The group included Valeria Costa, vet services & production director and Demasi Francesco, hatchery manager, who were accompanied by Joao Paula, Hy-Line sales director for Mediterranean Europe.

Societa Agricola Valversa is the largest layer hatchery in Italy supplying in excess of 60% of the Italian market.  The company has represented Hy-Line products for 31 years.
 
In the photo (L-R) Robert Cocksworth, managing director of Hy-Line U.K.; Valeria Costa; Joao Paula; Demasi Francesco; and Jonathan Cade, managing director for Hy-Line UK International.
 

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The increased demand for imported beef in the Korea market in 2010 has been reflected in higher volumes from both Australia and the US, assisted by a combination of strong consumer demand and low domestic cattle slaughter, reports Meat and Livestock Australia.

Australian volumes for the past month increased 14 per cent year-on-year, to 11,648 tonnes swt, taking imports for January to July to 76,649 tonnes swt - nine per cent ahead of the same period in 2009. Korean imports of US beef increased 53 per cent in July (7,000 tonnes swt) and 56 per cent for the first seven months of 2010, to 44,591 tonnes swt. Beef imports from New Zealand in July (2,756 tonnes swt) increased 14% on the same period last year, with total imports so far in 2010 back 4% (23,311 tonnes swt).

While positive economic conditions and strong consumer demand has helped to fuel the rise in beef imports so far in 2010, a significant fall in Korean cattle slaughter and beef production has also assisted the rise in imports. In 2009, domestic Korean beef accounted for almost 50 per cent of total beef consumed in the market (and averaged 48 per cent for the past five years). In 2009, Australia held the majority share of the imported beef market at 58 per cent, followed by the US on 26 per cent and NZ with 15 per cent.

Reflecting the reduction in Korea's domestic beef production in 2010 has been a 13 per cent year-on-year decline in total cattle slaughter between January and June, with Hanwoo female numbers back 16 per cent. Over the same period, the Korean cattle herd has reportedly increased nine per cent, to 3.3 million head - the highest number since 1998.

Given the reduction in cattle slaughter throughout 2010 and expanding herd, Korean beef production is anticipated to increase in the near-term, which will put pressure on imported beef volumes.

 

www.thebeefsite.com

With straw prices escalating, Quality Meat Scotland has produced a booklet to help farmers optimise bedding use and consider the wide range of alternative products available to Scottish livestock producers.

According to Ian Pritchard, SAC Select Services Beef Specialist, who researched the content for the booklet with Dr Basil Lowman and Dr John Vipond, it is well worth farmers putting some thought into how they use bedding most efficiently.

“Some of the tips in the booklet may seem like common sense but too often simple steps which can produce big benefits are overlooked. For example a lot of straw is wasted because of lack of attention to clearing drain pipes before stacking straw in the shed,” said Mr Pritchard.

“Outside storage is also an issue as square bales have a tendency to absorb more rain water than round bales.

“The overall effect is that when bales are left outside and open to the elements the absorptive capacity is severely reduced. Wet straw is only 10% as effective as a bedding for livestock as dry straw - a lot of wasted money,” he added.

The QMS booklet also gives advice on how to reduce straw usage by highlighting how different feed materials can affect the amount of dung and urine produced.

And it flags up the number of alternative bedding products available in different areas of Scotland. The range of these materials, along with details of their relative absorbency factors, are detailed in the booklet.

“Some of these alternative materials such as oilseed rape straw, sawdust and woodchips have been used for a number of years,” said Mr Pritchard. “Others, such as canary reed grass and miscanthus, are new bedding materials.”

The fertiliser values of these alternatives are also listed as a number of these new materials do not compost as easily as straw does. The booklet also highlights the potential drawback of bedding materials that are too palatable to ruminants as this may affect daily liveweight gain.

 

www.thebeefsite.com

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) received follow-up report no. 39 on 26 August. According to the report, the outbreak occured in swine and in wild boar.

