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Convention Registration and Sponsorship Open Pilgrim's Pride Closes 7 Sites, Blames Cost of Chicken Feed Black Hole - The Hog Industry Faces Desperate Times Unless It Downsizes Olymel / Groupe Westco Press Release Good News: An Egg A Day Is Okay Conferences, Courses and Workshops
What are the chances of a new Doha Round agreement being negotiated this year? What might a new agreement look like for supply management? Frankly it is very hard to answer either of those questions. There has certainly been a lot of activity by negotiators on many technical issues and although there appears to be strong engagement from all countries, it remains hard to point to many items that have been agreed to in any detail. Here is a high level summary of what has been happening in Geneva over the first quarter of 2008. Agriculture negotiations Chairman Falconer produced a set of 8 working documents over the Christmas break. Canada had significant issues with the one dealing with Sensitive Products and Minister Ritz told Chairman Falconer that publicly. Between the start of the year and end of January, negotiators using these working documents, worked at a torrid pace on a myriad of details, in order to give Falconer enough to be able to produce a revised draft modalities text. That draft was released on February 8th – the Ag text was 59 pages in length and contained 172 paragraphs and many square brackets. It did not address Canadian concerns regarding supply management and was, in fact, potentially worse than the July 2007 version. Major issues include: total number of lines allowed within the sensitive products category; requirements for tariff reductions of 1/3, ½ or 2/3 that of non-sensitive; requirements for a minimum increase in access through additional TRQ’s; and if a country requires lower tariff cuts within Sensitive then it must pay for that with additional market access through even greater TRQ’s. As for process since the revised draft modalities was released, the plan was to move to what is called a horizontal process - where Agriculture, NAMA, services, rules and Geographical Indicators are all negotiated together - as soon as possible. The goal was to have another draft modalities text by Easter and a ministerial meeting soon after. However, neither of those goals has been achieved to date. Over the past 6 weeks Negotiators again put in long hours on many technical issues, much of it around consumption data (for all agricultural commodities: grains, seeds, dairy, meat, etc.). Canada is in the middle of all the action being included in the “Data 6 Group” (6 countries who were the forerunners to put forward consumption data), “friends of the Chair” (a number of the most influential countries in world agriculture), and more recently in a new group called the “G-5” (5 major agricultural products importing and exporting nations – including EU, US, Brazil, Australia, Canada). There are still a number of issues surrounding consumption data that are not agreed to in Agriculture, even after weeks of work on these technical details. NAMA (Non Agricultural Market Access) appears to have some sticky issues to deal with currently as well. Chairman Falconer and the EU are still pushing to move to the Horizontal process as soon as possible but most other WTO members believe that more work must be done in each of the sectors (Ag, NAMA, services, etc.) before a move to a horizontal process can occur. Negotiations are stopped for the Easter break and will begin again at the end of March.
