Livestock

Sustainability is integral to operating a multi-generational family farm, says Brad Greenway, a pork producer in Mitchell, S.D. For the past year, he has spoken across the U.S. as the 2016 America’s Pig Farmer of the Year, a designation the National Pork Board awards annually. “I’m very proud of the changes we’ve made and the reasons why,” says Greenway, referencing ongoing upgrades to boost animal comfort and feed efficiency, during a panel discussion at the 2017 Sustainable Agriculture Summit in Kansas City, Mo. “We’re always looking for ways to improve.” Greenway spoke about the pork industry’s ongoing commitment to sustainable production practices. Panelists who joined him in the conversation were Sara Crawford, ‎assistant vice president of social responsibility for the National Pork Board; Dan Wetherell, environmental health safety manager for JBS Live Pork; and Dr. Megan Schnur, a veterinarian with Carthage Veterinary Service in west-central Illinois. Consumer concerns over animal welfare and antibiotics are top of mind for professionals in the pork industry, so efforts to educate the public about animal agriculture remain a focus. Those efforts, along with use of the latest scientific research and tools, will help promote greater animal well-being and better biosecurity to limit the spread of disease and a smaller environmental footprint. “We are constantly training employees about how to use the correct needles and provide the correct dose of medicine,” Schnur says. New resources such as probiotics help improve gut health of nursery pigs, and judicious use of antibiotics ensures there are no negative side effects for the environment or human health, she adds. Manure applications also frequently raise red flags on consumers’ radar because of health concerns and smell. But Wetherell notes it’s also a sustainable practice that has benefits for the environment. “It’s really a natural fertilizer,” Wetherell says. “Farmers are true recyclers.” Greenway notes precision application of manure can have immense benefits for his corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. This year’s corn and soybeans are especially notable. “It was a very dry year, but we had the best crops in my life with 200-plus-bushel corn,” he says. The panelists urged food companies, food retailers and other stakeholders along the supply chain to support production practices that are in the best interest of animals and consumers. Those practices should also be economically viable. Greenway owns a sow farm with 14 other producers in his region of South Dakota, and to change to group sow housing, the business would need to modify its 4,000-sow barn by increasing its size by one-third or reducing its livestock head count by one-third. In addition to the added cost, they would need to consider animals injuring one another or their employees. “It is very important to consider ‘all these ramifications before production changes are forced onto farmers,” he says. Looking ahead, the industry could benefit from a calculator that allows producers to measure the full scope of their environmental footprint. A good starting point is the National Pork Board’s Pig Production Environmental Footprint Calculator developed by researchers at the University of Arkansas, Wetherell says.

