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Canadian pork products will be back on Chinese grocery store shelves after Canada secured the first certification agreement to allow pork imports to China, based on significant negotiations recognizing OIE standards.

Canadian pork producers now have more time to apply for government-backed long-term loans. The deadline to apply for a loan under the Hog Industry Loan Loss Reserve Program (HILLRP) has been extended from March 1 to March 26th, 2010.

According to data collected in recent years by the Ministry of Agriculture, each year about 130 thousand head of cattle and sheep are slaughtered, compared with 180 thousand pigs.

The Environment Agency and the National Farmers' Union (NFU) have launched a new initiative to cut red tape and reduce costs for farmers. The farm assurance scheme for pig and poultry producers who are regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations will save around £850 of Environment Agency charges per farm.

The common agricultural policy (CAP) is heading for another reform. Discussions on what the CAP should look like after 2013 have been underway for some time now. On 22 February, the Agriculture Council discussed "market and crisis management" in the future CAP.

Canadian agriculture producers and agribusiness operators who are considering the use of renewable energy sources in their business will soon have a new financing option thanks to a new Energy Loan announced by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

As part of the reforms being made by the government for greater administrative efficiency and simplicity, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fishing has set up the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Border Inspection Service (SIVEP).

The livestock sector continues to make adjustments in the first several years of the projections in response to high grain and soybean meal prices in 2007 and 2008, followed by weak meat demand caused by the global economic recession. With producer returns squeezed, production incentives fell, leading to declines in total U.S. meat and poultry production through 2011.

MEPs supported a mandatory "place of farming" indication if possible and if it does not included excess costs. This would apply to products where 50% of ingredients are farmed or where marketing indicates what it is, for example orange juice it would say where the oranges were from but not the water or other ingredients that go into it.

Foreign companies and individuals will not be allowed to directly sell imported animal feed and feed additives in China, a draft regulation made public said.

The number of small breeders follows the trend in the number of small farms, i.e. a general decrease, which is especially marked where there are proportionally more small farms. The number of pigs is falling at a similar rate, as there is a strong link between these two numbers. The number of large fatteners is increasing apart from in a few countries. There, although the number of large farms is stable, their average size is continuing to increase. On average, between the 2003 and 2007 surveys, the number of pigs for the large fatteners doubled, with more extreme figures being seen at national level. At EU level, the increase was 16.4%.

In December 2009 the Polish agriculture ministry passed the new Pigmeat Quality System (PQS).

There is light at the end of the tunnel for confused consumers as a new labelling code of practice is introduced for the country of origin for pork and pork products. Major supermarkets have endorsed the voluntary code which aims to give clear and unambiguous information about country of origin on packs of pork, bacon and ham.

China will require tighter controls over animal feed and feed additives after widespread cases of illegal feed additives have led to human poisonings in the last few years.

Over the next four years, a federal investment of $1.2 million will help Canadian Young Farmers' Forum (CYFF) provide opportunities to educate and develop young and beginning farmers across the country.