China, Japan, Taiwan, and Kuwait have all announced bans on pig meat imported from Italy after several cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) were reported in wild boar in the Piemonte region in Northern Italy.

The countries have reportedly blocked purchases of pork from Italy, whilst Switzerland has also introduced trade restrictions with Italy.

The news was announced on Wednesday by Confagricoltura, the confederation of Italian agriculture. Confagricoltura president Massimiliano Giansanti called for the “quick and effective” implementation of “surveillance and biosecurity measures for the protection of farms” as part of efforts to “limit the damage as much as possible.”

Italy has also announced a ban on hunting and several other outdoor activities in two northern regions affected by the outbreak.

by Iain Hoey / Pig World

Farmers in East Yorkshire are warning they could be forced out of business if the government doesn’t do more to boost staff numbers in the supply chain.

It comes as a lack of abattoir workers meant 10,000 pigs were culled in the region in the run-up to Christmas.

Without abattoirs to process the pigs, farms simply run out of space to keep them, resulting in the culls.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council was told those staff shortages were fuelled by Brexit, with many workers returning to their home countries.

Sisters Kate Moore and Vicky Scott, who run a pig farm in Driffield, have called the action “criminal.”

Kate said: “It’s a disgrace that 35,000 across Great Britain have been killed on farm and wasted. It’s a complete waste. It’s criminal what has happened.”

The sisters would normally sell around 90,000 pigs a year. They are contracted to a certain number of pigs to go to slaughter every week. But currently those contracts are not being taken due to the staff shortages. They are down 30%, losing between £25 to £30 per pig.

“We’re the ones who are suffering financially and emotionally. The farmers are taking the hit in every way”, said Vicky.

“We are suffering massively through no fault of our own and the government have to be held responsible for that.”

by Amelia Beckett / ITV

Speaking at an Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) event on January 7, the department’s head of agricultural sectors, John Powell, said he was hopeful they would find a way to ensure small abattoirs can access cash through the Farming Investment Fund, which provides grants to improve productivity and secure environmental benefits.

He also pointed out that Defra was funding a farmer-led mobile abattoir pilot project through the rural development programme, which if successful, will be rolled out further and supported by public money.

Mr Powell said: “[One] key funding mechanism is Defra’s Farming Investment Fund, which went live last year.

“We did submit a list of potential items with the Abattoir Sector Group which might be eligible for funding, that unfortunately did not make the very competitive first round, but a second round is planned for 2022 and we are actively exploring what opportunities there are to support producers.

“This could and is likely to provide support to producers wanting to process and add value to their products. I hope we can find ways of building small abattoirs into proposals which would be able to achieve that aim.”

His comments came just a day after the Defra Secretary, George Eustice, appeared to downplay the idea of using taxpayer cash to support the abattoir network – for a second time.

by Abi Kay / Farmers Guardian

The EU imposition of veterinary inspection fees, for example, has been widely touted as having a damaging effect on the sector.

John Mettrick, who owns a small abattoir in Derbyshire and holds key positions in the Abattoir Sector Group and National Craft Butchers, told Farmers Guardian the Government was reluctant to diverge from EU law as Ministers fear this could be used as ‘an excuse’ for the bloc to ban UK exports.

He said: “We have been under the cosh from these EU regulations which saw abattoirs close, and we were told when we came out of the EU, we would be in control and we would be able to get rid of some of the regulations which have not been advantageous to small plants.

“We were told it would be great, but actually, it is worse. We are almost more beholden to EU regulation now we are out than when we were in.”

The UK has also been accused of ‘goldplating’ EU rules, by insisting any slaughterhouse which exceeds 1,000 livestock units in a year has full veterinary inspection, as opposed to delayed post-mortem inspection.

“Why would you go for full veterinary supervision when these businesses have been operating with part veterinary supervision, especially when we are short of vets?”

by Abi Kay / Farmers Guardian

Meat & Livestock Australia’s highly anticipated Australian lamb summer campaign is back in a new TV commercial that celebrates Australia reuniting with the rest of the world after years of isolation.

An Australian tradition, the annual lamb campaigns have built a strong legacy of highly topical advertising and thought-provoking creative content, which continue to generate widespread conversation and subsequent publicity for Australian lamb. The campaign also encourages Lamb purchases when shoppers are making their key protein choice across retail and food service environments.

Building on the ‘Share the Lamb’ brand platform, the six-week integrated campaign reflects upon how Australia has become isolated from the rest of the world due to strict international border closures during the pandemic.

MLA Domestic Market Manager, Graeme Yardy, said the advert was a reminder that Australia is a country not to be forgotten and we see heart-warming reunions as returning travellers make their way back to sunnier climates and lamb barbies.

“Each year the ‘Share the Lamb’ brand gives us a great opportunity to showcase how the unmistakeable flavour and aroma of lamb brings Aussie’s together, even through the very toughest of times. In 2021 we were all about breaking down state borders, but this year we’re ready to finally open back up to the rest of the world, and what better way to issue the invite than with tasty Australian Lamb,” Mr Yardy said.

