World meat industry news

USA Pork Market

  • 27 Jul 13:32

The announcement of JBS purchasing Cargill is behind us. That should put JBS in the #2 spot for packers, which is above Tyson. This also means that, between Brazil and China, they have control of about 50 per cent of the packing capacity in the US, writes Alan Bentley, Sales & Service, Genesus. The packing industry has gone through many changes, one of the most important being the invention of refrigerated cars. The plants were then able to move to where the livestock was produced and away from the cities. Boxed meat was the next change, which made swinging meat a term of the past and local butchers go the same way as makers of wooden wagon wheels. Packing has. Read more...

McDonald’s Canada Moves One Step Closer to Sourcing Sustainable Beef

  • 16 Jul 11:21

McDonald’s Canada is one step closer to purchasing Canadian beef from verified sustainable sources thanks to a pilot project which has begun on-site verifications of beef operations across Canada. McDonald’s – which already sources all of its beef for its Canadian operations from Canadian producers - announced a year ago that it is committed to begin purchasing a portion of its beef from verified sustainable sources in 2016, writes Angela Lovell for TheCattleSite. Since then it has developed its pilot verification project in consultation with multiple stakeholders, including beef producers and the Canadian Roundtable for. Read more...

US Beef Access to South Africa Still Not Resumed

  • 16 Jul 11:19

South Africa had committed in Paris to accommodate USDA’s request for recognition of its current negligible risk status under bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and resume its imports of US beef. This is according to a Foreign Agricultural Service report which said the issue has not been concluded. The US has been unable to export US beef to South Africa under terms consistent with its OIE risk status since 2005, when the United States resumed exports of beef to many nations, the report said. The US began exporting a limited scope of products to many nations in 2005 following the implementation of the ruminant feed ban. As the OIE’s determination of. Read more...

Viet Nam Hog Markets

  • 15 Jul 12:20

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam currently has about 27.2 million pigs on the farms (up 2.9 per cent from last year at this time), writes Ron Lane, Business Director for Asia Pacific and Meggie Vo, Genesus Marketing Representative in Vietnam. The hog market production reached 2.05 million tonnes of pork in the first 6 months of 2015 which is an increase of 3.9 per cent as compared to the same period in 2014. The Ministry of Agriculture forecasts an increase in output this year of 2.4 per cent to 3.37 million tonnes. In the first six months of the pig breeding year, production developed quite smoothly as the incidence of PRRS (blue ear) did not. Read more...

Growing Beef Demand in USA

  • 15 Jul 12:19

Domestic beef demand was up 8 per cent in May, but foreign demand was down 9 per cent, writes Ron Plain and Scott Brown, University of Missouri. During the first five months of the year, beef imports were up 37.3 per cent and exports were down 9.5 per cent compared to January-May 2014. The latest USDA WASDE report cut expected 2015 beef production by 0.8 per cent and increased 2016 production by 0.5 per cent. They now predict 1.8 per cent less beef this year than last and 4.3 per cent more beef in 2016 than this year. They expect fed cattle prices to average close to $160/cwt both this year and next. Fed cattle futures were lower this week. The feeder cattle contracts. Read more...

Alternative Farrowing Options in the Swine Industry

  • 14 Jul 10:18

Over the past decade there has been increased awareness from the public on animal welfare issues related to sow farrowing and lactation, and this factsheet from Monique Pairis-Garcia at Ohio State University described some alternative options to the traditional farrowing stall. In the United States, restricted sow movement in the traditional farrowing stall has been identified as a significant concern with growing pressure towards the elimination of this system. Recognising changes in consumer demand and the desire to improve sow welfare by meeting her biological needs during farrowing, alternative farrowing options need to be assessed. The purpose of this factsheet. Read more...

Six New African Swine Fever Outbreaks in Russian Pigs

  • 14 Jul 10:17

There have been six new outbreaks of African Swine Fever in Russia, affecting village swine herds. In total, there were 25 cases out of a susceptible population of 71 animals. There were 19 deaths, and all 52 susceptible animals in the pig operations were destroyed. The outbreaks occurred in several different areas in the. Read more...

USDA Bi-Weekly International Meat, Poultry & Egg Review - 10 July 2015

  • 13 Jul 11:42

International Trade Highlights: US Chicken Leg Quarter Export Update Based on data, the US shipped a total of 131,876 metric tons (MT) of chicken leg quarters in May 2015, 2% lower than April 2015 (134,850 MT) and 1% lower than May 2014 (133,378 MT). A more drastic difference was seen in export values as the US shipped a total of $101,886,000 of chicken leg quarters in May 2015, 7% lower than April 2015 ($109,003,000) and 29% lower than May 2014 ($144,361,000). The US exported a total of 14,787 MT of chicken leg quarters to Angola in May 2015 with 13,168 MT to Mexico, 9,882 MT to Cuba, 7,658 MT to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 6,845 MT to Taiwan, 6,757 MT to Iraq,. Read more...

Greek Exit Spells Danger for French Beef

  • 13 Jul 11:36

A Greek exit from the Eurozone could damage French beef exports, warns an industry leader.France is the leading supplier of beef to Greece but being ousted from the euro zone lead to a collapse in Greek demand, said Dominque Langlois, President of meat industry board, Interbev. After Italy, Mr Langlois said Greek was France’s biggest market. “The French beef industry remains at the mercy of current developments in that country,” he told Irish Food Bord, Board Bia. He noted that downward pressure was being felt on beef prices across major European markets as a result of ongoing fiscal negotiations between Greece and the EU. The. Read more...

Southern African Drought Hammers Red Meat Production

  • 10 Jul 11:48

Poultry and red meat producers in Southern Africa are bracing for a steep rise in feed costs after drought conditions affected South Africa, the biggest grain producer in the region, writes Tawanda Korombo. The grain shortages in South Africa will be felt across the region and will have knock on effects on poultry and red meat producers. Countries such as Zimbabwe and Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho that rely on food imports from South Africa will be affected the most as South Africa is likely to cut on exports. Zimbabwe already has food shortages and poultry and other meat producers in the country are already reliant on straight imports from neighbouring Zambia. Poultry. Read more...