Dear readers,

Let’s see some good news:

•          Farmers start to have their say. After the protest of the flamish farmers in Brussels, one week ago, lining up more than 2700 tractors, this Saturday it was the turn of the dutch. Autorities have forbidden the tractors from entering to The Hague, but up to 60,000 protesters have gathered. The animal husbandry sector is concerned about its future under the current nitrogen emission policies.

•          The Flemish government reached an agreement to reduce nitrogen emissions in Flanders. 3.6 billion euros are allocated to compensate farmers who are obliged or voluntary agree to stop and to realize new nature objectives. The agreement should also offer young farmers a perspective. Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (it’s quite ironic to bare this name and be associated to pig farm closures) is satisfied with the agreement. The General Farmers Syndicate is not satisfied with the agreement.

•          In Brussels, Saxony’s Minister of State called for a change in the EU regulation for combating African swine fever (ASF) and for greater financial participation by the federal government, the federal states and the European Union. The minister also renewed her request to the EU Commission to differentiate their control strategies when ASF occurs in domestic and/or wild pigs and use measures decoupled from each other. From the first ASF case on October 31, 2020 to the end of 2022, Saxony has spent almost €40 million on ASF control. A further €18 million has been allocated to the state budget for 2023 alone.

•          Vion presented the results of a €6 million investment in a regional slaughterhouse in Germany. The investment was the result of a joint federal government research project where scientists from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute and the University of Göttingen were investigating the use of alternative gas mixtures for carbon dioxide stunning in pig slaughter and the use of artificial intelligence in monitoring to ensure animal welfare.

•          The German Ministry of Agriculture is working on a guideline to promote projects for the establishment and expansion of regional value chains. It is to come into force this year and will receive funding of almost €16 million until 2027.

•          France has reached an agreement with food retailers to set the “lowest possible price” on a range of products in a battle against inflation.Dubbed the “anti-inflation quarter”, lasting until June, France’s Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said that the pact will represent “several hundred” millions of euros, which will come out of retailers’ margins.

•          U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced on Thursday a $25-million Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) grant award to Wholestone Farms for a major plant expansion in Fremont, Nebraska.The expansion will enable second shift operations and add approximately 950 new jobs.

•          Tyson Foods, has committed to investing more than US$1.3bn in adding more automation to its factories over the next three years.

•          USA Pork exports in January s were up 13% year-over-year to 236,767 metric tons (mt), while export value rose 16% to $643.4 million. Driving those increases was Mexico, which in January imported a record 96,800 mt of pork, up 11% over January 2022.The Dominican Republic increased with volume up 67%, while China – which had dramatically lowered imports in 2022 – returned to the fray, importing 46,315 mt (up 31%).

•          A new way of sucking carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in the sea has been outlined by scientists.The authors say that this novel approach captures CO2 from the atmosphere up to three times more efficiently than current methods.The warming gas can be transformed into bicarbonate of soda and stored safely and cheaply in seawater.The new method could speed up the deployment of carbon removal technology, experts say.

•          Croatia and Portugal have been added to the price table. Thank you, my friends!

Events callendar:

•          Visitors and exhibitors meet for the 7th time on the Prager Karlsbörse on 2 days from Wednesday, 15.03.2023 to Thursday, 16.03.2023 in Prague Congress Center .The Prague Karlsboerse is the largest trade fair of the food and agricultural sector in Eastern Europe. With over 950 visitors from 23 nations, the exchange is enjoying increasing interest and reputation in the professional world.

•          The 41st edition of Moldagrotech takes place on 4 days from Thursday, 16.03.2023 to Sunday, 19.03.2023 in Chişinău Exhibition Center, Moldavia .The Moldagrotech is an international trade fair for equipment, technologies, and materials for agriculture.

•          Agrotech Kielce is held for the twenty-eighth time, from Friday, 17.03.2023 to Sunday, 19.03.2023 in Kielce, Poland, at the Targi Kielce Exhibition & Congress Center.The fair presents the latest developments from the agricultural industry, animal husbandry equipment and agricultural services, as well as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. Both Polish and international suppliers are present.

Intuition

While we receive more and more news from the USA related to increasing state aid for the support of the animal protein chain, relevant producers from the EU seem to be politically directed to different directions.

Current pig price levels are unprecedently high, but those who stocked grains at the autumn high cost are still strugling to make profit. For the last two years almost all retail chains used a high pork price level, claiming to support the farmers, but we didn’t see to much of this support in our baskets. Now german retailers are reducing meat prices and pushing back this reduction trough the slaughterhouses on the farmers, provoking the protest of the Müller Group from Birkenfeld.

Pigs are scarce in Germany. This is clearly shown by the low slaughter figures of around 700,000 pigs per week, while the stock of pork in German refrigerated and frozen stores has also reached an all-time low. The Association of German Cold Stores and Cold Logistics Companies (VDKL) put the pork stock in December 2022 at just 96,000 t. That’s nearly 60% down from early 2022 and the lowest inventory in more than six years. In January 2023, the storage volume for pork increased only slightly to 103,000 t.The peak in recent times was 259,000 tonnes of stored pork in July 2021.

During an unannounced inspection by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) at Skare Meat Packers, Italian meat that was marked as having German origin was found, among other things. The authority also discovered several cuts of meat from years of production far back. The danish packer filed for bankrupcy.The Gosschalk Epe slaughterhouse from The Netherlands has been strongly affected by the situation of it’s main client.

Gosschalk’s payment arrears have increased to three weeks. The company is said to have millions of euros in debt to several large livestock traders. The slaughterhouse processed around 10,000 pigs per week. These are now being redistributed. A part is offered to German slaughterhouses, but the larger share remains in the Netherlands. According to informations from a friend, large german slaughterhouses pay  bonus of 10 cents or more/kg for those able to supply a larger number of pigs on weekly basis.

In the Central ans Eastern European area pig producers also seem to recover. Less and less meat is found on the shelves of the retailers from Spain and Germany, even we still wait for the recovery of the consumption.

Now we are fine, but what about the future?! Will you invest in improving technology, genetics, renewable energy? Will you buy land, open shops? Will you look for an exit? What’s telling you your intuition?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlpL4FhzUs

European pig and piglet prices: HW= Hot weight; L= live weight;

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2,28 HW		80/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	2,09-2,3 HW		75,50/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,65 L		72/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,61 HW		79/25 kg
FRANCE	2,366 HW
ITALY	1,86 L- 115 kg, 2,17 L- 160 kg, DOC		128,3/30 kg
SPAIN	1,93-1,967 L		101-110/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,712 HW
AUSTRIA	2,24 HW		95 /25 kg
POLAND	1,65-1,96 L		74-120/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	2,17-2,55 HW		100-105/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	2,04 L		99-108/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,27-2,32 HW		75-81/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,85-1,95 L		98-101/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,84-1,95 L		98-101/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,7-1,84 L		100-109/25kg		Partner info; no quotation