China's largest pig farming companies and new entrants are racing to build vast, modern hog farms in the north-eastern Cornbelt, expanding the world's biggest pork market and upending traditional trade flows in meat and grain. At least eight listed companies have announced or confirmed plans to produce around 17 million pigs annually in the north-east in coming years. Many more companies, including the country's biggest pig farmer, Guangdong Wen's Foodstuff Group Co Ltd, are building farms in the area, suppliers and sources say, adding to China's annual $1 trillion pork market. Some researchers expect output in the northeast to hit nearly 120 million pigs a year, almost double the 69 million head produced in the area by Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia provinces last year. "In the next few years, almost 20 percent of China's hogs will be transferred to new territory. That's equivalent to the number slaughtered in the U.S. annually,” said Feng Yonghui, chief analyst at consultancy Soozhu.com. China hog production by province Temperatures go well below freezing in the winter in China's northeast, but the area is sparsely populated and allows for setting up large farms that would not be possible in more crowded parts of the country. "The costs in the north-east are higher because of heating. But we can achieve scale there," said Song Weiping, vice president at Beijing Dabeinong Technology, an animal feed firm that is diversifying into pork production. "We're building seven farms in the northeast this year. In total, we'll have around 20 farms in the region." The output increase in the northeastern provinces would take their share of hogs raised in the country to around 17 percent of the 2016 total and would almost match combined production of 129 million from the top producing provinces, Henan and Sichuan, which currently account for 20 percent of total supplies. GOVERNMENT PUSH Ramping up output in the northeast will speed up the modernization of China's hog farming sector, which has been dominated for centuries by smallhold rural family-run operations. It will also create mega integrated farms that produce everything from animal feed to meat and will be equal in size to the hog stations that have transformed the U.S. market in recent decades. The drive fits with Beijing's goal to turn its northeastern grain basket into a meat and dairy hub aimed at boosting demand for the region's main crops, revitalizing some of the country's poorest regions and fighting farm pollution in populated areas further south. Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia produced more than 40 percent of China's corn last year. A three-year campaign to crack down on waste has already pushed many smallhold farms out of business. The campaign coincided with a long period of low prices that had already forced many smallholders, concentrated in southern provinces, to leave the business altogether. But as prices spiked last year on the shrinking herd, large farming companies began expanding rapidly, seeking to capture market share once occupied by backyard farms. The share of pigs produced by backyard farms will fall to below 52 percent by the end of 2017, down from 57 percent in 2015, or a reduction of 66 million pigs, said COFCO Meat, a unit of state-owned agribusiness COFCO Corp [CNCOF.UL] in September, citing "huge development space" for large firms. COFCO and others are now "fighting for land" in less developed regions up north, with environmental laws making it almost impossible to get permits for large-scale farms in much of the south, said Martin Jensen, managing director of Carthage & MHJ Agritech Consulting, which manages pig farms in China. GRAIN DRAIN Not all of the projects announced will be completed, said experts. Frigid winter temperatures mean construction must stop for months, delaying projects. Still, even a handful of them would reshape grain trade. If 20 million more pigs were raised in the north-east each year, corn needs would increase by at least an annual 4.6 million tonnes, according to Reuters calculations based on estimates that a pig slaughtered at 120 kg would consume around 230 kg of corn over its lifetime. That's about 12 percent of the surplus corn expected in the northeast this year, according to forecasts from government think tank CGNOIC, draining grain supplies from the biggest southern hog producers, and potentially forcing them to import grain. "The amount of corn transported out of the north-east will fall, and fall very quickly," said Meng Jinhui, corn analyst at Shengda Futures. Surplus pork output in the north-east should in theory compensate for smaller supplies of grain for feed in the south. But industry experts say farms in the north-east may struggle to get their meat to markets far away. "Consumers still want to consume freshly slaughtered pork that has not been on trucks and trains for several days. That will change, but gradually," said Fred Gale, senior China economist at the USDA Economic Research Service. Trucking pigs long distances can lead to weight loss and raise the risk of disease. Slaughtering pigs in the north and transporting fresh or frozen meat carries risks too. That could be a boon for exporters though. As production shifts north, major consumption centers in the south may increasingly turn to cheaper imports to boost quality meat supplies, said Pan Chenjun, senior analyst at Rabobank. "There will be a surplus in the north and a deficit in the south. That means China will continue to import meat," she said. ($1 = 6.6347 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Feeder cattle and calves continued their fall rally during October, gaining 3% to 5% at auctions. The gains followed similar improvement in September, leaving prices at the beginning of November nearly 9% higher for both calves and yearlings than the August averages. Calf prices in the Drovers auction summary averaged $174.65 per cwt at the end of October, up $9.69, while yearlings averaged $150.80, up $6.14 per cwt. Beef's economic indicators made an abrupt turnaround during October due to higher cattle prices and strong beef sales. October's analysis found just two arrows pointing lower, while September saw four arrows down. While October's overall arrow points up, the worry over increasing supplies of beef and all proteins remains. Production costs are lower still, encouraging the feeding and production of livestock. Packers are earning solid profits, which suggests they'll remain fairly aggressive bidders. Competitive meats remain a concern with increases in pork and poultry production. Overall red meat and poultry production will weigh on markets throughout 2018. U.S. beef exports remain strong, accounting for $325 of the value of a fed steer.

Two national cattle industry groups are supporting the Department of Transportation's (DOT) decision to delay implementation of electronic logging devices (ELD) for livestock haulers. The United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) both believe continuing discussions on how ELDs will impact hours of service for cattle transport is important. On Nov. 20, DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a 90-day waiver period would be allowed for agriculture commodity transport starting Dec. 18, 2017. The 90-day window will allow FMCSA to better hear the concerns of producers and truckers who would be impacted. Steve Hilker, transportation committee chairman for USCA, has been to Washington, D.C. to discuss the issue with both Congressmen and officials from FMCSA. Hilker, owner of a cattle hauling business, is happy the conversation will continue and hopes it will result in a positive action for cattle raisers and haulers. "We're confident that upon further examination, the Administration will find that livestock haulers need additional flexibility in the mandate, specifically in the restrictive hours of service (HOS) rules. USCA will continue to be an active participant in these discussions and asks its members to do the same by submitting comments and keeping pressure on their elected officials to support the industry in securing these needed changes," Hilker says. Craig Uden, president of NCBA and a cattle feeder from Nebraska, believes the FMCSA announcement is good news for cattle and beef producers. "We've maintained for a long time that FMSCA is not prepared for this ELD rollout, that there needs to be more outreach from the Department of Transportation to the agricultural community, and that there's currently still major confusion on the agricultural exemption on hours of service known as the 150 air-mile rule. "This rule would certainly be helpful to our cattle haulers across the country. We want to thank Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao for listening to our concerns, and we'll continue to work with her and FMCSA to make sure that our cattle are delivered safely, and that our drivers and others on the road are safe as well," Uden says. ELDs are a record keeping device synchronized to a truck engine that logs information digitally. In real-time an ELD records data such as time spent on the road, miles driven, location and engine hours. Under the ELD rule, truckers have an hours of service limit of 11 hours of driving in a 24 hour period. Drivers can be on-duty a total of 14 hours consecutively, including the 11 hours of drive time. After 11 hours are reached, drivers must rest and be off-duty for 10 consecutive hours.