ifa pigs & pig meat committee may newsletter · total ytd 2013 1,164,923 total ytd 2012...

Amii McKeever, Executive Secretary, IFA National Pigs and Pigmeat Committee,

Irish Farmers’ Association Naas Road, Dublin 12 Email: [email protected] Ph: 01-4500266

IFA Pigs & Pig Meat Committee May Newsletter

IFA National Pigs and Pig meat Committee Meetings

May 2013

29th-30th April Chairman attends COPA-COGECA and commis-sion advisory meetings in Brus-sels. Welfare, trade, COOL all discussed.

30th Executive Council Meeting

8th Pigs Committee meet with Dr.. Anders Elvstrom Danish Vet to prep him in advance of open meeting on PRRS in Port Laoise.

10th Chair, vice Chair and Execu-tive meet with Kerry Foods on DNA—Kerry agreed to revert on possible changes to their labelling policy.

13th Pig Health Society BarBQ Johnstown House.

14th Executive attends Nutrients Working Group (Chairman Andy Doyle) which is looking at ways to increase organic fertilizer use on Tillage lands.

14th Pig Health Symposium, meetings with DARDNI on their pig health scheme & online ac-cess, followed by a meeting of the Pigs Committee environment sub-group to agree response to EPA on the T&PL Assessments (agreed letter has since been circu-lated to all licensed farmers).

20th IFA Teagasc Sub Group meet with the Teagasc Pig Pro-duction Development Unit to agree targets of the joint pro-gramme for May.

Concern over the PRRS out-break most certainly dominat-ed the minds of pigs farmers at the start of May. This brought to the fore the real difficulties associated with keeping the Irish herd free of disease. IFA is working with the National Pig Health Council to ensure that the most appropriate con-trols for the movement and importation of animals & se-men are in place but it is the responsibility of farmers to request the highest possible standards. A number of meet-ings have been held with the Department of Agriculture in relation to disease issues and farmers concerns but with free market movement of animals, the industry must put volun-tary controls in place if that is needed over and above what is required by legislation.

The downbeat mood of farm-ers in the wake of this incident was not helped by the drop in prices that came the first week in May either. The good weather this week is not con-fined to Ireland & has brought about considerable increases in cluding an 8c/kg increase in Germany, France up 5c/kg and Denmark by 2c/kg. Hopefully the BarBQs and prices will rise in earnest.

Regards Pat O’Flaherty

Country

Ave Wk

Wk 23 Wk 23 2012 1-23

Nether-lands

1.54 1.49 1.57

Belgium 1.54 1.50 1.61

Denmark 1.61 1.56 1.66

France 1.61 1.59 1.62

Spain 1.78 1.76 1.80

Germany 1.61 1.55 1.63

GB 1.79 1.92 1.79

Ireland 1.62 1.57 1.50

Pig Prices corrected for VAT, kill Out Lean

Meat Percentage (ISN) €/kg)

Chairman's Comment

22nd IFA Pigs committee mem-bers customers meet with John Cahill Paul & Vincent to discuss feed markets.

23rd IFA Animal Health Execu-tive Tomas Bourke attends RU-MA (Responsible Use of Medi-cines in Animals) Meeting in Backweston.

28th IFA Pigs Committee repre-sentatives support the IFA CAP Protest in Dublin Castle

29th-1st Pigs Committee mem-bers attend the European Pig Producers Conference in Veije, Denmark.

Prices are compiled by the German analysts ISN. The offi-

cial Quotations of the different countries are corrected, so

that each quotation has the same base (conditions). Base:

56 % lean-meat %; farmgate-price; 79 % kO%, without VAT

C:/Documents and Settings/mitchelld/Local Settings/Temp/logo.doc

Grain Market Update—May 29th 2013 Fintan Conway IFA Grain Committee Executive

Heavy rains of late across some

key growing areas in the US and

more forecast for the coming

days coupled with the likelihood

of flooding helped maize prices to

move higher in recent days. There

are a number of key insurance

dates coming up and farmers may

now choose not to sow significant

areas. In addition industry ob-

servers expect 2m to 3m acres to

switch from maize to soybean

production as the season runs

late. Eastern and south eastern

US states had lighter rainfall

which gave welcome relief to

freshly sown maize crops. New

crop maize prices for October

delivery East Coast Ireland have

lifted €5/t in the week to €205/t.

Rising maize prices lent support

to new crop wheat. Uncertainty

remains regarding Europe’s wheat

crop as cooler than normal condi-

tions could potentially favour crop

development and yields in Poland,

Germany and France. Meanwhile,

UK crops similar to Ireland’s crops

continue to struggle. Soil moisture

deficits continue to affect crops

in Southern Russia however; Rus-

sian wheat production is expected

to reach 50mt up from 38mt last

year but 6mt lower than recent

USAD estimates.

Soybean prices tended weaker

today as news that China had can-

celled a 150,000t shipment and

are possibly looking to swap old

crop positions for new crop. Trade

expectations are that further

shipments will be cancelled over

the coming weeks. While overall

US export volumes for the cur-

rent marketing year are ahead of

the 5 year average volumes have

failed to meet trade expectations

in recent weeks. The prospect of

additional acres switching from

maize to soybeans is also pressur-

ing prices lower.

