JAKARTA, June 13 (Reuters) – Indonesia will this week launch a nationwide livestock vaccination programme, its agriculture ministry said on Monday, as the number of cattle infected with foot and mouth disease surged to more than 151,000.

Some of vaccines arrived on Sunday and 800,000 more doses will follow soon, said Kuntoro Boga Andri, the ministry spokesperson. He did not say how many vaccines had been received so far.

The government would prioritise healthy animals with a high risk of infection in livestock husbandry centres and cows kept by small farmers, among others, he added.

The disease is highly transmissible and causes lesions and lameness in cattle, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals, but does not affect humans.

Reuters

Pig industry figures have called on Government to provide some ‘proper support’ to halt the decline in production as the industry contracts.

New anonymised data from AgroVision, shared with the National Pig Association (NPA), has shown supplies will quickly switch from surplus to shortage on the back of a drop in sow numbers and services and weaners which has accelerated in recent months.

The data represents about 60 per cent of the GB herd, with AgroVision confident the figures were representative of the wider industry.

Weaners saw a huge 23 per cent drop year-on-year to April 2022, with further declines expected in May and June.

Sow numbers for April 2022 stood at 181,000, a 13 per cent year-on-year drop, with sow services down 21 per cent year-on-year. The decline since November has been even more dramatic at 32 per cent.

The number of herds recorded by AgroVision fell from 263 in April 2021 to 221 in April 2022.

 

Alex Black / Farmers Guardian

The market for ox hides has changed little in recent weeks, according to The Sauer Report, although price reductions might be expected if Chinese buying remains weak. Italian tanners are reported to be well stocked, but with reduced sales orders of their own.

However, UK suppliers are continuing to make deliveries where space allows. Deliveries are likely to slow when Italian tanneries take their summer break from mid-July.

The Sauer Report also notes that Australian hide traders see no real Chinese market to sell into. Better quality U.S. steer hides, more often with no scratches, can apparently still find a limited home in the better automotive and upholstery markets in China.

Compared with U.S. and European hides, Australian hides are generally deemed lower quality, and are more often bought by tanners in northern China. Those tanners were, or still are shut down because of Covid-19, or face weak demand for the same reason.

 

 

Duncan Wyatt / AHDB

Scotland’s meat wholesalers have elected Ian Bentley, a non-executive director of Scotbeef, as their new president.

Mr Bentley acknowledged the challenges the industry faces which he said were common to both farmers and processers. However he said he was optimistic about the future of Scotland’s red meat industry.

“I look forward, therefore, to addressing both the challenges and opportunities facing our industry in the months and years ahead.”

He added: “Our most pressing priority is to deliver on our net zero targets whilst maintaining on-farm stock numbers, and the whole industry needs to stand together as we embark on this important journey.

“It’s easy to see all the challenges and problems, of course, but at the same time we have a terrific industry and terrific opportunities, both domestically and in relation to export potential.

 

 By Nancy Nicolson / The Courier

Strong livestock prices at market continue to offer some respite for farmers in a period when the cost of agricultural inputs is rising sharply due to the price of energy and the war in Ukraine.

Latest monthly analysis of trends in the lamb, beef and pork sectors by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) shows the average deadweight prime cattle prices in England and Wales have been firm, with the current average for steers stabilising at 437.9p/kg.

 

Wales Farmer

The NZ red meat sector is concerned at reports of a poor quality draft agricultural access offer from the European Union (EU) to New Zealand.

A looming end of June deadline to conclude an Agreement in Principle was also a worry.

European Trade Ministers were due to meet this week to consider the formal revised offer to New Zealand.

However, the Kiwi red meat sector was concerned that the EU’s “rhetoric on ambition” was not being matched in the agreement, Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said.

This was due to the poor quality of past market access offers, and recent trade intelligence, she said.

“If these reports are true, then New Zealand red meat exporters would continue to face an unlevel playing field in the EU.”

