Dear readers,

let’s see some good news related to our industry:

• USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)  released guidelines to help producers of ready to eat meat and poultry products meet regulatory standards, especially small plants that make such foods. The guidelines cover dry and semi-dry fermented sausages, salt-cured meats and dried products that also are shelf-stable, the agency noted in the guideline document.
• The same authority issued a notice that will let Romania resume sending its processed pork products to the United States, 16 years after the Romanian government voluntarily stopped such exports.  Trough an audit of Romania’s current inspection system for swine slaughter and further processing, FSIS determined that the nation’s processors maintain “an equivalent inspection system,” opening the door for resumption of  exports on products produced after May 2.
• The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner  announced grants totaling $5 million to support projects that expand existing or establish new meat processing facilities. 
• Wisconsin granted funds to eight meat processors to improve and expand their operations. A total of $200,000 is available through the 2023 Meat Processor Infrastructure Grant Program, with a maximum of $50,000 allowed for each project.  
• Maple Leaf Foods has published its first annual Integrated Report, combining financial and sustainability performance for 2022.The Canadian company exceeded its Food Safety and Quality Incident Rate goals, improved its sanitation practices metric by 69%, and reduced antibiotic usage in hog production by 99.1% since 2014.
• University of California researchers explain that the mass-production of animal cell-based meat (ACBM) using current technologies could actually be worse for the environment than real beef. The continued use of highly refined growing media, the researchers estimate that each kilogram of ACBM produces 246 to 1,508 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions, making the global warming potential of cultured meat between four and 25 times greater than that of retail beef.
• The Meat Industry Association and the Federal Association of German Sausage and Ham Producers complain at their annual conference about the declining animal population in Germany. They also criticize the federal government’s agricultural policy.
• The Tönnies company is committed to ensuring that in the upcoming talks between the German federal government and government representatives of China, the topic of a regionalization agreement is also on the agenda. An agreement based on the agreements between France and China could make it possible to export by-products from pig slaughtering to China again, despite ASF occurrences in Germany. Due to consumer behavior in Germany, a sustainable use of by-products only makes sense for the food supply via export.
• In the Czech Republic pork consumption increased to 44.6 kg/person/year in 2021. This means 1.2 kilograms more than a year earlier and even more than a 4 kilogram increase compared to 2013.

Events calendar:

• The Shanghai New International Expo Center will host SIAL Shanghai from May 18-20, 2023. The exhibition area will span a vast expanse of 180,000 square meters, and it is anticipated that 4,500 exhibitors and more than 150,000 professionals from around the world will attend.
• Between 18 and 21 May 2023, the MOLDEXPO International Exhibition Center of Chisinau will host a landmark event for the food industry of the Republic of Moldova: the Fine Food Expo, Food Technology and Packaging Depot Exhibitions.
• The Novi Sad Fair will mark its 100th anniversary and from May 20 to 26, organize the 90th International Agricultural Fair of Serbia.

Cover me in sunshine

            Now let’s see the some contradictory news from the same regions:

• The US Supreme Court confirmed the validity of the law according to which only free range pork can be sold in stores in California. The law applies to sales, so it also applies to meat imported from other US states or from elsewhere, and anyone who sells meat in California that does not meet the requirements of the legislation can be penalized up to 1,000 US dollars or 180 days behind bars. The paradox is that California is far from self-sufficient and is dependent on pork imports…
• According to Tönnies discussions with Federal Minister Cem Özdemir showed the willingness of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture to make an appropriate move to support the German meat industry but the Chancellery has reportedly not yet planned to include agricultural issues on the agenda of the summit: no proposed resolutions regarding a regionalization agreement would be included in the preparations for the negotiations. Someone still expects help for the German pig industry from Cem Özdemir?!

While is more and more clear that the plant based and cell culture fake meats are not a solution, the Belgian nitrogen agreement aims to reduce the number of pigs in Flanders by 30 percent by 2030. Of the 5.86 million Flemish pigs, 1.8 million must disappear. The Flemish government supports pig farmers who are quitting with 200 million euros. The compensation rates are €151 paid per fattening place, €838 per sow and €44 per piglet. Another 40 € per m² stable and 8 € per m² paved yard area flow are a so-called demolition fee. However, the prerequisite is that the stables are not older than 31 years Currently, eighteen dossiers have been received for the closure of pig farms. Sounds not to convincing…

In Denmark in the first quarter of 2023, the total pig herd decreased by 14% compared to the first three months of 2022. In the first four months of 2023, the number of slaughtered pigs fell by more than 16 percent.

With only one region remaining completely free from ASF, Poland is the main destination of the Danish piglets and it seems that the situation will not get better. On May 8, 2023, the Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development published the regulation on measures taken in connection with the outbreak of African swine fever, allowing pigs to be kept on a farm without full biosecurity rules, solely for the purpose of producing meat for own consumption. Pig producers who are struggling with the requirements of biosecurity, build fences, buy disinfectants, register animals, take care of hygiene, feel betrayed.

The last weeks where characterized by  high inflation rate and generally cold and rainy weather, affecting meat consumption. The short working weeks in many European countries helped maintain a thin balance between the number of pigs and the needs of the slaughterhouses. Inflation will not be forever. And what will happen with the pig prices when the weather will cover me in sunshine?

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