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The NPA is seeking clarity on whether the regionalisation approach in the EU would apply to pork exports in the event of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in the UK.

Under the EU’s ASF regulations, where an outbreak occurs, the sale of pork products from the affected region to other member states is outlawed. However, exports can continue from regions of the country not affected by ASF to other parts of the EU.

This rule has been applied in a number of member states that have experienced ASF outbreaks in recent years, including Germany, Italy and Poland. The UK continues to import pork from ASF-free regions of affected countries.

But it remains unclear what the situation is following the UK’s departure from the EU. UK regionalisation in the event of ASF will be part of the Disease of Swine Regulations expected to be laid before parliament next year.

NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson said more immediate answers are needed. “We don’t know if our trading partners would recognise regionalisation if we had an outbreak now. We need clarity on this because, if we don’t have regionalisation, it could mean a virtual blanket ban on pork exports from anywhere in the UK – and that would be catastrophic for a sector that has already suffered so much over the past two years.”

 

Alistair Driver / NPA

Danish Crown suggests automation can create growth and new jobs.

“Danish Crown is really making its mark as a significant developer of automation. By developing the solutions ourselves and patenting them, we in Danish Crown will turn the automation agenda from challenge to competitive advantage,” the company said in a statement.

In August, the business applied for an equipment patent – its first in more than 20 years – in its home market and another is in process.

“Our foreign colleagues have a competitive advantage in the form of lower wage costs and we must make automation our competitive advantage,” Henrik Andersen, Danish Crown’s technical director, said. “We do this best by developing and patenting solutions for work tasks that can be solved just as well or better with technology, so that the employees are used where their expertise is best used.”

Other investments in the next 12 months include new “palletising” systems at the Danish factories in Vejle and Horsens.

Danish Crown is adamant that jobs will be created rather than lost through automating some processes. The company suggests automation will not “significantly affect the number of jobs, and the jobs that will disappear will be the very physically demanding jobs where the group already are under pressure from a high employee turnover”.

 

Simon Harvey / Just Food

 

The body representing the beef sector in the Irish Republic, has condemned a proposed cow cull scheme to bring the country into line with EU expectations on ‘greening’.

 

John Sleigh / The Scottish Farmer

Deadweight lamb prices increased for four consecutive weeks during November and early December.

GB prices rose to average 561.1p/kg deadweight in the week ending 3 December, up by almost 50p/kg on month-earlier levels.

Despite this growth, prices are 57.5p/kg below the same week last year.

Jonny Williams, operations director at livestock marketing group Farmstock, said there is a lot of New Zealand lamb coming in, both to the UK and into Europe, which is making it challenging and taking the edge off the trade.

“UK lamb is competitive, but not currently as price competitive in Europe as New Zealand lamb,” said Mr Williams.

“Lightweight lambs are very tricky as they are generally exported to southern Europe and that trade does seem very difficult. Standard weight lambs are selling OK, but maybe not as high as people had hoped,” he added.

Charlie Reeve / Farmers Weekly

Accusations that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is dragging its feet on support for small abattoirs gathered pace this week, after it rejected proposals for a dual system of meat controls for export and domestic consumption.

Introducing separate regulatory regimes would exempt smaller processors from some of the more onerous regulations required for those which export, but in a new update, the regulator outlined its concerns about the impact of these changes on trade.

The agency claimed that because animal by-products which are sold domestically may end up as ingredients in products which are exported further down the supply chain, the introduction of a dual system would require agreement from international partners and uptake could be limited.

It also suggested the meat industry in Northern Ireland would be put at a competitive disadvantage because the Brexit protocol requires producers to apply EU controls, and warned complications around compliance and traceability within the UK market could arise if there were different regimes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Plans for a dual system were discussed at a meeting attended by Farming Minister Mark Spencer, the FSA, parliamentarians and industry bodies last week.

Christopher Price, chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said: “It would be useful if the FSA could give some indication of what they can do to help the sector, rather than constantly coming up with reasons for doing nothing.

