Page 856 of articles about news

The European Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) will today present the main findings of the two-year project 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)' in a policy seminar held in Brussels. The meeting will be attended, among others, by Member States' ministries and academia as well as farming, industrial and environmental organisations.

New cases of classical swine fever in feral pigs in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate have been reported. Accordingly, the plans for eradication and emergency vaccination of feral pigs for classical swine fever need to be applied in that area. Decision 2003/135/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

In the current year, Ukraine expects for the growth of mixed fodder production for poultry and swine. In 2008, the product output remained at the level of the previous year, marked A.Burka. The shares of mixed fodder for swine and poultry totals 19% and 13% respectively from the general production volumes.

A group of Wisconsin State Assembly Democrats including Ag Committee Chair Amy Sue Vruwink have sent a letter to the chairs of the Joint Finance Committee asking them to reconsider Governor Jim Doyle’s proposed slaughter fees. The Governor’s proposed biennial budget includes a 14-cent per animal slaughter fee for cattle and hogs, 10-cents for calves and a penny for poultry.

The 2008 gross income from cattle and calves, hogs and pigs, and sheep and lambs for the U.S. totaled $65.2 billion, down 1 percent from 2007. Cattle and calves decreased 3 percent, sheep and lambs decreased 5 percent, while hogs and pigs increased 9 percent.

It will be closing more of its slaughterhouses in Denmark. This will take up to 18 months, during which time the co-operative will attempting to build sufficient slaughtering capacity in Germany. Danish Crown continues to be in crisis because increasingly producers are sending their pigs to Germany, where they get a better price.

The Government of Canada is helping Canadian farmers turn new ideas and technologies into viable market opportunities. The Growing Canadian Agri-Innovations Program will invest $158 million to support industry-led innovation initiatives that help get new agricultural products into the marketplace and improve agricultural processes.

Chinese authorities have said its new food safety law, which came into effect yesterday, will help prevent the food contamination incidents that have caused so much damage to the reputation of its domestic producers.

Besides ”livestock slaughter in slaughterhouses” for the first time we have published data at the annual level also for 'livestock slaughter outside slaughterhouses” . Data refer to 2008. The presented data show that the majority of pigs slaughter is done in slaughterhouses (almost 64%).

Limited cross-reactivity of serum samples from pigs infected U.S swine influenza viruses or vaccinated with commercial vaccines was demonstrated against the new S/O H1N1 influenza virus (A/CA/04/2009) as measured by the standard HI test. The results of this experiment suggest that pre-existing immunity induced by swine influenza viruses circulating in the U.S may not protect pigs against the new S/O H1N1 influenza virus presently circulating in people. Importantly, vaccines currently used to protect pigs in U.S swine operations against swine influenza virus may not be effective against the new S/O H1N1 influenza virus.

Another round of herd liquidation and permanent closure of some hog operations is expected over the next 90 to 120 days due to ongoing losses.

Meat processing has emerged as the most integral segment of the food processing industry of Poland. Meat and meat products have continued to account for more than 20% of the overall revenue of the food processing industry.

The Regulation will introduce an authorisation scheme for substances used for active and intelligent functions in food contact materials, in particular food packaging. It will require the safety evaluation of such substances by the European Food Safety Authority. A single market will be created for the use of active and intelligent packaging by laying down criteria which ensure their safety while allowing for a competitive position of this new type of packaging. Active food contact materials and articles are intended to extend the shelf-life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food. They incorporate components that would release substances into food or absorb substances from food.

Some analysts have predicted that the U.S. pork industry could lose up to $400 million in the next few months, given lower market prices; others estimate that from 25% to 33% of U.S. hog producers may be adversely effected.