Python meat should be seen as a serious alternative to chicken and beef because of its environmental benefits, according to a scientific study.

Academics say the non-venomous snakes require less food than traditional livestock such as pigs or cattle and can grow at a faster rate during farming.

Dr Daniel Natusch, an honorary research fellow at Macquarie University in Sydney, has suggested its meat should be introduced to restaurant menus, adding he himself is a fan.

“At the risk of repeating a cliché, it tastes a lot like chicken,” said Dr Natusch. “You run the knife along the back of the snake and you almost get a four-metre-long filleted steak. Firm white meat, no bones. I’ve had it barbecued, in curries, as biltong and, yeah, it’s great.”

His study, published in the Scientific Reports journal, examined the growth rates and diets of more than 4,000 reticulated and Burmese pythons at two large farms in Thailand and Vietnam.

Dr Natusch found that a well-fed baby python can double in size in a matter of weeks, and can put on more than 45 grams of body weight a day, reaching up to four metres long after a year.

Albert Tait | The Telegraph

Russia has announced that it has sent pork to China for the first time since 2008 when the Chinese Government imposed a ban on Russian due to African Swine Fever.

Russia sent 27 tonnes of pork to China on Thursday, according to Russia’s veterinary and phytosanitary service, Rosselkhoznadzor, Reuters reports.

“On March 7, the Rosselkhoznadzor monitored the shipment of the first batch of Russian-made pork to China with a volume of 27 tonnes,” Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement.

The shipment came after China lifted ASF restrictions, which had been in force against Russia since 2008, in September 2023. Rosselkhoznadzor said it had been trying to open up the Chinese market to Russian pork for some years

China is still by a long distance, the world’s biggest pork importer, despite its import volumes dropping in recent years as its herd recovers from its own ASF outbreak.

The biggest exporters of pork and offal to China are currently Brazil, Spain, Canada, the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands, but Russia is hoping to muscle in and secure 5% of that lucrative market, according to the Russian National Union of Pig Breeders.

Alistair Driver | Pig World

The overall pig herd in England fell by 10 percent in 2023, following the huge contraction of the breeding herd in 2022, figures show.

Defra’s December census showed that the breeding herd stabilised last year, but showed little sign of growth. There was also a drop in young pig numbers.

The total number of pigs in England fell to 3.3 million in December 2023, a loss of nearly 400,000 pigs.

The 10% year-on-year decline was driven by an 11% fall in the number of fattening pigs to just over 3 million.

According to Defra’s figures, the overall English pig breeding herd was 1% down on December 2022 at 300,800.

The female breeding herd, which accounts for 79% of breeding pigs, saw a small increase of 0.7% to 239,000 in December 2023.

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Farming UK

Also:

Pig abattoir numbers in England continue to decline

Shocking Defra figures show huge contraction in English pig herd

Issues with the supply of lamb from New Zealand to the United Kingdom (UK) is having a knock-on effect with the sheep trade in Ireland.

Shipping through the Suez canal has recently become impossible for some ships, which have instead re-routed around the Cape of Good Hope in the south of Africa.

However, this has made the import of New Zealand lamb to the UK expensive, with Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) president Sean McNamara telling Agriland that it is “cheaper to buy the lamb here [in Ireland]”, as opposed to shipping it from the southern hemisphere, which has driven Irish prices up.

McNamara said that the top prices for hoggets this week in the sheep trade are ranging from €7.80-8.10/kg, adding that the trade is “very good” at the moment.

A factory procurement manager told Agriland that currently, “demand is good and the supply is half-decent”.

They added that many of the sheep coming into the factories lately are store lambs that were bought, and that these farmers who bought the stores are now bringing in a “scatter of heavy and a scatter or light” weight hoggets.

They said this particular trend, “seems to be the way this time of year”.

Colm Ryan | Agriland

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has voted to proactively support local farmers by buying meat and dairy for council-organised events.

The motion ensures that all catering at council-organised events is sourced from local suppliers, following campaigning by the Countryside Alliance.

Unanimously passed by councillors, it specifically includes meat and dairy options, alongside fruit and vegetables.

The motion will also commit the council to encouraging local residents to shop locally by taking advantage of home-grown produce, with an aim of reducing food miles to plates.

Following a debate in the council chamber on Wednesday (28 February), an amendment was introduced to commit the council to protecting agricultural land in the Local Plan when it is reviewed in the next year.

Both the motion and the amendment passed with all councillors voting in favour.

By Farming UK

See also:

Council to vote on motion to support local farmers in face of meat bans

Second council votes to resist anti-meat and dairy trend

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USA – 4 largest beef processors accused of price fixing

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a public consultation seeking views on new guidance relating to Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM).

The FSA has developed new guidance to provide support for food businesses following a series of court judgments on the definition of MSM. MSM is obtained by the removal of meat from bones, reducing food waste, and it must be produced in a hygienic and safe way.

The court rulings have implications for MSM production in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as they have provided clarity on what MSM is, how the definition should be interpreted by food businesses, and how they should apply it to their products.

The court rulings have determined three criteria for the classification of MSM: the use of bones from which the intact muscles have already been detached (or of poultry carcases, to which meat remains attached); the use of methods of mechanical separation to recover that meat; and the loss or modification of the muscle fibre structure of the recovered meat.

Some businesses will be affected by the outcome of these court rulings, and the FSA understands that time may be required for food businesses to adapt their processes and the way they classify products as a result.

The FSA is consulting with consumers, industry, and other stakeholders on how suitable our new guidance is, as well as asking for input on an impact assessment from the businesses that will be affected by the implementation of the guidance. The FSA’s approach to implementing the guidance will be informed by the outcome of the impact assessment, undertaken as part of the consultation.

Defra has confirmed that grant funding for checks for illegal meat imports at Dover will be withdrawn at the end of April, after which it will be up to the Port Health Authority (PHA) to start charging offenders to recover costs.

The information is set out in a letter from biosecurity minister Lord Douglas-Miller to Sir Robert Goodwill, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee chairman, responding to a number of questions raised by the committee last month.

In particular, Sir Robert wanted to know if media reports of a planned 70% cut in the funding were true, how many checks were currently being made, and what would be the implications for UK biosecurity from reducing such checks.

In his reply, Lord Douglas-Miller explains that the budget for such spot checks – designed to look out for meat contaminated with African swine fever – was only ever intended as a temporary measure, until such time as the new Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) came into force.

“Once phase two of the BTOM is introduced in April, this transitional grant funding scheme will end as intended,” he said.

Philip Clarke | Farmers Weekly

See also:

UK industry fears disruption from new post-Brexit border checks

‘Unprecedented’ volumes of illegal meat seized at Port of Dover

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