Old crop Irish dried wheat prices

have continued their gradual slide

this week trading from €235/t to

€237/t, with new crop down by €3/

t on last week to €207/t. Old crop

barley slipped to €223/t to €225/

t, with €190/t on offer for new

crop. Maize prices on the other

hand were higher for old and new

crop trading at €245/t and €205/t

respectively.

The IFA National Pigs and Pig-

meat Committee are currently

meeting with the pig millers.

Bord Bia DNA testing update (predominantly Bord Bia Quality Assured Samples)

DNA Testing

Following on from a deepdive on Kerry non quality assured products, the pigs committee met with representatives of the company to discuss the find-ings. It was outlined clearly to Kerry that IFA considers it very misleading for any product that does not contain Irish meat to

carry an Irish sounding name. The company accepted the diffi-culties which can now be fully supported by science and have agreed to revert with proposals in the coming weeks. Deepdives will be carried out on a number of other companies that have been identified as problematic.

A meeting of the pig research group (made up of representative suppliers of Dawn, Rosderra & these factory reps) agreed that the fund would support testing over the coming 12 months. The remaining factories (North & South) are being ap-proached also as all stakeholders in the chain stand to benefit.

Month Sample product

type

Sampling type Results Not assigned sample type

January

8 retailers

20 meat plants

83 samples

35 rashers

29 cooked ham

13 bacon

3 pork

3 gammon steaks

73 monitoring

10 targeted 5 – no result

8 – not assigned

70 - assigned

4 rashers

1 cooked ham

1 gammon steak

2 pork chops

February

5 retailers

14 meat plants

46 samples

22 rashers

6 bacon

14 cooked ham

3 pork

1 gammon steaks

Monitoring

3 – no result

43 - assigned

March

8 retailers

24 samples

7 meat plants

5 bacon

17 rashers

2 cooked ham

1 – no result

4 – not assigned

4 rashers


TNS Retail Prices April 2013 Eurex Futures Slaughterings

Contract €/kg

Jun 13 1.65

Jul 13 1.71

Aug 13 1.72

Sept 13 1.69

Oct 13 1.69

Nov 13 1.69

Dec 13 1.68

Jan 14 1.67

Feb 14 1.69

Mar 14 1.72

Apr 14 1.72

May 14 1.74

Jun 14 1.75

Sept 14 1.75

Total Pigs 1,125,638

Total Sows/Boars 39,285

Total YTD 2013 1,164,923

Total YTD 2012 1,181,970

% Difference YOY -1.4%

NI Exports 2013

NI Exports 2012

232,342

240,790

BB0101 - 21/09/2011 16:40:43

52 w/e

13th May 2012

52 w/e

12th May 2013

000's Kgs %

Total Meat 100.0 100.0

Total Pork 12.6 12.3

Sausages 9.0 9.4

Total Bacon 17.5 17.5

000's Kgs Actuals

Total Meat 163,590,672 157,044,896

Total Pork 20,625,506 19,320,234

Sausages 14,725,006 14,833,213

Total Bacon 28,602,314 27,414,810

Total Volume Pig-meat

000's Euros Actuals

Total Meat 1,139,072 1,141,458

Total Pork 137,806 137,106

Sausages 79,122 79,784

Total Bacon 189,402 183,791 Total Value Pigmeat

Average price per KG

Total Meat 6.96 7.27

Total Pork 6.68 7.10

Sausages 5.37 5.38

Total Bacon 6.62 6.70

At the end of May it was announced that China's largest meat processors Shuanghui are taking over Americas largest pork processor Smithfield Food.(862,000 sows with a daily capacity of 115,000 pigs) Although it was rumoured for some time that Brazilians JBS & the Thai meat gi-ant Charoen Pokphand were looking at the Smithfield operation (they still have the opportunity to submit a counter bid), the Chinese, con-cerned at meeting growing demand in the Chinese market will most like-ly be the ultimate closers at this point. Reports indicate that the management team in Smithfield will be unchanged and the strong team led by Larry Pope was one of the selling points of the company.

According to the FAO consumption growth in China is expected to out-

pace its production growth by some 0.3% per year. China's imports of oilseeds are expected to rise by 40% over the next ten years which will ac-count for 59% of global trade. Both the meat and dairy sectors will contin-ue to expand which will result in high-er imports of feed grains. China is ex-pected to become the world's leading consumer of pigmeat on a per capita basis, surpassing the European Union by 2022.

However the FAO are quick to point out that key uncertainties surround the agricultural outlook for China which will be closely monitored and ad-dressed including the sustainability of high levels of economic growth, in-creasing resource constraints on pro-duction, land degradation and water depletion, and greater production vari-ability due to climate change.

On the home front the ‘McKepak’ merger is still not publicly finalised although there have been meetings between suppliers and the compa-ny. The buyout of McCarrons meats by Kepak is seen as a very positive move by the countries pig producers. Losing a factory would be disastrous competitively and the entry into pig slaughtering of a well known company is very positive.

