Page 793 of articles about news

International prices of key food staples have dropped during the first five months of 2010 according to the latest edition of FAO's biannual Food Outlook report. Despite recent drops in international food prices, the cost of the average food basket is 69 percent higher than six years ago.

For every euro spent on alimentation, 2.3 cents are spent on ecological products, as is shown by data from the “biomonitor”, corresponding to 2009, that have just been published. The Dutch consumer spent a total of € 646.4 million last year on ecological products, while in 2008 the total was € 583 million.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that Emergency Conservation Program funds are being made available to farmers and ranchers in 14 states to repair farmland damaged by natural disasters in 2010.

Based on the results of statistical survey on livestock and animal production in 2009, carried out by National Institute of Statistics, on December 1, 2009, as compared to the same date of 2008, cattle, pigs livestock and poultry registered falls, while sheep and goats livestock increased.

Transmissible Gastroenteritis, a viral disease that affects only swine, has been identified on one farm with two sites located in South Central Manitoba.

The Minister of Agriculture, Henrik Høegh, and the Minister of the Interior and Health, Bertel Haarder, have announced the start of a joint plan of action to minimize antimicrobial resistance.

The pig supply situation in Thailand remains worrisome as hot weather and lack of good-quality water continues to cripple production flow. Drought in many areas have caused pig farmers to secure water supply from external sources.

The Environmental Protection Agency published a new 18-page guidance document it says "provides clarification of some regulatory requirements" for CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) on national discharge permits.

In 2009 the number of swine herds fell by 13%, from a total of 5,800 in 2008 to 5,000 in 2009.

Rural Development Trust (RDT) an NGO founded by late Father Vicenç Ferrer, has come out with the piggery scheme to help supplement their meagre daily income.

While meat consumption in the majority of countries is centered on chicken and pig meat, in Uruguay bovine meat dominates the market.

A European Union-wide survey was carried out to assess the prevalence and diversity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in pig primary production and to provide information on potential factors associated with its prevalence. The survey distinguished between breeding holdings (holdings housing breeding pigs and delivering replacement breeding pigs to breeding holdings and production holdings) and production holdings with breeding pigs (holdings housing breeding pigs and producing mainly pigs for fattening or slaughter).

European pig vets have decided to set up a new association, the European Association of Porcine Health Management (EAPHM).