Happy Easter to my orthodox friends!

While this period is characterized by short working weeks, we still find good news:

• Since the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), 711 km of permanent fences and 71 km of electric fences have been erected in Saxony. The Free State has invested around €23 million for this, as reported by the Brandenburg Ministry of Social Affairs. A further 10 km of permanent fence are currently under construction. In addition, the construction of another 155 km of solid metal fence is currently being prepared. The ministry expects the fence construction measures to be completed in the second half of 2023.
• According to the monitoring data of the Russian Grain Union, on April 1–10, Russia shipped 2.196 million tons of grain for export, which is 2.6 times more year-on-year. In the first 10 days of April, the shipments of wheat tripled – to 1.95 million tons. Corn export amounted to 168.7 thousand tons, increasing 32.1%.
• The Spanish Interporc, along with Filporc – the Portuguese association of the pork sector – have commenced their campaign “EU Pork, the Smart Choice” to promote high-quality pork from Spain and Portugal. The three-year campaign is held in three Asian markets namely China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
• Canada has given CAD $700,000 to help agricultural producers from developing and least developed countries  meet international food safety, animal and plant health standards.
• State officials have confirmed to local media that Tyson Foods will receive more than $8 million in state funds for an upcoming processing plant in Virginia, U.S.A.
• Coalitie Vitale Varkenshouderij ( CoViVa) of The Netherlands has set the goal of being PRRS-free in every Dutch pig farm by 2050. No rush…

Events calendar:

• Irish Pig Health Society (IPHS) holds it’s 2023 Symposium in Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise, on 18-th of April
• NutriForum Spain is organized in Palacio de Congresos La Llotja (Lleida), between 19-20 of April
• The 21st BOKU Symposium on Animal Nutrition takes place at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, on 20-th of April
• A Conference on circularity of resources in the meat industry is organized by the Manresa University of Spain on 21 of April
• Agraria 2023 Fair is organized in Cluj, Romania, between 21-24 of April
• The Czech National Livestock Show, featuring over 800 animals, takes place in Brno, on 22-26 of April

Where corn don’t grow

            Let’s start with some comments on the price evolution.

It is rarely, that the German piglet quotation is increasing before the pig price is going up. For sure, the price increase of the Danish competitors is a good reason, but an increase on the market hog price is also to be expected.

For sure, the need for a price increase, in order to compensate the high expenses of the last months and the losses of the past two years, has to be supported by a better consumption of meat. The next possible driver for this is the 1’st of May, a public holiday that traditionally marks the beginning of the touristic season in Europe also. Besides, now this date is on Monday. providing a long weekend. Let’ s hope for good weather and smoking barbecues.

The last three weeks have been marked in the region neighboring Ukraine by protests of the “farmers”. At least, this is how the media coverage is presenting the events. But is it so? According to the dictionary, a farmer is a person who cultivates land or crops or raises animals. Then, did all the farmers protest?

We, in the European pig industry, are following the German hot weight carcass quotation. The European crop producers are following the Matif Paris and CME Chicago quotations. War in Ukraine and drought in some larger crop producing countries gave opportunity to speculations on this stock markets, raising the prices on incredibly high level in August- November last year. No one was stopped to sell the crop at that time. And we, as livestock farmers, had to accept it. You can store crops, you cannot store livestock without feeding. And we did not protest…Also, high crop prices mean high prices for the basic food, this should be of a large concern for governments, especially in times of inflation.

Is there a solution for ALL the farmers? I don’t know… But there are farmers also where corn don’t grow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBpJAXv_r0Y

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

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2,33 HW		84,5/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	2,13-2,35 HW		75,50/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,7 L		74/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,815 HW		90/25 kg
FRANCE	2,37 HW
ITALY	1,92 L- 115 kg, 2,23 L- 160 kg, DOC		137/30 kg
SPAIN	2,02-2,05 L		101-111/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,8 HW
AUSTRIA	2,29 HW		97,5 /25 kg
POLAND	1,73-2,21 L		95 -137/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	2-2,50 HW		100-110/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	2,05-2,10 L		99-113,5/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,31-2,35 HW		76-82/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,9-1,95 L		100-106,5/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,89-2,02 L		100-110,5/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,76 -1,9 L		100-110,5/25kg		Partner info; no quotation