Kepak processes >300k cattle, 1.5 million lambs and 25,000 tons of consumer foods annually, they cur-rently have a role in pigs supplying fresh pork to Musgraves (100% QA in last audit). They have a turnover of approx. €750 million and employ over 2000 people. With 9 manufac-turing facilities in Ireland & the U.K they have a sales presence in all major EU & international markets and operations in South America.

Mergers & Acquisitions


Imports and Exports - More and More a deciding factor

International trade is becoming more and more important. EU and US exports have been under considerable

pressure in the first quarter but analysts are citing more favourable conditions in recent weeks. The racto-

pamine issue is causing serious issues for the Americans while US Country Of Origin Labelling continues to

cause problems for the Canadians.

Q1 2013 Pig meat Exports Volume 000's Q1 2013 Pig meat Exports Value 000's

Country 2013 Country 2012 Country 2013 Country 2012

Northern Ire-land 2,205




UK Total 20,443 Total UK 18,439 UK Total 75,355 Total UK 61,234

Continental Europe

Continental EU

Continental Europe

Continental EU

Germany 3,802 Germany 3,277 Germany 7,092 Germany 5,932

Denmark 1,462 Denmark 2,020 Denmark 4,185 Denmark 5,636

Sweden 944 Netherlands 895 France 2,286 Netherlands 2,085

Belgium 691 Sweden 813 Sweden 1,919 Sweden 1,308

France 666 Belgium 595 Netherlands 827 France 1,189

Europe Total 8,876 Europe Total 9,681 Europe Total 19,475 Europe Total 19,387

International International International International

China 6,336 China 5,282 China 9,164 Russia 11,762

Russia 2,516 Russia 4,766 Russia 6,919 China 6,380

Hong Kong 1,297 USA 1,273 USA 3,125 Japan 2,744

USA 884 Japan 1,129 Japan 2,454 USA 2,352

Japan 851 Hong Kong 979 Hong Kong 2,277 Hong Kong 1,435

International Total 13,416

Total Interna-tional 15,993



Grand Total 42,735 Grand Total 44,113 Grand Total 121,123 Grand Total 110,36

8

Q1 2013 Pig meat Imports Value '000's Q1 2013 Pig meat Imports Volumes '000's

Country 2013 Country 2012 Country 2013 Country 2012

Northern Ireland 2,406 Northern Ire-land 3,424

Northern Ire-land 676

Northern Ireland 1,123

Total UK 19,988 Total UK 17,308 Total UK 11,677 Total UK 7,381

Total Continental EU 44,974

Total Continen-tal EU 34,846

Total Continen-tal EU 15,165

Total Conti-nental EU 12,073

Total International 144 Total Interna-tional 82

Total Interna-tional 36

Total Interna-tional 26

Grand Total 65,107 Grand Total 52,236 Grand Total 26,877 Grand Total 19,480

The 23rd Annual European Pig Producers (EPP) Conference took place last week in Ving-sted, Denmark (29th-31st May). It was attended by farmers from all across Europe, including Ireland and England, as well as Thailand. The goal of EPP is to bring farmers together to share ideas and learn from one an-other in a very social and infor-mal way. From that point of view, it was a very successful.

Day 1: The conference began on Wednesday with an after-noon of talks on the topic of “Optimizing Today’s Pig Pro-duction” and “Quality Pays”. This gave a perspective into where the Danish pig industry is coming from as well as a talk from outside the industry by LEGO on the same theme of quality. From there we went to prearranged social activities, an evening meal and then the del-

egates retired to the bar.

The conference is all inclusive, including the bar!

Day 2: A morning session (1 hour in total) of speakers on pig health related issues (Antibiotics; Prevention of dis-ease; Optimal Weaning). Then farmers got to choose from one of six company tours. This var-ied from a trip to Danish Crown, to a Creep Manufac-ture, to Equipment Suppliers, to a mink farm! On returning that evening we were treated to a BBQ and drinks, until 1 a.m.

Day 3: Again there was a 1 hour morning session (How to Wean 35 pigs; Ventilation; Loose Farrowing), followed by a choice of one of six farm vis-its. I took the trip to a Danish farmer with 2,200 sows on three sites (sow site, weaner

site, fattener site). A few things which caught my attention were: the price he was selling some of his weaners (€58 for 20 kilo pig in Poland) and paying €275 com-pound finishing feed. A gala din-ner on Friday evening was held to close the conference and in-troduce next year’s host country, Italy.

After attending last year for the first time in Lithuania, I under-stood that it was an event not to be missed, and that was very much the feeling again in Den-mark. I would encourage every-body to go to Parma next year and as well as joining the Irish branch of EPP, which is currently in the process of being set-up.

Please contact me for more in-formation.

Colin Marry 087-2488792

Report from European Pig Producers Conference 2013

Colin Marry, Pig farmer and IFA National Pigs Committee Member

Pig Health Symposium 2013