Dear readers,

Besides the increase of the positive signs in the quotation table, some additional good news for our industry:

• The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service announced that its researchers have reclassified the number of African Swine Fever (ASF) virus strains from 25 to only six unique genotypes, stating that ”the majority of genotypes (genetic makeup) originally identified as novel were not correctly identified nor compared to already existing ASFV virus genotypes,” 
• While Prop. 12 of California complicates the pig industry’s work, US Florida House Republican Tyler Sirois introduced a bill that would criminalize the manufacture, distribution, storage or sale of cultivated meat products within the state.
• In a similar action, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (also Republican-Nebraska) has reintroduced a bill called the Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully (MEAT) Act that requires products containing plant-based proteins to clearly display the word “imitation” on their packaging. Maybe we can imitate this kind of approach.
• Since the beginning of the temporary sea corridor operation in the Black Sea announced by the Ukrainian Navy in August, a total of 115 ships have left the ports, while 148 vessels entered the ports of Great Odesa. Freight rates by sea and river transport have stabilized and started to gradually decrease.
• The Mexican based Porcicultura.com website reached more than 41 million impacts and a particular reach towards women and men between 18 and 24 years old with the presentation of the 5th video of the #ElCerdoEsLoMejor campaign, summarizing more than 120 days of communication and a narrative based on the benefits of pork; 

Events calendar:

• The VIII Congress  of ANAVEPOR 2023 will be held in the city of La Coruña, Spain, on 22 and 23 of November.ANAVEPOR is the National Association of Swine Veterinarians, which includes those of Aragon (AVPA), Catalonia (AVPC), Galicia (AGAVEPOR), Murcia (AVEPOMUR), Castilla y León (AVEPORCYL) and national Iberian (ANVEPI), with more than 1200 members.
• The UzAgroExpo is an annual agricultural fair organized by ExpoGroup, focusing on the latest developments and innovations in the areas of agricultural machinery, grain production, livestock breeding, and animal husbandry. Visitors and exhibitors meet for the eighteenth time on 3 days from Wednesday, 22.11.2023 to Friday, 24.11.2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
• The Good Food Show is a semi-annual food and cooking fair held at the NEC National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, organized by Haymarket Exhibitions Limited. The Show will take place on 4 days from Thursday, 23. November to Sunday, 26. November2023.

Such a Shame

            Lately we can see a lot of actions protecting our industry, unfortunately mostly coming from non-EU countries. So let’s see how things go in our area.

Two of France’s largest meat companies: Bigard, through its subsidiary Socopa and Cooperl, which processes 5.4 million animals a year from about 3,000 farmers, have announced they are leaving the Marché du Porc Breton, where the French price for slaughter pigs is set. Uniporc, the French organization for the pig sector, commented: ” The departure of these two companies undermines one of the most important roles of MPB, which is to provide a reference price for off-farm pigs in a collective and transparent way .” After their departure, only three entities will remain, two of which are pork suppliers to large supermarket chains. While less than 10% of the French pigs pass through the Marche du Porc Breton, it was an accepted way to have a reference price for the nations pig industry. Clarity, transparency and predictability are paramount for any medium and long term livestock industry.

Romania developed some programs to support rebuilding of the sow herd, as self-sufficiency in pork meat is estimated to be of only 20-30%. The actual status of the development of the farms included in the program, with over 50.000 places, is unknown, but the major threat of the ASF is still not under control. Even worst, a new outbreak has just been reported in a farm with close to 4000 sows, while the Ministry of Agriculture estimated recently the total number of sows in industrial farms to be at 94.000.

We lack concentrated action on the level of the EU on themes like fake meat, and leave Non-Governmental Organizations to be louder and louder on blaming the livestock/red meat industry. We do almost nothing against their campaigns, we let them to pretend that meat imitations, with 10-20 ingredients from several continents, are healthier and with lower carbon footprint, that a piece of pork meat. We behave like growing pigs is such a shame…

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

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2,1 HW		70/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	1,98-2,12 HW		63/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,52 L		55/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,705 HW		73/30 kg
FRANCE	1,765 HW
ITALY	2 L115kg, 2,33 L160kg, DOC		114/30 kg
SPAIN	1,64 -1,67 L		6/-76/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,3 HW
AUSTRIA	2,07 HW		90/25 kg
POLAND	1,55-1,89 L		75-115/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	2,0-2,2 HW		95-100 / 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	2,21 L		105-115/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,1 HW		69-74/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,7 -1,77 L		90-95/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,76 – 1,94 L		90-95/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,75 – 1,85 L		90-95/25kg		Partner info; no quotation