The EU-spec SPP has passed the £2 per kg mark, but the rate of increase is slowing and prices are still well below costs of production.

The SPP averaged 200.22p/kg in the week ending 16 September, up 0.3p from the previous week – the smallest increase since early March.

However, pig prices still fall short of the estimated cost of production, calculated at 223p per kg for August.

The sector is seeing surging energy and grain costs, as well as challenging post-Brexit staffing issues.

While the National Pig Association (NPA) welcomed the latest increase, it warned that the rate of progress was slowing.

“The SPP has finally hit £2/kg, rising by 0.3p to 200.22p/kg last week,” the body said.

“While the landmark is welcome, the pace of upward movement is slowing markedly.

“On average, prices remain below cost of production, estimated by AHDB at 221p/kg for August.”

 

 

by FarmingUK 

 

COPENHAGEN, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Europe’s biggest pork producer, Danish Crown, said on Thursday it would cut 350 jobs at two factories in Denmark as a result of declining supplies from farmers hit by rising energy and feed prices.

The war in Ukraine has resulted in record high prices farmers pay for energy and feed for the pigs, Danish Crown said.

“Payments to the farmers have not kept up at the same pace, and therefore the supply of slaughter pigs to Danish Crown has fallen noticeably over the past months,” the company said in a statement.

Over the last two years, Danish Crown has almost constantly had more pigs ready for slaughter than its factories could handle.

“Now the picture looks completely different,” it said.

 

Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan / Reuters

Weak demand on the domestic market continues to apply a brake to the UK pork market, although rising EU prices are providing a glimmer of hope. 

“Trade seems to be reflective between last week and this coming week with signs of little change regarding demand being still less than brisk, Thames Valley Cambac said in its latest market update.

“Perhaps as the week unfolds ahead of a short week to mark the funeral of our Queen, any additional demand might encourage buyers to stock up on and support British at a time of great reflection across the country. We certainly need to see demand for available products improve in Q4.”

Prices continue a ‘slow but forward trajectory’, with the SPP lifting 1.13p, the biggest weekly jump in just over a month, and after sticking for one week the German market stepped up another 5 cents to €2.10/kg. In the UK, most Q prices are over the £2.00/kg mark, which is very welcoming.

Leading pork processor Pilgrim’s UK is planning to close two sites, at Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, and Coalville, in Leicestershire, and reduce production at its Ashton site, resulting in the potential loss of nearly 700 jobs. 

The existing operations at the two plants will transfer to the company’s sites at Corsham, Kings Lynn, Linton and Andover. The processor is also planning to cut production at its Ashton plant, in Manchester, to a four-day week.

The changes will affect around 290 employees at Bury St Edmunds, 350 at Coalville and 35 at Ashton, putting them at risk of redundancy.

The move has been announced after the company’s latest Annual Report and Accounts revealed it recorded an operating loss of £16 million in 2021, on the back of the challenges facing the pig sector.

“Over the last 18 months, the UK pig sector has faced the most challenging time in its history due to a combination of significant increases in production costs, falling pig prices across Europe and the UK, a decline in demand, labour shortages and the restrictions on the ability to export from some sites into key overseas markets,” the company said.

Pilgrim’s said the proposed plant closures were part of a business recovery plan put in place across its UK operations.

Rachel Baldwin, vice president of HR for Pilgrim’s UK, said: “The decision to propose the closure of our Coalville and Bury St Edmunds sites and put a number of roles at risk at Ashton has not been taken lightly, but is unfortunately essential to help our business recover and secure a sustainable future for all of our team members across the UK.

“Clearly, this announcement will have major implications, not just for our sites, but the local communities surrounding them. We will do everything we can to minimise the impact of these proposals and work closely with local authorities and agencies to support our team members through what we know will be an extremely difficult period.”

 

By Alistair Driver / Pig World

 

There are concerns that an increase in animal theft could be linked to the cost-of-living crisis, as criminals look to cash in on rising meat prices.

Around £2.4 million of cattle and sheep were stolen last year, according to an annual rural crime survey.

Overall, livestock theft increased 3.7% in 2021, compared to the year before.

In some cases, animals were slaughtered and butchered while still in farmers’ fields, meaning they did not undergo safety checks at a registered abattoir.

Rebecca Davidson, rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual, which conducted the survey, said: “Livestock theft has always been an aspect of farming, but now it’s larger scale and much more organised.”

She added: “With meat prices going up we may find that we see an increase in livestock being stolen and then being put into the illicit market.”

As well as animal welfare concerns, butchers are concerned about the public health risks.

Under UK regulations, meat should be slaughtered in a registered abattoir and undergo strict health and safety checks before being made available for sale. But cheap black-market meat will bypass this important process.

John Mettrick, butcher & chair of the Abattoir Sector Group, wants people to be wary of food fraud.

He said: “You shouldn’t buy meat in the pub. I would advise people not to go for anything that’s very very cheap.

He added: “You must make sure that you get it from a licensed premises. If you’re not sure where it’s come from, you’re not sure what it’s going to do to your health.”

 

 

by Katharine Walker / ITV

September may have brought essential rain to build grass covers and get winter root crops growing to service demand for an anticipated bumper store lamb season.

National figures from Defra and AHDB suggest many lambs remain on farms after creep prices and dry weather slammed the breaks on lamb growth rates.

High lamb production was forecast in the AHDB summer outlook, which pegged flock expansion at 3% this year, and a prime lamb uplift of 2% in the second half of the year.

June and July slaughter figures are back 6% on the year, to 188,690, after being 14% up on the year from March to May.