“We are not prepared to back a deal which offers poor access for our red meat to this important market and an outcome that would simply not be credible.”

Sam McIvor, chief executive of Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), says agricultural protectionism sends a negative signal to trading partners and is in stark contrast to statements made by the EU Commission about the importance of trade liberalisation and openness, especially at a time where food security is a global concern.

“While New Zealand and the EU have a long history of trade, we are one of the few countries that does not have an FTA with the EU, putting us in similar company to Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India. This puts us at a significant disadvantage compared with the EU’s FTA partners, and is not reflective of the close friendship and reliable partnership between New Zealand and the EU.

NZ Herald

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Diners in Singapore are bracing for prices of their national chicken-and-rice dish to soar as neighbouring Malaysia prepares to block exports starting June 1st to increase supplies in its own markets and hold down surging prices.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced last week that, beginning June 1, Malaysia will ban exports of 3.6 million chickens a month until domestic prices and production stabilize. The move is felt most in Singapore, which sources a third of its poultry from Malaysia.

Almost all the chickens are imported live to Singapore, where they are slaughtered and chilled. Singapore consumers have been rushing to stock up on fresh chicken ahead of the ban, with local media reporting that shelves in some wet markets and supermarkets have been cleared of poultry.

The Singapore Straits Times said chicken sellers predicted the cost of chilled chicken could rise by up to 30%, sending chicken dish prices soaring. The Singapore government has urged consumers to switch to frozen chicken and other alternative meats, and is exploring new markets for fresh chicken.

Malaysia’s ban comes as countries worldwide grapple with soaring food prices, fuelled partly by the Ukraine war. Ukraine is a major exporter of corn and grains that are key components of chicken feed.

 

AP NEWS

The UK’s various cattle breeds are a ‘unique selling point’ and could be capitalised upon in future US trade, representatives from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) have said.

Speaking exclusively to Farmers Guardian as part of the FALUK 2022 trip, Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs at NCBA, said the UK’s breed differentiation in cattle was ’fascinating’ and gave the country a unique position in the market place.

“It is something totally different to what US consumers have been presented with before,” he said.

NCBA senior director of international trade and market access Kent Bacus added: “There is always the temptation when you go into a new market to blend in, but you need to lean into your differences, those micro-regions and descriptions that go with it. That is what makes it uniquely British and gives it a strength.

“When you are pushing those muscle cuts, lean into the West Country profile, the Welsh labels, and other things like that.

“US consumers are not necessarily just looking for the American flag, they are looking for things they can identify with and that is where our industry is starting to shift.”

 

 

Hannah Binns / Farmers Guardian

African Swine Fever (ASF) has been detected on a German pig unit close to the French border – a 500km (311 miles) jump from previous known cases.

The outbreak was in a small herd of outdoor pigs near Baden-Wuerttemberg, in western Germany.

Scientists at the Friedrich-Löffler-Institute (FLI) confirmed 16 animals had died from the disease on the farm before it was confirmed.

State vets moved in to cull the remaining pigs after ASF was diagnosed and restriction zones were put in place around the farm.

Officials reckoned there were two commercial farms inside the 3km exclusion zone and almost 60 in the wider 10km surveillance zone.

An investigation is under way to try to establish the source and whether the virus was present in the local wild boar population.

But the commonly held theory is that the long distance from previous cases points to an infection route via human movement.

 

 

Jonathan Riley / Farmers Weekly

UK pig farmers have welcomed a decision by Tesco, their biggest customer, to pay an extra £6.6m to pork producers.

It follows a National Pig Association (NPA) letter to Tesco urging it to “do the right thing” and pay more or risk losing its British pork supply base.

The NPA’s chairman, Norfolk farmer Rob Mutimer, said the organisation was “very, very pleased” with the supermarket giant’s offer.

Tesco said its support between March and August would amount to £10m.

The NPA warned four out of five pig producers could go out of business within a year unless Tesco paid more.

Tesco, whose headquarters is in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, said it had already given the industry £3.4m since March.

 

BBC