TheMeatSite Newsletter - 30 November 2011

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Global Autumn Beef Prices Remain High

This autumn is seeing higher beef prices in Europe with the UK, Irish and Northern Irish industry all report increases.

Meat plants in the Irish Republic are paying a base price of €4.00/kg for steers and €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg for heifers.

Farmgate beef prices in Northern Ireland have been significantly higher than 2010 levels throughout 2011 and now they are having an impact on retail prices, which is putting retail demand under pressure.

The average price of beef in UK was £6.50 - about seven per cent (47p/kg) more than in the same period last year.

There has been a similar rise in prices in the US, with Choice steer prices regaining some of the previous week’s loss.

However, according to CME prices failed to break the record weekly average price of $125.49/cwt live set in the week ended 13 November.

Last week’s $124.90/cwt live is the second highest ever recorded. It is clearly supported by a record high weekly choice cutout value of $196.64/cwt.

That broke the weekly record of $194.52 set the week before which, in turn, broke the old record of $193.30 set back in October 1993.

Pig meat prices in the EU are also remaining steady and high according to the latest analyst reports.

In the US, the agrifood and meat processing giant, Cargill, has found itself at the centre of a massive discrimination case.

The US Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has filed an administrative complaint against Cargill Meat Solutions, alleging that the company systematically discriminated against 4,069 qualified female, white, black, Hispanic and Native American applicants, who were seeking entry-level production jobs at its Springdale facility.

Chris Harris

TheMeatSite Book Focus

Cattle Keeper's Veterinary Handbook
Disease is an inevitable everyday risk for all those who keep cattle and very often it has a huge impact on the animal's welfare, as well as its productivity. This clearly written and easy-to-understand book covers the principal diseases and conditions that occur in cattle and is essential reading for all those who own, or care for, cattle.
Order Now Online

Bovine Meat Inspection - 2nd Edition
An updated and improved edition of the popular Bovine Meat Inspection series. The full colour photos make these invaluable tools for those whom knowledge of anatomy, diseases and other conditions is required.

This book forms part of a series that has been designed to provide a study aid for students undertaking Red Meat Inspection and other courses where knowledge of bovine meat inspection is required such as those for Environmental Health Officers, Veterinary degree students and Official Veterinarians. It is hoped that it may also provide information in a 'user friendly' format for abattoir owners and producers as to the nature of rejections recorded by inspectors.
Order Now Online

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 9 new features this week:

Sustaining Feed Fuel and Food
Consumer spending on food is expected to double over the next decade, writes TheMeatSite editor in chief, Chris Harris.

Ireland Looks To Germany For Beef Export Opportunities
Ireland is the fourth largest exporter of beef worldwide and is now looking to Germany to increase its market share, said Justin McCarthy, Editor for the Irish Farmers Journal at the Eblex Annual Conference 2011. Charlotte Johnston, TheMeatSite editor reports.

Health Risk from Well-done Meat Underestimated
Mice are often used to test whether substances in food are harmful to humans. This requires that mice and humans metabolise substances in the same way.

Poultry Meat – a Sustainable EU Market
EU food security is under pressure.The net trade position of the EU poultry meat sector is projected to deteriorate over the next 10 years driven by a steady increase in meat imports (mainly of poultry meats and beef) and a parallel decline in meat exports (of poultry, beef and pig meats).

GLOBAL POULTRY TRENDS – Chicken Wins in Europe on Price and Versatility
Poultry meat consumption is expected to rise steadily to 2020, with average consumption reaching 24.5kg, which is six per cent more than in 2009, writes Terry Evans, while uptake in the rest of Europe has expanded more rapidly and will continue to do so.

Pasture Poultry Production Target of Study
The Center for Food Safety is participating in a grant project that will determine the food safety risk of small on-farm poultry processing systems – known as pasture poultry production – and evaluate other aspects of their operations.

Combating Cod Fraud In Europe
Higher public awareness of sustainable fishing practices, led by environmental NGOs, may have helped reduce the incidence of mislabelled fish in the UK, compared to Ireland, according to a recent study which assessed levels of fish fraudulently sold as ‘cod’ in these two countries.

Spain Dairy Annual Voluntary Report 2011
Spain is one of the few EU countries with a structural deficit of milk production that is enshrined in its quota allocation, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

Short Term Outlook for Arable Crop, Meat and Dairy Markets
EU agricultural markets are strongly affected by the macroeconomic outlook, according to the European Commission's Short Term Outlook for Arable Crop, Meat and Dairy Markets.

Company News

Printer Network Instead of Isolated Applications
GERMANY - With MULTIVAC PrintingPoint MULTIVAC Marking & Inspection has developed a software solution, which connects the printers of different packaging lines to one network. In this way all the printing units can be operated from one central computer.

Innovation from Stainless Steel
GERMANY - Small fragments of plastic in meat products can be annoying and also cause safety issues.

Ekro Ensures Full Traceability
NETHERLANDS - Dutch meat processor Ekro needed a faster and more flexible printing and identification labelling system to address increasingly stringent industry regulations, manufacturing expansion and increasing customer demand.

Global Meat Industry News