Six people have been charged with aggravated trespass after a protest at a pig abattoir.

Operations at the pig processing plant run by Cranswick Country Foods in Watton, Norfolk, were disrupted when animal rights protesters made their way into the site at around 6am on Wednesday.

By early afternoon, Norfolk Police had arrested seven people at the Brandon Road facility, and six have now been charged.

The six arrested have all been charged with aggravated trespass and are due to appear at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on 10 May.

A seventh person, a woman in her 20s, has been bailed on suspicion of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass and will appear at Wymondham police investigation centre on 2 July.

 

 ITV News Anglia

 

Also: Vegan Activists Occupy Cranswick Abattoir, Seven Arrested

Police have been called to a Norfolk abattoir where anti-meat demonstrators are staging a protest above one of the slaughterhouses.

 

Ollie Radcliffe | Eastern Daily Press

Also:

Six Charged Following Protest at Cranswick Abattoir

Arrests after activists bring slaughterhouse to standstill

Scotland’s meat industry is at risk of being rendered ‘uncompetitive’ in comparison to the rest of the UK by the imposition of huge cost increases by Food Standards Scotland (FSS).

An April 1st price hike by FSS of 20% for the provision of Official Veterinarians (OVs) and a 17% rise in the cost of Meat Hygiene Inspectors (MHIs) has been described as excessive and unacceptable by the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW).

“The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in England and Wales is, in contrast, raising its OV rate by 4% and MHI rate by 10%, leaving both charges well below the levels our members are being required to pay,” said SAMW President, Ian Bentley. “If the FSS increases are allowed to stand without any abatement, they will impact our businesses, the staff our members employ and the wider farm-based rural economy from which we draw our raw materials.”

SAMW has discussed the issue with senior staff at FSS and written to the Scottish Government Minister for Public Health, Jenni Minto, warning that the planned 20% and 17% cost increases ‘will have a detrimental effect on the industry’ to the extent of ‘jeopardising’ member businesses ‘competitiveness and sustainability’.

 

“Individual members are shocked at the level of OV and MHI increases they are now facing, especially when compared to their own efforts to keep processing plant cost rises closer to the 4% level which FSA is achieving,” said Mr Bentley.

One business owner said he would never be able to negotiate a 20% rise with his own customers and would never accept such an approach from a commercial supplier.  Another business executive commented that if FSS was his supplier in the commercial world then it wouldn’t be his supplier anymore.

“We understand the pressures under which FSS has been operating, with its need to absorb the Scottish Government’s civil service wage rise of 7% for 2023/24 and the introduction of a 35-hour-week from October this year,” said Mr Bentley. “According to FSS, this equates to a cost recovery requirement of £424,000.

 

Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers 

The EU-spec SPP has dropped back again, but the most eye-catching part of the latest of AHDB’s market data is the drop of in estimated slaughter numbers. 

If these turn out to be accurate – and they are often revision – weekly GB slaughterings, at 141,000 for the week ended March 16, appear to be at the lowest level outside of Christmas and New Year since April 2010.

Estimated GB slaughterings for the week were nearly 6,000 down on the previous week, 20,000 below the same week a year ago and 34,000 below the 2022 figure.

The drop off appears to be a combination of the vastly reduced breeding herd, combined with, according to last week’s PIG meeting, productivity issues, partly the result of the relentless wet weather.

The SPP lost 0.18p to stand at 211.31p/kg during the week ended March 16, following the previous week’s 00.16p increase. It has been extremely stable since the end of January, when it stood at 211.38p/kg, fluctuating up and down by tiny amounts since, and is now roughly back to where it was.

It is now, however, for the first time in a very long time, now more than 1p behind the SPP of a year ago, which stood at 212.53p/kg, at a time when pig prices were still rising at a decent rate.

The much more volatile APP, which includes premium pigs, gained 1.2p during the week ended March 9 to stand at 211.63p/kg, cancelling out the declines of the previous fortnight. This put it back ahead of the SPP for the week by just 0.14p/kg.

Despite the latest reverse, many within the industry remain optimistic that the combination of tightening supplies and rising EU markets will support the market over the coming weeks.

 

Alistair Driver | National Pig Association

 

Eddie Bisknell | BBC News

 

A flying finished lamb trade and a positive outlook for the spring will offer some confidence to sheep farmers during the next few months.

Strong retail demand, tight supply, increased export trade and firm buyer interest in the build-up to Ramadan should all help to offer short-term support.

The deadweight lamb SQQ averaged £7/kg for the week ending 24 February, up 37% (189p/kg) on the same week last year.

Tight supplies of lamb have left processors looking for stock, with GB estimated slaughter figures back by about 8% compared with this time last year, to less than 200,000 head a week. This is due to a smaller lamb crop in 2023, and adverse weather slowing finishing on farm and restricting the number of hoggs coming forward.

Meanwhile, this year’s early lambers are being affected by a rise in cases of Schmallenberg disease, which could limit throughputs moving forward.

In Scotland, R3L-grade lambs averaged 696p/kg deadweight in mid-February, while old-season lambs at Scottish auction marts have been averaging about 315p/kg liveweight.