August slaughter figures are still to be finalised, but liveweight throughputs are back 12.4% on the year, at 290,068 for the four weeks in August. Deadweight surveys suggest processors have had 9% fewer lambs on the year for the same period, at 169,188 head.

Store sales through markets in July and August have totalled 314,293 head, which is 14.5% back on the year. Average prices have levelled at £79, about £1.50 a head up on last year.

 

 

by Michael Priestley /  Farmers Weekly

Australia has announced harsh new bans on some meat imports from 70 countries, as a disease with the ability to wipe out an entire industry spreads.

Australians can no longer import meat products for personal use from about 70 countries, including Indonesia and China, where FMD is endemic or there is an active outbreak of the virus.

Thirty-four countries including the UK and US and Mexico which have been deemed FMD-free are exempt from the ban, which came into effect at midnight on Wednesday.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the ban didn’t apply to the importation of meat products for commercial use because businesses already had to adhere to stringent customs regulations.

“When the disease first reached Indonesia, even before it got to Bali, the Department of Agriculture actually tightened the rules around those who want to import, for commercial reasons, meat and dairy products,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

“And a number of products had their certificates actually suspended.”

 

By Catie McLoud / News.com.au

The Meat Board of Namibia is seeking the agriculture ministry to abolish the sheep marketing scheme as it failed to meet its primary objective.

The small stock marketing scheme was introduced on 1 July 2004 to stimulate value addition to sheep and sheep products locally and ensure supply to sheep abattoirs. The Meat Board’s move follows requests from representatives of the sheep sector as a result of a 1 August 2019 Cabinet to postpone the implementation of the sheep marketing scheme for a period of one year, which would then enable the Ministry of Agriculture to re-evaluate the scheme and propose intensive measures to limit sheep exports.

“The sheep marketing scheme did not succeed in its aim, which was confirmed by a study done by the Ministry of Agriculture,” the Meat Board said in a statement.

Namibian agriculture sector

The Namibian agriculture sector’s contribution to that country’s GDP grew from 4,5% in 2019 to almost 6,6% in 2020. According to the Namibian Livestock Producers’ Organisation (LPO), annual review for 2021, primary livestock production accounted for more than 55% of this figure. As a result, and given that agriculture supported more than 70% of the population in one way or another, it was clear that the industry was a core pillar of the Namibian economy.

The cattle and sheep production value dropped by 33 and 42,8%, respectively, while the goat production value for 2020 was reduced by 13,9%, according to the Namibian Agricultural Union’s fourth quarter agri-review 2020 report.

A drop in the number of marketable livestock led to a reduced throughput to export abattoirs. Specifically, the number of sheep procured by export abattoirs reached such low levels that it became unsustainable, and for that reason one of the last two existing export abattoirs temporarily ceased operation.

 

By Anita Anyango / Farmers Review Africa

Average pig production losses have topped £50 per head for the second successive quarter, as soaring costs continue to cripple an industry that has now lost more than £600 million since the autumn of 2020, according to AHDB estimates.

The latest AHDB quarterly cost of production and margin estimations for Q2 show producers lost, on average, £52/pig (58p/kg) in Q2, following losses of £58/pig in Q1 and £39/pig in Q4 2021, meaning producers have now endured seven successive quarters of negative margins.

While the average pig price rose rapidly, from 146p/kg in Q1 to 183p/kg in Q2, so did average costs, as the impact of the Ukraine war on cereal prices hit home. COP averaged 240p/kg over the quarter, up 33p on Q1, 58p on Q2 2021 and 85p on Q2 2020.

This was primarily driven by a further 27p hike in feed costs to 174p/kg, with labour, energy, fuel, interest rates and falling cull sow prices accounting for some of the other cost increases, with decreasing carcase weights also a factor.

The estimates use the latest performance figures for breeding and finishing herds for the 12 months ending June 30, 2022.

“With pig producers experiencing continued negative margins since October 2020, it is estimated (based on the total pig slaughter numbers) that the industry has lost over £600m since October 2020 to the end of June 2022,” AHDB analysts Carol Davis said.

Numerous producers have already been forced to quit, and many more have reduced their sow herds, as reflected in the June Defra Agricultural Survey, which shows a 17% year-on-year decline in the breeding herd. This is expected to result in a large shortage over the late-autumn and winter.

 

 

By Alistair Driver / Pig world

The Asian market has had a significant impact on the value of UK red meat exports in the first half of 2022. 

The latest data from HMRC shows that China remains the largest importer of UK pig meat, as export values reached nearly £88 million in the year to date. Furthermore, more than half of the 108,294 tonnes of UK pig meat exported to non-EU countries went to China, closely followed by the Philippines.

The Philippines has become the world’s third largest importer of UK pork, with the first six months of 2022 recording shipment values of £25.9m – an increase of 14.8% on figures for the same period last year.

Pig meat and beef shipments to Japan have also increased; pig meat shipments totalled nearly £3.2m, while beef exports have increased to £9.2m, from £2.8m, in the first six months of the year.

AHDB head of exports Jonathan Eckley said: “Asian markets continue to prove a hugely valuable market for the UK’s red meat sector, despite many challenges on the global stage this year. While volumes to some countries may be quite low, these markets are vital in addressing the issue of carcase balance and utilising cuts that are less popular here in the UK but attract significant value in the Far East.”

“We will continue to work with government and levy payers to open more new markets in the Far East and develop the region further, including attendance at trade shows to showcase the high-quality red meat we produce here in the UK.”

 

by Meghan Taylor / Pig World