With the 2012 baseball season now underway, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that Americans will consume 20.5 million hot dogs this season at Major League ballparks. In addition, 5.2 million sausages will be sold. The next time you are at the ballpark enjoy a hot dog and root for your favorite team....More
A breeding herd that is only 0.6% larger than a year ago, stable sow numbers, and a market herd reportedly 2% larger than it has been, are all factors contributing to the cautious approach to pork industry expansion....More
The Sara Lee Corporation has sent a letter to its pork suppliers notifying them of the company’s intent to begin requiring a premises identification (ID) tag in all sows delivered to its Newbern, TN, processing facility effective January 1, 2015.
Sara Lee is the first processor to step up and officially require the tags, which identify animals to the premises of origin in order to facilitate movement tracking if necessary for animal health reasons....More
Iowa pork producers have succeeded in establishing a new milestone as 15,000 Iowa pork producers, employees and others involved in the pork industry have been certified through the Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus program....More
USDA’s most recent quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report, released March 30, contained no big surprises, but it provided some fodder for both optimists and pessimists as they look to future hog markets....More
Last week the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) sent a letter to Congress explaining its opposition to Canada’s inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations....More
An ad hoc coalition of 40 food and agricultural groups led by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has expressed concerns to the Obama administration and Congress that a proposed free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union (EU) might miss the mark of U.S. objectives for trade agreements...More
Last week’s Cold Storage report is causing a degree of concern in the pork industry. February 29 stocks of frozen pork cuts were significantly higher than last year. A total of 624.7 million pounds of pork were in freezers at the end of last month – 8.8% larger than last month and 6.7% higher than last year. It is also the largest freezer inventory for pork figure since April 2008...More
Perhaps the hottest debate topic in the pork industry this winter has been the extent of PRRS-driven death losses. There is really nothing new about that statement. It could have been made each of the past 10, 15, perhaps 20 years. This disease and its amazing and depressing ability to mutate and gain new levels of virulence has defied many, many good minds and undermined some very good planning and efforts. To say the least, it has been a challenge...More
The United States and the Philippines last week reached an agreement that resolves many of the long-standing trade issues between the two countries, according to the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). In November 2010, the Philippine Department of Agriculture passed an administrative order providing strict mandates on refrigeration, traceability, labeling and packaging requirements for frozen pork...More
The latest combined incidence data from USDA's PRRS project and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) confirms that sow farms are breaking with PRRS at a rate of about 3% per week, peaking in the fall....More
Iowa Select Farms is continuing to refine what animal care should be, and is embedding a philosophy of caring for animals throughout all facets of production....More
An Iowa State University study quantitatively demonstrates the link between food animal production practices and human health implications for food safety....More
A University of Minnesota study evaluating the use of Regano in sow diets found that the dietary product improved sow reproductive performance, pig growth rates and carcass value.
Regano is Ralco Animal Health’s branded product containing Regano essential oil that supports gut health in sows for improved reproductive performance and better litter health....More
A record-setting year makes 2011 a hard act to follow, but January pork exports started things off right as shipments jumped 28% in volume and 43% in value, according to USDA data analyzed by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF)....More
USDA’s Agricultural Projections to 2021, also known as the USDA Baseline, was released at the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum in February. It shows varying prospects for livestock and poultry exports...More
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has joined more than 40 meat and poultry groups in opposing the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2013 USDA budget proposal. Just as in previous years, this request calls for user fees for government-mandated food safety inspection programs for meat, poultry and egg products.
The signees declared: “These proposed fees represent a food safety tax on consumers and not just a fee on processors.”...More
Any way you slice it, bacon appeals to the American palate. “Right now, bacon is where the money is as one of the hottest commodities on the pig, up there in price with the loin,” says Marcia Shannon, University of Missouri Extension (MU) swine researcher...More
Per capita pork consumption in the United States has declined sharply in the past several years due primarily to strong pork export growth. Per capita pork consumption in the United States averaged 50.1 lb. in 2006 and 2007 when $2 per bushel corn was still the rule. That dropped to a low of 45.8 lb. by 2011, a 9% decrease...More
At nearly the halfway point of a five-year strategic plan, the National Pork Board will meet in Denver, CO, with the chairs of its nine producer-led committees on Feb. 29 and March 1 to assess progress in meeting the goals of the plan...More
The National Pork Board's six producer-led science and technology committees recently met in Dallas, TX, and reviewed research proposals to select projects that the Pork Checkoff would fund in 2012. In all, the groups reviewed more than 100 proposals, ultimately selecting those that would be of greatest benefit to the overall industry....More
The U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement that will go into full effect on March 15, 2012 will potentially more than double the value of U.S. pork exports to South Korea. In 2010, the value of U.S. pork exports and variety meats to that country was $190 million. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) projects that total could more than double to $400 million by 2016 when all product duties are phased out....More
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) met with Canada this past week to discuss the inclusion of Canada in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations....More
