Dear readers,

We have some good news for the start of the week:

• Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced $6.8 million in funding for livestock and forage research activities. The program will support a total of 30 new research projects, including African Swine Fever preparedness.
• Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation on Labels Act, or “FAIR Labels Act.” has been introduced to the House Agriculture Committee for consideration by 2 Republican and 2 Democrat senators, with the aim to protect natural meat.“The American consumer deserves to know what they are eating and feeding their families,” Republican senator Alford said “Whether they choose protein substitutes like plant-based or lab-grown meat or traditionally raised meat, the product should be labeled clearly.”
• Pig Livestock Union is the name of a joint venture company created by Grupo Cañigueral-Costa Brava Mediterranean Foods and Grupo Vall Companys, two of the main operators in the Spanish pork sector. They had just closed the purchase of the Hostal del Vent farm, owned by the Baucells Alibès group.
• The King of Denmark, HM Frederick, in his first official trip, promoted Danish exports in Poland. 38 companies dedicated to agriculture, livestock and biogas have launched a promotional campaign with royal support.
• Westfleisch wants to strengthen its pet food business and is taking over the manufacturer The Petfood Company, located in Bocholt.
• The E.U. approved 2 German programs for the aid of the pig farmers. The first scheme, worth 675 million €, will provide direct grants covering up to 60% of the eligible investment costs for the modernization of pig breeding facilities to improve animal welfare standards. The second scheme, worth 325 million €, provides direct grants covering up to 80% of the additional costs of adapting animal husbandry to methods that provide higher animal welfare standards (such as additional roughage and bedding and electricity for cooling and ventilation systems).

Events calendar:

• The Mexican Association of the Pig Specialist Veterinarians, AMVECAJ will have its 30-th, anniversary congress, entitled   „One Health”, between  7-9 February, in Tepatitlan de Morelos, Jalisco.

Mona Lisa

Pork is part of the traditional food in Europe for thousands of years. There was a short period when keeping pigs was forbidden: the death of Philip the French, form the Capet dynasty, in a horse riding accident in 1131, when a piglet crossed his path, determined a decree that forbid keeping pigs in the French kingdom. Peasants didn’t respect this decision, as keeping pigs was essential for securing food for the family. South and North America are bastions of the pig industry, but it wouldn’t be so, if Christophor Columbus would not bring pigs with him in the process of discovering America.

Germany became the leader of the pig industry in the beginning of the XXI century and it seemed that no one can challenge this position, until ASF and green policies changed everything. The amount of support for pig farms may seem impressive, but let’s see the numbers in a different way: the measure in value of 675 million € should be divided by the number of sows in Germany =1,4 million! We have less than 500 €/ sow, while cost of transformation is more close to the value of 5000 €. And deadline for submitting all the plans for

the transformation of the breeding farms to the authorities is 9-th of February, this year! The farmers missing this deadline should have their farms operating according to the new animal welfare rules from next day, February the 10-th!

            It is no surprise that the German pig industry is downsizing and needs high imports, to use the existing finishing and slaughtering capacities:

• 9,5 million piglets imported in 2023, 8% more than previous year, most of them from Denmark (6,4 million; 13,2 % increase) and the Netherlands (3,1 million; 2,1% increase)
• 1,5 million slaughter pigs have been imported last year, an increase of 20% compared to 2022. Main sources: 960 thousand from the Netherlands(21,6% increase) and 370 thousand from Belgium(+57.4%)

It’s no wonder that the piglet quotation started to raise before the one of the slaughter pigs, but this will be followed by the pig price increase with a very short delay. If we look back in the historical data lines, this has happened in Germany in the last 5 years: piglet price increase in week 6, followed by pig quotation increase in weeks 7-9.

Farmer protest continued in many European countries, sometimes with unacceptable manifestations. There is no way to support torching trucks transporting goods produced by fellow farmers from another country!

Our dark green opponents are also doing extreme things: two “activists” throw soup on Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting in the Louvre museum last week. I understand you don’t like us, the farmers, but what’s your problem with Mona Lisa?

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

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2 HW		74,5/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	1,79-1,88 HW		69,5/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,42 L		67/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,58 HW		81,5/30 kg
FRANCE	1,78 HW
ITALY	1,73 L115kg, 2,07 L160kg, DOC		128/30 kg
SPAIN	1,64 -1,65 L		84-93/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,3 HW
AUSTRIA	1.97 HW		94/31 kg
POLAND	1,34-1,74 L		79-121/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	1,9-2 HW		99-104 / 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	1.84 L		110-117/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,02 HW		69-74/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,52 -1,6 L		94-99/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,51-1,64 L		94-99/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,52 -1,64 L		94-97/25kg		Partner info; no quotation