes an increase of 1.1% compared to 2007. Pig meat made up the majority of the total with 61%, and an increase in production of 1.3%. (Original in Spanish. Read Google translation here).

In a consultation report the Agriculture Committee approved a European Commission proposal seeking to replace the 1993 directive on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter by a new regulation to improve animal welfare while allowing more uniform application of EU rules in Member States.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week issued a proposed rule that would require businesses, including livestock operations, to report emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — the so-called greenhouse gases. Livestock operations that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of those gases annually would be subject to the regulation.

MRSA, (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), or antibiotic-resistant staph, can be found anywhere in nature, according to Paul Ebner, a livestock microbiologist. While he said there has been an increase in the number of these infections and that pigs and other animals can be carriers, the vast majority of infections come from skin-to-skin contact with infected humans.

Hand in hand with the growing pork imports, domestic pork production is falling. Last year it dropped by 7 percent year-on-year. Pig numbers in the Czech Republic last year reached the lowest figure since 1948. Experts expect this falling trend to continue this year.

President Dmitry Medvedev appointed on Thursday Yelena Skrynnik, who previously led a nationwide agricultural development program, as agriculture minister.

Thirty thousand hogs raised in backyards in Central Luzon, the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) region and Pangasinan province will be tested for the Ebola Reston virus (ERV).

A ruling, rendered by Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal vice-chair Marthanne Robson late Friday, maintains a full judicial stay on the Farm Products Marketing Commission’s plans to end Ontario Pork’s single desk selling powers, April 1. The terms of the stay will be considered at a continuance of a pre-hearing conference scheduled for April 17.

Back in late summer and autumn 2008, Nadis veterinary reporters were encountering many farms experiencing increases in returns to service, thought to be due to seasonal influences on fertility. In many cases a drop in farrowing rates of 10 percent or more were expected and this has turned out to be the case over the last two months as reduced farrowings filter through.