Getting Pork on the Consumer’s Plate

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on May 1, 2011 | No Comments

Chef Brian Smoliak describes ways to appeal to customers to convince them to include more pork, both for at-home cooking and while eating out. He explains that by reintroducing pork, the demand for it can be increased. Some of the ways he suggests to do this include to focus on specialized products, such as certain breeds or current trends. Also, better packaging and labeling could inform the customer of how to cook pork, which cuts to use, and provide simple recipes to increase appeal. The demand for convenience provides a market for ready to cook or ready to eat product development, and specific products like pork burgers.. His final ideas include increased use at public events, selling cheaper secondary cuts of meat, and increasing value chains. Smoliak ends by stressing the need for transparency in costs between all links in the pork supply chain, and equality, profit, and commitment by all of the factions.

Epidemiological and cost/benefit analysis of PRRS intervention strategies

Posted in: Ontario Pork, Pork Insight Articles by admin on | No Comments

Swine producers have several options when it comes to treating pigs for PRRS. Some treatment methods include letting the disease follow its course and treating clinical signs of individuals and groups (no-intervention), others use commercial vaccines, and others will use pulmotil in the 4 weeks following the PRRS onset with or without virus exposure. The data about loses and expenditures during PRRS outbreaks are available, but there are no standard approaches to collect and to analyze such data. The objective of this study is to evaluate clinical and economical efficiency of commonly used PRRS intervention strategies in Canadian sow herds. In this study swine veterinarians were asked to provide records from sow farms that had PRRS outbreaks and to fill out questionnaires with demographics, diagnostics and intervention data. Results suggest that the no-intervention strategy seemed to be the most costly approach of managing a PRRS outbreak. Management of PRRS under alternative, and more costly strategies, was expected to yield higher revenues on average, although results vary among different scenarios and no single methods is best in all scenarios. It was hypothesize that most herds that experience PRRS outbreaks were using either commercial vaccination, or the homologous exposure and pulmotil strategy.

Value-Chain Approach to Fulfill Consumer Needs for Wholesome Pork Products

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Following the economic downturn in 2008, there has been a change in consumer demands. Initially, the consumers chose low-cost options, and as the demand for these options increased there was an increase in competition between suppliers. The increase in competition led to an increase in value items – the best quality item for a low price. The economic downturn also resulted in increased company consolidation, leading to larger more globalized companies. These consolidations have a larger customer base, and the increase in trade liberalization provides the opportunity for new value items for specific customer demands. Some of the current and expected trends include natural products made without preservative, and products for specific health and wellness issues like allergies. Also, an aging population in North America will come with an increased demand for easy to open containers for seniors. Portion control has been important for health, but also for convenience and to provide a consistent weight and price for a product. Finally, increased globalization provides the opportunity to market specific products like Halal and Kosher foods.

Successful Strategies of European Pork Slaughter and Processing Companies

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles by admin on April 29, 2011 | No Comments

The European market involves high competition, and as a result there has been an increasing trend for companies in the pork industry to consolidate. The main parameter for competition between companies is cost, and the result is high export of live hogs in between countries. Since consolidation and export between countries is already occurring, international consolidation is expected to increase as well. Company strategies vary to keep to stay competitive: German companies are among the leading sellers and take an approach of production efficiency while still maintaining quality and developing new products. In Northern Europe, the pork industry is mainly domestic companies. It involves fewer companies, and they include a focus on export of products in their strategies. Across Europe there is strong interest in developing and implementing the use of new technology and innovations. Product development depends on consumer demand, and new product areas, like vegetarian options, are beginning to be explored. Two other strategies are to appeal to high demand, local styles of products, or to create gourmet niche products. Another focus is the development of sustainable and low impact products, which is assisted by the European Commission. The European Commission funds projects between multiple countries focusing on sustainability and low environmental impact, and allows research facilities and companies to cooperate towards a common goal.

