Page 880 of articles about news

In the latest draft of its Agricultural Product Quality paper, the agriculture directorate says all European Union agricultural products should carry a compulsory “place of farming” label. More detail about the plan will be published on 27 May — but if the proposal becomes compulsory it will put an end to consumers being misled by the legal practice of labelling bacon and ham made from imported pigmeat as “British”.

Officials in Alberta culled 500 hogs on the pig farm where the new swine flu virus was detected, but it was not because the animals were sick, the province’s chief veterinarian said Saturday.

OIE has reported 10 new outbreaks of African Swine fever in Namibia. Part of the country is considered endemic for ASF.

Every year in the European Union, 360 million pigs, cattle, sheep and goats are killed, as are over 4 billion poultry birds and 25 million animals reared for fur. In a consultation report drafted by Janusz Wojciechowski (UEN, PL), the European Parliament approved a European Commission proposal seeking to replace the 1993 directive on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter by a new regulation to improve animal welfare while allowing more uniform application of EU rules in Member States. Amendments adopted are chiefly intended to clarify the rules so they can be more easily applied and protect animals effectively, to prevent red tape and to ensure that imports comply with EU standards.

Russian Ministry of Agriculture is going to tighten control over implementation of obligations taken by constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The duties relate to meat production increase within the frames of the state program on agriculture development, ITAR-TASS reports.

The Egyptian government decided to spend 45 million Egyptian pounds (about 8 million U.S dollars) on compensating pig farmers as the authorities are culling all pigs in the country, Al Ahram daily reported Wednesday.

There will be a reduction in pigmeat imports this year as a result of the strength of the euro and tighter pigmeat supplies on the continent.

Research results from the Organic Trade Association show sales of United States organic products, including pork, grew more than 17 percent from 2007 to 2008, and the consumer demand is expected to continue despite the current economic downturn.

Specifically, the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) initiative includes a set of international guidelines, decision support tools and standards for the design, implementation and assessment of livestock interventions on behalf of populations in need of emergency relief.

Pursuant to results of 2009, red meat and poultry manufacturing increase at Russian production facilities may total to about 15-20%, the experts of INFOLine Research and Information Agency report.

President Barack Obama continued his quest to phase out direct payments to farmers who have sales revenues of more than $500,000 in the fiscal 2010 budget plan he released Thursday.

Since the appearance of the new swine flu in humans in several countries, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has introduced new restrictions on the importation of pigs, pig meat and derived products.

Since the beginning of February, 18 cases of classical swine fever have been confirmed in wild boar in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, 7 in animals in Südwestpfalz, 4 in Altenkirchen, 5 in Neuwied and 2 in Westerwaldkreis. (Original in German. Read Google translation here).

Soybean meal price touched a seven month high due to rising demand from China, delayed planting in the US due to late rains and drought-hit South American crops. Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade was traded beyond USD 11/bushel on Monday for July contracts. It appears that soybean fundamentals are stronger than fears over influenza A.

Today EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk agreed in principle on a way forward in the long-running dispute over hormone-treated beef.

Vietnam has forecasted that pig production in the country could increase by 3.8% to 27 million head in 2009. The growth shows the strength of the Vietnam’s pig industry in overcoming crises such as high feed cost and disease outbreaks that hit the industry since last year. The government has lent full support through subsidizing interest rates on bank loans to the farmers and exemptions from tax on land use and pig sales.