Dear readers,

Some reasons for optimism in our industry:

• Three major Canada-based meat trade groups, Canadian Meat Council (CMC), Canadian Pork Council (CPC) and Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) plan to open the Canadian Meat Advocacy Office to Beijing, China. The office will serve as a connecting link between the Canadian pork and beef industries and the Chinese market, ensuring that the two countries’ collaboration continues to grow.
• Central Lakes College in Staples, Minnesota, announced the opening of a state-of-the-art modular meat processing facility. The $9 million project emerged out of the need to train meat cutters and butchers. CLC and Ridgewater College will operate the mobile meat processing unit, purchased by the Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU), through their Meat Cutting and Butchery Program. Other assistance came from USDA, which made two awards: a $604,000 grant through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program and a $1.5 million Rural Economic Development Loan. 
• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it will provide $10 million to help fund a special lab at Purdue University that focuses on global food safety research projects.
• Representatives of the Dominican government and international agricultural health organizations signed the Biosecurity Fund for Dominican Pig Farming; while also establishing regional and global biosecurity standards for the prevention of African swine fever and other diseases on farms and ranches.

Events calendar:

• The „JAPAN’S FOOD EXPORT FAIR” (JFEF) is an annual trade fair for importers, wholesalers and buyers of Japanese food and beverages and held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, near Tokyo. The ninth JFEF takes place on 3 days from Wednesday, 27.11.2024 to Friday, 29.11.2024.
• The Food Tech Expo, a trade fair in the food industry, is held annually at the PTAK Warsaw Expo in Nadarzyn, Poland. This year the Food Tech Expo takes place on 3 days from Tuesday, 26.11.2024 to Thursday, 28.11.2024.
• The India Food Forum is a prestigious trade fair in the food and beverage sector, held annually in Mumbai. The Forum will take place on 2 days from Wednesday, 27. November to Thursday, 28. November 2024.
• The China Agricultural Trade Fair (CATF) serves as a vibrant showcase for the diversity and innovation of Chinese agriculture, an indispensable meeting point for professionals in the agricultural sector to present and exchange innovations, technologies, and products. CATF takes place on 4 days from Thursday, 28.11.2024 to Sunday, 01.12.2024 in Guangzhou.

To Brasil!

For decades we had the strong belief that Europe is the leader of the livestock production and export, mainly to China. In the last 20 years we also “exported” the production of many industrial equipments and spare parts to China. Than we saw an increase of the “green” policies and the consequences of major logistic breakdowns (Suez, Covid) for Europe. The combined effect is well illustrated by the latest development in Denmark. It has become the first country in the world to introduce a tax on greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming. The agreement was negotiated in the summer by the so-called Green Group of Three, in which, in addition to the government, other actors such as the umbrella organization for the agricultural and food industry  were involved.
The plan was agreed by a large majority in the Danish parliament. The Danish government made a budget of 5.76 billion euros available for the implementation of the planned measures. For emissions from livestock farming, 40 euros per ton of CO2e will be due from 2030 and the tax will increase to 100 euros per ton of CO2e by 2035. However, there should be an average minimum deduction of 60% for farmers, which would reduce the actual tax burden. Also, to promote implementation, a new ministry took over responsibilities that previously fell to the agricultural department.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian BRF has announced to its shareholders the purchase of a meat plant belonging to the Chinese company Henan Best Foods, a subsidiary of the American OSI Group. The purchase was closed for 43 million dollars made through BRF’s subsidiary in Germany, BRF GmbH. The plant is located in the Chinese province of Henan and has a processing capacity of 28,000 tons per year that can be expanded with two more production lines.

BRF is thinking of expanding it and will invest 36 million dollars to reach 60,000 tons per year, generating 850 additional jobs.

JBS, the Brazil-headquartered protein giant, is investing 2.4 billion € to establish six meat-processing facilities in Nigeria. Of the six plants, three will be for poultry, two for beef and one for pork, JBS said in a statement, adding the projects are geared toward “sustainable production chains for food production” in the African country.

If we want to see positive developments of the pig industry, we have to look to Brasil!