Global Price and Production Forecast

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The main factors for pork production  profits are the exchange rates, pork trade, and economy strength; and the costs mostly depend on biofuel demand and crop yields. Corn prices used to be driven primarily by weather and crop yields, and while that is still a factor, the rise of using corn for ethanol has doubled corn prices. This has led to a 50% increase in the cost of hog production. Since 2007, the Canadian dollar has been strong, but this negatively affects pork export into the USA. As well, the pork demand in the USA has been lowered due to a poor economy, but rising beef prices may increase pork consumption. The hog cycle is the supply and demand for pork, so high production will lower prices and vice versa. Compared to 30 years ago, the cycle has a much smaller amplitude – mainly because modern facilities are not equip to manage rapidly fluctuating production numbers. Plain concludes by predicting a decrease for Canadian pork export for 2011, but similar slaughter numbers to 2010

Financing Agriculture in the Future

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Presentation by AgStar Financial Services at the Banff Pork Seminar, 2011. Stresses the importance of risk management in a market where the prices of feed and the profits for pork are volatile. Also, mentions producers need to have detailed knowledge of their financial situation – including cost of production and monthly financial performance – and the need to have a business plan with the goal of stabilizing finances.

The Future of Animal Feeding: Towards Sustainable Precision Livestock Farming

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With the cost of feed accounting for 60% of production costs it is important to improve productivity and efficiency. However, the requirements of the customer, consumer and society need to be taken into account. This brings the idea of focusing on sustainable precision livestock farming as a future goal. The consumer demand in developed countries has become concerned with animal welfare, environmental impact, quality, safety, and the type of production system. With a growing population there will be an increased demand for food, but while developing countries will have a rapidly  increasing demand for meat products developed countries will have, a much slower, or even stagnant, growth. Meanwhile, costs for feed could increase as supply becomes more limited. There is potential for improving productivity and efficiency while meeting public demands through newly developed and promising technology. Genomics have improved crops through the use of genetically modified crops, and there is still further developments possible. As well, genetic markers can be developed to allow testing for traits like meat quality and disease resistance. Nutrigenomics will be able to help determine the precise nutrient requirements in certain conditions. Microsystem and nanotechnology have the potential to be useful for sampling for micronutrients, contaminants and toxin metabolites inside and outside of an animal. Information and communication technology will allow for developments like automated feeding systems, and allow for ease and accuracy in sharing data. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy can quickly and easily sample feed for macro nutrients, and has the potential to do the same for micronutrients and contaminants. Overall, using current technological advances, and continuing to research and develop them will allow improved precision while meeting societal needs for sustainable farming.

Dust in Pig Buildings

Posted in: Environment, Pork Insight Articles, Press Releases by admin on April 7, 2011 | No Comments

It is well documented in the international scientific literature that airborne dust in pig houses can cause serious health problems for humans as well as for animals. Extensive research has been carried out in different countries during the last few decades to improve the scientific understanding of air quality issues related to intensive animal production. Research and review papers were presented at the international symposium on Dust Control in Animal Production Facilities, held in Denmark in 1999. Different techniques have been used in order to reduce dust burdens in pig confinement buildings, but up to date only the procedure of spraying oil or a mixture of oil and water has contributed to reducing the indoor dust concentrations significantly. This article summarizes the current level of understanding of dust issues in intensive animal production buildings, mainly on the basis of papers presented at the above mentioned symposium.

An Overview of the Canadian Swine-Pork Sector

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The demographics of the Canadian swine industry is such that there is concentration in the hog production with regard to size; this is most evident in Quebec where the data are most fragmented, but this appears to be broadly the case- a small number of large farms produce the bulk of market hogs and hold the bulk of the sows. Secondly, the hog production segment has declined across the country. This is particularly the case in western Canada and Ontario, but also in Quebec. Finally, the pork packing segment is relatively concentrated, with the hog production segment increasingly sized to the packing segment. The potential implication of this is to allow, prospectively, packing system alignment back to the farm level.

Ethology Program at the Prairie Swine Centre

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Press Releases by admin on April 6, 2011 | No Comments

This powerpoint presentation on the Ethology Program at PSC was presented at the 2011 Spring Producers Meetings held in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  The meetings were sponsored by Prairie Swine Centre, Alberta Pork, Manitoba Pork, Saskatchewan Pork, Elanco and Masterfeeds.

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