Farm Weekly

CALGARY – A cattle industry group says it is hopeful a newly imposed import ban on Canadian beef by China and two other Asian countries will be temporary.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association confirmed Tuesday that China – which imports approximately $170 million of Canadian beef annually, making it the industry’s third-largest global market – has halted imports of beef from Canada following the discovery of an atypical case of BSE, or mad cow disease, on an Alberta farm last month.

South Korea, which is worth about $90 million per year to Canada’s beef industry, as well as the Philippines – which imports about $13 million in Canadian beef annually – have also suspended imports.

“I wouldn’t say it’s surprising, though we were hoping this wouldn’t happen,” said Dennis Laycraft, executive director of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “We’re hopeful that these will be very short in duration, but it’s a foreign regulator that you’re dealing with, in different time zones and different languages.”

The detection of the atypical case, which was announced in December, is Canada’s first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in six years.

Atypical BSE develops spontaneously in about one in every one million cattle. It has been reported six times in the U.S., most recently in 2018, as well as a number of other countries.

Unlike the classic BSE strain, which has been linked to the fatal neurological disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, atypical BSE poses no health risk to humans and is not transmissible.

The Alberta government stated in December when it announced the discovery of the case that it was “not expected to have market impacts.”

by Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

Jan 7 (Reuters) – African swine fever, a deadly hog disease, has been found in a wild boar in Italy’s Piedmont region, the regional government said in a statement on Friday.

Tests confirmed the disease in a dead boar in Ovada, located about 120 km southwest of Milan in northern Italy, the statement said.

African swine fever is harmless to humans but often fatal to pigs, leading to financial losses for farmers. It originated in Africa before spreading to Europe and Asia and has killed hundreds of millions of pigs worldwide.

The discovery in Italy could be a blow to the country’s meat producers as governments often block imports of pork products from countries where the disease has been found as a way to prevent transmission.

China and other pork buyers banned imports of German pork in September 2020 after the first case was confirmed in wild animals in Germany.

The Piedmont regional government asked city mayors to stop hunting following the discovery. Wild boar can transmit the virus to other pigs.

The government also said it is raising its surveillance of wild boars and hog farms and increasing cleaning measures on farms as much as possible.

“As in the case of the (COVID-19) pandemic, the African swine fever emergency must also be addressed by appealing to everyone’s collaboration,” said Piedmont’s health deputy, Luigi Icardi, in the statement. “Piedmont health system is working alongside operators in the sector to prevent the circulation of the virus and protect swine farms.”

Reuters

A Kenilworth abattoir is hoping to begin a “major expansion” just to stay in business following the impact of Brexit.

Farmers Fresh on Rouncil Lane has applied to build a new refrigeration unit needed to make sure the business can cope with new regulations on storage times.

If plans are approved a new two-storey office will be built on site, with the current offices converted into more fridge space, with an extra storey added.

But directors said the big investment was needed just to stop staff from burning out.

“Because of new rules the timing between slaughter and sending out has become much longer,” a Farmers Fresh spokesperson said.

“So that makes it harder to produce stuff, as it comes in the front door and isn’t going straight out the back door.

“It is a major expansion that is necessary to keep this business running. We are not doing it to increase profits, it is just to keep the wheels turning.”

With increased storage times of fresh meat now required before shipping, the 80 staff members at Farmer Fresh have been working flat out for the past few months just to meet their orders.

And whilst the increased fridge space may allow production to increase, the company said it was vital just to stay in production.

The spokesperson added: “Production may go up 10 per cent, but the bigger thing is that we wont be so overworked.

“Essentially without this we are done because we will burn out.”

continues…

President Biden’s proposal to lower consumer beef prices misses the mark on why costs have increased, the country’s largest meat industry trade group said Monday.

Sarah Little, a spokeswoman for the North American Meat Institute, said labour shortages and shutdowns of meat production facilities because of COVID-19 are the real culprits — not monopolies and price-fixing as Mr. Biden contends.

“The market has already begun to balance itself. All of the government spending announced again today is too late for consumers and producers,” Ms. Little said in an interview. “The White House is eager to announce $1billion in spending — again — on expanding meat packing capacity but has not engaged packer processors since the summer.”

President Biden is blaming the increased beef pries on anti-competitive practices in the meat industry. He accused four meatpacking companies of running a near-monopoly in the sector, saying they control 85% of beef processing, while another four firms control 54% of the nation’s poultry processing.

Mr. Biden on Monday will announce a $1 billion plan to expand independent beef, pork, and chicken processing to boost competition. The money will finance worker training and technical assistance to independent companies.

The president also wants meat producers selling their cattle to offer more information about their pricing.

“When dominant middlemen control so much of the supply chain, they can increase their own profits at the expense of both farmers — who make less — and consumers — who pay more,” the White House said in a fact sheet on the plan.

Ms. Little said there are still many unanswered questions about the administration’s plan, including how much the government-sponsored processors will pay employees and what the administration sees as a reasonable price for beef.

As the meat industry sees it, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down production plants, farmers were left with nowhere to send their beef.

By Jeff Mordock  / The Washington Times