In the case of swine, a total of two cases were identified and 15761 were found susceptible to the disease. In the case of the wild species, six animals were affected by the ASF virus.

The source of the outbreak is currently under investigation.

 

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The lower net sales have been put down to lower sales volume caused in turn mainly by the labour market disputes in Finland and the cattle shortage in Sweden.

However, the company said that HKScan is advancing internationally, with half-year earnings burdened by challenges in market area of Finland.

The company said that profitability of the Group continued to develop in Sweden and the Baltics and especially in Poland.

However, in Finland, the industrial action in April/May had a considerable impact on earnings in the early part of the year.

Group EBIT for the entire first half of the year fell short of 2009 and stood at € 13.6 million compared to € 22.5 million in the same period in 2009.

The company has reaffirmed its earnings guidance given in the first quarter interim report. Full-year EBIT exclusive of non-recurring items is estimated to fall somewhat short of the level seen in 2009.

 

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Two short films are in production which will be available on the lovepork.co.uk website, one covering sausage production and the other a pork cutting demonstration.

The overview of sausage production has been done and will be posted in the next few weeks while filming has just finished on the other.

BPEX Butchery Development Manager Keith Fisher said, "The first doesn’t give recipes but explains the processes behind making a traditional butchers pork sausage.

"The cutting demonstration starts with a whole side of pork which is taken down to primal, or wholesale, cuts and then finally to cuts consumers would buy from the butcher or supermarket.

"It is highly skilled and ends up with lovely looking cuts of pork which will tempt the consumer."

 

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According to AllAfrica.com, he spoke at the stakeholders' meeting with Poultry/Livestock, Meat, Meat Products and Abattoir Operators in Abuja, where he was represented by Mr John Achuku, the Director of Standards.

We want to inform the abattoir and poultry farm operators that there are standards, documented for them to safeguard the health of the people and the economy will be the better for it. We want to ensure that eggs, chickens and meat are not infected by partnering with you in terms of quality and standards," he said.

Dr Akanya said that the organisation had developed several products' standards and code of practice as a way of encouraging the poultry/livestock, meat products and abattoir operators to ensure quality. Dr Louis Njoku, a Regional Director in the organisation, said the standards included the construction and maintenance of the abattoirs, the environment where the animals were conveyed and slaughtered.

"There are code of hygiene practice like that of the abattoirs, which includes the designs of the poultry farms, such as ventilation and equipment to keep the chickens healthy," he said.

Idris Mohammed, the Council Secretary, Abuja Municipal Area Council, thanked the organisation for bringing together relevant stakeholders to find lasting solution to the problem of poultry farms and abattoirs.

"Within the municipality, there are many slaughter houses in terrible conditions, the way the meat are conveyed to the markets and the vehicles are in bad shape," he said.

Mr Mohammed said that with the meeting, the relevant stakeholders would be better educated to disseminate information on standard practice. Stakeholders at the meeting include FCTA, Kwali Area Council, M.D. Integrated Farms, Sahad Stores Ltd, Amigo Super Market, Ajua Farms, Abaji Area Council, amongst others.

 

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The Brazilian pavilion, to cover 135 square meters, is organised by Conceito Brazil, the company representing the event.

This is the second time that Conceito Brazil organises a Brazilian pavilion at the fair. Last year, 16 companies participated in the event. "This is a fair for equipment for production of food, like packages, mixes and ingredients. It is a good opportunity for Brazilian companies," said the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby.

According to him, the focus of the fair is not so much on processed foods, but more on agricultural inputs and machinery. However, some Brazilian companies in the chicken, beef and dairy sectors have already registered for participation. Mr Alaby believes that it would be interesting to promote an event in the sidelines of the fair, where the phases of the Brazilian productive chain could be explained.

According to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Agriculture, among the Arab nations, Saudi Arabia is the main market for Brazil. Exports to the Arab country in the first six months of the year totalled US$ 1.6 billion, expansion of 41 per cent over the same period last year. Agricultural sales to Saudi Arabia alone grew 17 per cent. The main agricultural products shipped were chicken, beef, sugar, soy and maize.

