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Pork
Exports Have Ups & Downs
U.S. pork exports for May were, as expected, significantly
lower than one year ago, with shipments to virtually all major U.S.
markets falling relative to last year. Total U.S. pork exports were
231.2 million pounds, product weight. That is 34% lower than last year,
but remember, May of 2008 is the all-time record U.S. export month at
350.4 million pounds, product weight.
Shipments grew on a year-on-year basis for only two major U.S. markets:
Australia (+22.1% vs. 2008) and, surprisingly, Russia (+8.2% from last
May). The Russian figure is a surprise given the country’s ban on
meat imports from several states in the wake of the H1N1 influenza virus
outbreak. Those restrictions, however, always allowed shipments from
some states with pork packing plants and Russian buyers apparently took
advantage of those opportunities.
The largest year-on-year reduction was, as expected, in shipments to
China. We shipped 95% less pork to China this year than we did last
year in May. A bit of a surprise was the drop in shipments to Hong Kong
(down 71% from last year) given that Hong Kong never officially stopped
imports from the United States. Many observers, including me, had
guessed that trade with Hong Kong had grown in order to satisfy buyers
in China. But that was not the case – at least in May.
FULL ARTICLE
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Detailed
Breeding Records Can Help Boost Farrowing Rates
Farrowing rate is affected by three main variables –
gilt or sow parity, semen source/quality and the technician doing the
artificial insemination.
To improve farrowing rate and total pigs born, it is important to study
your sow records. This column will take a closer look at the affect of
female status/history at breeding, parity and the day of week that
insemination took place. The data set used for this analysis is a
composite of farms with excellent detailed records. This combination of
farms has a 24.9 pigs weaned/mated female/year average and would rank in
the upper 72 percentile in the Swine Management Services, LLC database.
The only way to improve reproductive performance in high-producing farms
is through in-depth analyses of accurate records, to identify and
address the weak areas.
Table 1 is broken down by female status and specific time periods (by
week). For example, the type of female being mated is broken out by the
day they return to heat, first service gilts, second service females
(gilts and sows), and third service females (gilts and sows). The table
shows the week bred and the groups farrowed (farrowing rate by
status).
FULL ARTICLE
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Food
Safety Working Group Reports
The Obama administration’s Food Safety Working Group
announced its recommendations to enhance the nation’s food safety
system. The recommendations are based on three core principles:
prioritizing prevention, strengthening surveillance and enforcement and
improving response and recovery. The working group announced specific
steps to advance the core principals:
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and USDA are
targeting salmonella contamination by developing tougher standards to
protect the safety of eggs and poultry (chickens, turkeys).
- To fight the threat of E. coli, USDA is stepping up enforcement in
beef facilities and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is developing
new industry guidance to improve protections for leafy greens, melons
and tomatoes.
- FDA will issue draft guidance on steps the food industry can take to
establish product tracing systems to improve national capacity for
detecting the origins of foodborne illness.
- USDA will create a new position, chief medical officer, at the Food
Safety and Inspection Service.
The Food Safety Working Group was co-chaired by Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen
Sebelius.
FULL ARTICLE
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Pork
Exports Hang Tough Despite H1N1 Flu Fallout
U.S. pork exports in May 2009 were expected to be the
most impacted by the H1N1 Flu Outbreak Virus, but the negative fallout
was less than some analysts predicted, according to an analysis of USDA
data by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
All volume and value totals are for pork plus pork variety meat unless
otherwise indicated.
Pork and pork variety meat exports for May reached 316.8 million
pounds valued at $342.6 million. Totals are down 9% in value and 9.5%
in volume from April, and down a substantial 24% in value and 27% in
volume compared to May 2008.
FULL ARTICLE
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July 23, 2009: Pork Checkoff strategic
planning meeting, Holiday Inn Convention Center, Omaha, NE; contact: the
National Pork Board at (800) 456-7675 or go to www.pork.org.
July 24, 2009: Pork Checkoff strategic planning
meeting, Indiana Pork Producers office, Indianapolis, IN; contact: the
National Pork Board at (800) 456-7675 or go to www.pork.org.
July 27, 2009: Pork Checkoff strategic planning
meeting, Sampson Community College, Clinton, NC; contact: the National
Pork Board at (800) 456-7675 or go to www.pork.org.
FULL ARTICLE
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BLUEPRINT
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MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS
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POSTERS
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