“For the first time in a long time, in Mark Spencer, we have a Minister who seems to understand the crisis in the sector and who wants to do something about it. AHDB already says we are losing 10 small abattoirs a year.

“But that means having to take difficult decisions, recognising it will not always be possible to please every organisation and every vested interest.”

 

Abi Kay / Farmers Guardian

Pilgrim’s UK has announced it will produce over four million pork products in the run up to Christmas to keep up with a surge in consumer demand.

With the cost-of-living crisis leaving many families cash-strapped, the festive period could bring a boost to red meat, particularly to pork.

It follows warnings this week of a shortage of free range turkeys and price rises due to the country’s largest ever bird flu outbreak.

Pilgrim’s UK, a major pork processor, said these issues had left consumers looking for more affordable meat options to take centre stage at the dinner table this year.

The firm anticipates an increase in demand for pork, such as gammon, which is expected to see a 25% uplift in volume, as well as pork crackling joints.

Fresh pork has increased its share of the wider protein category over the past four weeks to 13.3% in terms of volume compared to the last four weeks of December 2021.

 

Farming UK

China is expected to increase its pork imports in the coming months, as its pig herd is hit by the knock-on effect of industry losses suffered last year.

The reduction in pig output in China appears to be larger than official data suggests, industry experts claim. Surging pork prices have driven up inflation in the world’s second-largest economy, which produces about half of the world’s pork, at a time of slowing growth, according to a report by Reuters.

Chinese pork prices rose in October by more than 50% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Pork prices are predicted stay high in 2023 because of the lower supply, according to 10 industry analysts, farmers, and feed and genetics suppliers, although they cautioned demand may be impacted by China’s COVID measures.

Falling pork demand and high feed costs from June 2021 until July this year caused farmers to incur losses of as much as 600 yuan per hog, according to the report. Farmers sold off herds, culled more sows than normal or slowed production by not mating females to curb their losses.

The government has blamed farmers holding pigs back from slaughter to fatten them up more for the higher prices, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has repeatedly said breeding capacity is sufficient.

 

Alistair Driver  / Pig World

One of the UK’s biggest pork producers has spent £4 million hiring butchers from the Philippines, after a staffing crisis threatened to hamper production. 

Cranswick Plc, which supplies supermarkets with pork and poultry, is paying for 400 butchers to travel from the Asian islands to work in Britain after staff from continental Europe flocked home following Brexit.

“It’s absolutely necessary if we want food on the plates,” said Cranswick’s CEO, Adam Couch. “Obviously it’s very expensive to bring them over, but it’s far better to bring them over than to curtail production as we did this time last year.

Couch said that paying for each butcher from the Philippines cost between £10,000 and £12,000 — equivalent to more than £4 million. Each butcher needs a visa, a flight to the UK, an English test and accommodation. Cranswick has an apprenticeship program to train up new butchers, but Couch said that there was just “not enough people”.

Before Brexit, around 65 per cent of Cranswick’s workers were from central Europe. Last year, Cranswick had 25 per cent fewer staff than required at its plants in Hull and Norfolk.

Jayne Arnold from the Food and Drink Federation said the whole industry is suffering from a lack of staff “despite employers making significant efforts to attract workers from offering higher wages to introducing more flexible shifts.”

 

 

Sabah Meddings / TimesLive.co.za

 

Moy Park has secured a supply deal with Getir, a delivery service, which means eight of its chicken products will be available to purchase from the grocery app.

Getir will offer delivery of Moy Park branded lines – including its Flame Grilled Chunky Chicken Pieces and Southern Fried Mini Fillets through its mobile app. A pioneer of rapid grocery delivery, Getir services 12 cities across the UK including London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester.

“Securing this new supply deal with Getir, is a fantastic endorsement for the Moy Park brand and will enable us to expand our product offering to more consumers in GB,” said Ellen Wright, senior brand marketing manager at Moy Park.

“We pride ourselves on staying ahead of consumer trends, and with more shoppers wanting groceries delivered straight to their door, we are delighted to meet this demand through Getir.”

 

by Chloe Ryan / Poultry News