 

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Applications have been submitted for the units, each housing up to 950 pigs, to be built on Holme Hill Farm in South Kelsey.

Jenny Stimson, clerk of South Kelsey Parish Council, said she had concerns about the smell, and traffic generated by the pig units.

The applicant, Frank Tobin, declined to comment on the matter.

Ms Stimson said: "We have to look at all sides of this and look at what impact it is going to have on the village.

"We have to wait until it goes to planning to see what is going to be done with the slurry because the smell is dreadful.

"Our road system is terrible and, with the amount of traffic that's going to be coming through, it's going to cause the roads to be even worse."

But BBC Lincolnshire's farming correspondent, Alan Stennett, said modern pig units had tight restrictions.

"The smell of the actual unit is virtually nil. The slurry spreading is where you get the problem and if you're dribbling it on [as it suggests in the report], you limit the amount of smell.

"If someone wants to put in a pig unit now, you would be talking about 1,000 pigs as standard."

West Lindsey District Planners will meet on Wednesday evening to discuss the plans.

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Kevin Keener, an associate professor of food science, said quick cooling of eggs after they are laid would significantly reduce the ability of salmonella to grow inside eggs and potentially keep consumers from getting sick. There are no federal guidelines for how quickly eggs should be cooled, but current industry procedures can take as long as six days to cool eggs to 45°F, the temperature at which salmonella can no longer grow. Keener's rapid-cooling technology would take two to five minutes.

Dr Keener said eggs can be more than 100°F after washing and packaging in cartons. Thirty dozen eggs are then packed in a case, and 30 cases are stacked onto pallets and placed in refrigerated coolers. The eggs in the middle of the pallet can take up to 142 hours to cool to 45 degrees. He said scientists estimate that one in about every 20,000 eggs has salmonella naturally inside.

"The eggs in the middle of a pallet may take up to six days to cool, and if the one in 20,000 that has salmonella is in the middle, the bacteria will grow," Dr Keener said. "In reality, some eggs don't cool to 45 degrees until they're in the refrigerator in your home."

Dr Keener said Food and Drug Administration studies show that if eggs were cooled and stored at 45° or less within 12 hours of laying, there would be an estimated 78 per cent fewer salmonella illnesses from eggs in the United States each year.

Dr Keener's cooling technology uses carbon dioxide "snow" to rapidly lower the eggs' temperature. Eggs are placed in a cooling chamber and carbon dioxide gas at about minus 110° is generated. The cold gas is circulated around the eggs and forms a thin layer of ice inside the eggshell. After treatment, the ice layer melts and quickly lowers an egg's internal temperature to below 45°. The eggshell does not crack during this process because the shell can resist expansion from a thin ice layer.

Previous studies have shown the cooling treatment would increase shelf life by four weeks.

Paul Brennan, executive vice president of the Purdue-based Indiana State Poultry Association, said so long as it did not negatively impact egg quality or producers, he would be intrigued by Keener's cooling technology.

"Our industry is good at adopting practical solutions," Mr Brennan said. "If there is a technology that we could adopt to address an issue and it was cost-effective, I'm sure we would embrace it."

Mr Brennan added that eggs are safe if handled and cooked properly.

"Continue to buy eggs, cook them properly and you will not have a problem from a health standpoint," Mr Brennan said. "Food is not sterile, but industry does everything it can to eliminate the possibility of illnesses."

Dr Keener has a prototype of his rapid-cooling technology in his Purdue laboratory and is working to optimise its function.

The FDA this month has ordered a recall of hundreds of millions of eggs thought to be contaminated by salmonella. Iowa's Hillendale Farms and Wright County Eggs are thought to be the sources of the salmonella outbreak. Salmonella poisoning can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. More serious illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis are possible but rare.

 

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