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Counter-Seasonal Decline is Good News for Pork
USDA’s Cold Storage report, released last week,
continues to indicate that supplies are at least “current” at
present. The cold storage data appear in Table 1.
Total meat and poultry in freezers amounted to 1.86 billion pounds on
Jan. 31. That was 3.5% higher than one month earlier, but 17.1% lower
than one year ago. All four of the major species contributed to the
decline with turkey leading the way in both pounds (169 million) and
percentage (-37.5%). Pork was second in both categories, trimming total
freezer stocks by 111.3 million pounds and 18.3% vs. one year ago.
Chicken stocks continued to fall as well, declining 10% or 69.1 million
pounds from January 31, 2009.
USDA estimates that there were 495.6 million pounds of pork in freezers
on Jan. 31. That is 5.2% more pork than one month earlier and it
represents the first month-to-month increase in pork inventories since
last April. That is a very unusual circumstance, since pork stocks
usually begin growing in September and swell in the fall of the year
when hog numbers are high. The counter-seasonal decline in stocks last
fall leaves supplies quite current as we go into spring and expected
lower slaughter runs. That factor should be supportive of pork and hog
prices.
FULL ARTICLE
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Postweaning Syndrome is a Diagnostic Conundrum
In the last couple of years, there have been reports at
veterinary meetings that describe variations on an overall theme of a
low incidence of wasting and mortality in pigs postweaning.
Typically, weaned pigs arrive healthy and appear to get off to a good
start. Within a few days, however, some pigs go off feed, lose weight
rapidly and die within one or two weeks of the onset of clinical signs.
Clinical enteric (diarrhea) or respiratory (cough, sneeze,
“thumping”) signs are often minimal or absent, but pigs are observed
with some combination of the following clinical signs: lethargy,
inappetance, huddling and piling, head hanging or pressing, generalized
or rear leg weakness, rapid weight loss and non-response to treatment
prior to death or euthanasia.
FULL ARTICLE
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Competition Workshop Panels Named
The panelists and agenda have been established for the
first in a series of five workshops on competition and regulatory issues
that the U.S. Department of Justice and USDA are holding. The goals of
the workshops are to “promote dialogue among interested parties and
foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic
analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties
with experience in the agriculture sector.” The agenda for the first
workshop, set for March 12 in Ankeny, IA, includes:
Keynote Comments, Roundtable and Presentation of Issues:
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; Christine Varney, Assistant
Attorney General for Antitrust, U.S. Department of Justice; Tom Miller,
Attorney General, State of Iowa; Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of
Agriculture. Invited: Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Tom Harkin
(D-IA), Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA), and Iowa Governor Chet
Culver.
Seed Competitive Dynamics Panel: James MacDonald (moderator),
Chief, Agricultural Structure and Productivity Branch, Economic
Research Service, USDA. Panelists: Ray Gaesser, Corning, IA, Soybean and
Corn producer, vice president of the American Soybean Association and
former president of the Iowa Soybean Association; Neil E. Harl, Charles
F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences,
emeritus professor of economics, Iowa State University, and member of
the Iowa Bar; Dermot Hayes, professor of economics and finance, Pioneer
chair in agribusiness, Iowa, State University; Diana Moss, vice
president and senior fellow, American Antitrust Institute; and Jim
Tobin, vice president of industry affairs, Monsanto Company.
FULL ARTICLE
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EPA May
Require Farms To Report Gas Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday
it is considering requiring concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) to report releases of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), according to the
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).
The agency says that H2S is harmful to human health and the environment
and must be reported to the Toxics Release Inventory under the Emergency
Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
This reporting requirement could produce stricter rules on releases of
H2S under the Clean Air Act, including a mandate that agricultural
facilities adopt new emissions mitigation technologies.
FULL ARTICLE
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March 4-6, 2010: Pork Forum, Kansas
City, MO; contact: www.pork.org.
March 5, 2010: National Swine Nutrition Guide
distributed and explained in Sioux City, Iowa. The guide consists of
nutrition fact sheets, nutrient recommendation tables and diet
formulation and evaluation software and will be included with an $80
conference registration or available for purchase separately for $125.
March 8: 2010: “Let’s Talk Animals,” 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m., Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, Michigan State
University, East Lansing, MI; contact: www.anrweek.canr.msu.edu
FULL ARTICLE
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