Pilgrim's Pride Closes 7 Sites, Blames Cost of Chicken Feed Record-high costs for feed continue to hammer the U.S. chicken industry and has led Pilgrim's Pride, the largest U.S. chicken company, to announce Wednesday that it will ax 1,100 jobs and immediately close seven U.S. facilities. Pilgrim's Pride and other food producers blame the higher feed prices on U.S. government policies and subsidies that encourage ethanol production. Making the biofuel ethanol requires millions of bushels of corn, and that added demand is driving up prices for the grain. Worldwide grain supplies, hurt by poor weather, are at a 25-to-30-year low. The weaker U.S. dollar is making grain exports more attractive to other countries. Lastly, global demand for animal feed is soaring in developing nations, and the demand from the U.S. ethanol industry is putting even more pressure on prices. For more information, please see the full article in USA Today
Black Hole - The Hog Industry Faces Desperate Times Unless It Downsizes Not to mangle a metaphor, but as far as the eye can see there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the hog and pork sector. With not just corn but also protein meal prices soaring and U.S. overproduction keeping prices in the basement 2008 could be the worst year any producer has ever seen. Currently every hog marketed in the U.S. loses about $27 for the producer. The worst year up to now was 1998 when losses averaged about $15 per pig. A pork surplus started to develop in the last 2007 quarter when supplies were unexpectedly 10% higher. During the first two months of 2008 American production rose further and is now up 11% from a year ago. Coincidentally, corn and soybean meal prices are the highest in history. There is no prospect that prices will ever return to 2007 or 2006 levels. The only way to bring profits back is to reduce the supply of pork to the extent that the market has no choice but to pay better than break-even prices. There continues to be little or no sign of required herd reduction, especially of the breeding herd. Even if large-scale, emergency liquidation began now it would be next fall before a noticeable reduction would be seen in slaughter hog marketings because of the length of the breeding and production cycle. At best it will take until the spring or summer of 2009 for an improvement in hog prices due to reduced pork supply and then only if there is a drastic shrinkage in the American hog herd. To look at this as just a particularly bad cycle is to be in denial. The Canadian hog industry is squeezed even more because of even lower prices (the exchange rate) and the growing risk of trade action. Canadian production costs are now very similar while prices are backed off from the American midwest market for transportation charges. Canadian exports of live hogs to the U.S. represent 19% of U.S. kill and 36% of Canadian production. Almost every time in the past when the U.S. industry has been in cost-price stress it has launched a trade complaint and a punishing duty followed. source: Agriweek
Olymel / Groupe Westco Press Release FREDERICTON, NB, March 19 /CNW Telbec/ - Groupe Westco Inc., a major poultry production group in New Brunswick., and Olymel l.p., a leader in the slaughtering, processing and distribution of pork and poultry in Canada, today confirmed their intention to develop and consolidate their poultry production, slaughtering, cutting and deboning activities for the entire Maritimes from New Brunswick. For more information see the link:
Good News: An Egg A Day Is Okay It's time to celebrate - the cholesterol in eggs is not detrimental to your heart health! If you are one of the thousands of cholesterol-concerned Canadians, you can start enjoying eggs again. The facts are clear: you can have an egg every day without increasing your risk of heart disease. Scientific research has shown that eggs are not a concern when it comes to managing cholesterol. So go ahead and put the healthy goodness of eggs back on your menu. Why has there been confusion around eggs and cholesterol? Many Canadians may not realize there are two forms of cholesterol: blood cholesterol and dietary cholesterol. Blood cholesterol is produced naturally by your liver, whereas dietary cholesterol is found in animal-based foods, such as meats, poultry, eggs, seafood and dairy products, and has little impact on blood cholesterol levels in healthy adults. To keep your heart healthy, experts recommend that you exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight and choose nutritious foods more often. The cholesterol in eggs has little effect on your blood cholesterol and your heart health. If you are concerned about your blood cholesterol level, reduce the amount of unhealthy saturated and trans fats in your diet as it is foods high in these fats that can raise the level of "bad" (LDL) cholesterol in your blood and increase your risk of heart disease. Eggs are an excellent choice for a heart-healthy diet. They contain only 70 calories, are low in saturated fat, and have no trans fat. As a matter of fact, a recent study published in the Medical Science Monitor concluded that eating six eggs per week - or an average of one a day - does not increase the risk of stroke. Also, there appeared to be no change in total blood cholesterol levels. The same was proven in a 2006 study of women over the age of 50 who consumed over three eggs per day; "bad" (LDL) cholesterol levels did not significantly increase. A great way to help protect your heart is to add more omega-3 fatty acids to your diet. Omega-3 eggs give you all the healthy nutrition of regular eggs with additional omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. Omega-3 fatty acids can improve your heart health by reducing the risk of blocked blood vessels and preventing hardening of the arteries. If you enjoy eating eggs, and healthy eating is important to you, it's good to know that Canadian eggs meet the criteria for the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Health Check program, which tells you eggs are a healthy choice. Additionally, according to Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide, two eggs is a serving of Meat and Alternatives.
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