 

Charlie Reeve | Farmers Weekly

Argentina is forecasted to increase 5,1% beef and calf production this year, reaching some 3,3 million tons with a domestic consumption of 2.43 million tons, according to the latest report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This follows on a record beef exports 2023, 682.000 tons, despite government measures and export levies aimed at curbing prices in the home market in an election year.

The beef shipments (bone-in and boneless) of 682,000 tons, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries of Argentina were collected by the consultancy Safras & Mercado. The volume is 7.7% higher than the 633,000 tons exported in 2022.

“This growth trend is closely tied to China, which bought 73% of boneless meat and virtually all bone-in meat sold by Argentina,” said analyst Fernando Iglesias from Safras & Mercado.

Argentina caters to a different Chinese demand than Brazil’s: the exported animals are mostly cull females aged over 40 months. Brazilian livestock farmers are required to supply young animals as old as 30 months to the Chinese market.

Local analysts agree that one of the factors that allowed Argentina to export more was a “discreet” increase in local production, according to the analyst.

However, “the deterioration of the purchasing power of the Argentine population reduces the ability to keep meat in the domestic market,” said Hyberville Neto, director of the consultancy HN Agro.

 

MercoPress

UK lamb prices are holding up, despite major protests by farmers in France who have been blocking roads, which has disrupted British lamb exports heading to the Continent.

The GB deadweight lamb SQQ increased by 23.6p/kg on the week to 631.8p/kg, with lower throughputs at abattoirs.

Prices at auction markets were also up, with the liveweight SQQ at 296.2p/kg for the week to 27 January.

Auctioneers say while finished prices have been strong in the past week, supply could catch up with demand if retail markets remain quiet and export markets stay disrupted.

Rizvan Khalid, managing director at Shropshire-based exporter Euro Quality Lambs, told Farmers Weekly the French protests had already had an effect on logistics, with at least one lorry missing its delivery.

As a result of the protests, there are currently fewer buyers at Rungis International Market in Paris, which is affecting sales, according to Mr Khalid.

 

Charlie Reeve | Farmers Weekly

Throughput: Up until the week ending October 15th  2023, cattle throughput in DAFM approved plants totalled 1,381,842 head, a 3% decrease from the corresponding period last year. Prime cattle have been presented for slaughter a few weeks later that normal this autumn due to poorer performance at grass however throughout is expected to increase as we move into the final quarter of the year.

Cow availability has declined in recent weeks however with many producers starting to house cattle across the country the numbers being processed is expected to pick and operate to similar levels as 2022 in the run up to Christmas. Year-to-date cow-slaughtering’s are running 4,358 head behind of record 2022 levels.

Prices for cows have also eased in recent weeks, reflecting a weaker trade in Europe for manufacturing beef. For the week ending October 15th  2023, a total of 39,344 head of cattle were processed, which represented a decrease of 4% or 1,099 head on the equivalent week last year.

Prices: Tighter cattle supplies and lighter carcase weights have reduced the availability of beef for export in recent months however this lower level of supply has been met with lower consumption volumes across our key European markets. This has left the supply of cattle and the demand for beef finely balanced with quotes holding relatively steady as a result.

Base quotes for steers this week have mostly ranged from €4.60 and €4.65/kg, while quotes for heifers have largely worked off a base of €4.65/kg. Regarding cull cow prices, well-fleshed O-grades are typically selling for between €4.00 and €4.10/kg with  finished P-grade cows making between €3.80 and €3.90/kg.  Prices paid for better R-grade cull cows have been between €4.20 and €4.40/kg. For the week ending October 15th  2023, the average price paid by Irish beef processors for R3 steers decreased by 3c/kg to be €4.59/kg. This was the same as the corresponding week in 2022.

The average Irish R3 heifer price also decreased by 3c/kg to €4.63/kg for the same week. Note that reported prices exclude VAT but include all bonus payments such as in-spec bonus, breed-based producer groups etc.

EU and UK prices: European young bull prices have largely recorded increases over the latest few weeks with the EU average price for R3 grading young bulls increased by 3c/kg last week at €4.88/kg (excluding VAT). On average, UK R3 steer prices slipped marginally to €5.41 kg (equivalent to £4.70/kg) for the week ending October 15th 2023.

 

Bord Bia

 

A Small Abattoir fund will open by the end of this year, providing £4m of funding in England to help improve productivity, enhance animal health and welfare and encourage investment in new technologies in vital local plants.

Small abattoirs have come under increased pressure in recent, highlighted by a 20% reduction in the number of low-capacity abattoirs in the last decade, often making it harder for livestock farmers to find viable outlets.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer announced Defra would introduce a scheme to support these businesses, and more details were announced during last week’s Back British Farming Day as part of a wider announcement.

The £4m fund will will be open to red meat and poultry businesses with an annual throughput of up to 10,000 livestock units including beef, pork and lamb, and/or 500,000 birds per year.

Defra said the funding would make it easier for them to operate and support farmers in reaching local and international markets.

Announcing the scheme in February, Mr Spencer said abattoirs are key to the food supply chain and there is clearly a need to support smaller providers in this area. “A network of smaller abattoirs distributed around the country is crucial to supporting the rural economy, enabling farmers to sell their own meat in farm shops and maintaining good animal health and welfare through reduced journey times to slaughter,” he said.

 

Alistair Driver | Pig World