Outlining the company's vision for its business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EuAfME), Zoetis said it wo0uld be building on 60 years of experience in the animal health sector.

The company said that it aims to have its products, services and people as the most valued by animal health customers around the region, and the world.

"We are united around this shared vision, and we strive every day to help customers meet their real-world challenges through quality medicines and vaccines, complemented by diagnostic products, genetic tests and a range of services," said Alejandro Bernal, Zoetis Executive Vice President and Area President for the EuAfME region.

"As the largest stand-alone company in the industry, we are dedicated solely to animal health and focusing on our core business so our customers can grow theirs."

Such strong and sustainable business growth will be achieved through six key strategies, Mr Bernal said:

• Leverage our direct local presence and strong customer relationships
• Further penetrate emerging markets
• Pursue new product development and value-added lifecycle management to extend our product portfolio
• Remain partner of choice for access to new products and technologies
• Continue to provide high quality products
• Expand complementary businesses to become a more complete trusted partner

Zoetis said it combines local presence with strong customer relationships across the EuAfME region, where Zoetis has 2,600 colleagues, offices in 17 countries, (speaking 20 different languages), conducting business in more than 60 countries, Bernal told the meeting in Paris. That presence is backed by strong manufacturing and Research and Development capabilities; Zoetis has four manufacturing sites in Europe: Catania (Italy), Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), Medolla (Italy), Olot (Spain) and three Research and Development sites: Louvain-la-Neuve, Olot and Zaventem (Belgium).

"Our local presence, backed by our global reach and resources, allows us to work with customers to address their specific needs."

In addition to working closely with customers, Zoetis os also aiming to collaborate with universities and other research organisations, to help advance the animal health sector and those who raise and care for animals. One example of this is the partnership with the University of Stirling, one of the leading research organisations, based in Scotland.

"Academia is increasingly realising the benefits of working with industry on research projects, and is concentrating on those with more direct impact rather than on pure research," said Professor Randolph Richards, from Stirling. "In our own case, Zoetis has been able to provide resources which were otherwise unavailable to us, with funding opportunity being provided through the UK Technology Strategy Board."

Diversity as a Strength

Mr Bernal said such research partnerships allow Zoetis to meet industry challenges head-on.

"We are a region with a broad diversity of markets, with a strong demand for protein (and production), and considerable growth in developing countries. But we have a broad portfolio of products and services, which together with the value created by our field force, makes Zoetis in EuAfME uniquely positioned to create strong relationships with customers."

"Our diversity is the strength on which we deliver our promise to customers: for animals, for health, for you."

www.thepoultrysite.com

In October 2012, some 71,000 tonnes of pork (frozen, cooled and fresh) was imported to Russia.

This represented a rise of 37 per cent on the same month in 2011.

As for 1 November 2012 pork imports for the first 10 months of the year were five per cent higher at 578,000 tonnes.

This compares to a drop of two per cent in the eight months leading to accession.

Beef imports in October were marginally higher at 59,700 tonnes with imports 18 per cent over the September to October period compared to a year earlier.

For the year to the end of October total beef imports were two per cent higher at 522,000 tonnes.

A Russian agricultural analyst made the following statement regarding the impact of WTO accession on Russian imports: “The effect of the WTO can be traced quite clearly, especially in terms of pork imports. The November figure is 21 per cent higher than the level of 2011, and the rate of September-December 2012 is 30 per cent higher than that of 2011…. It is likely that these statistics will soon become reason to review Russia’s membership in the WTO with respect of import quotas for meat.”

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The government expects the opening to create 375 jobs at two certified meat processing plants in Catacamas Olancho.

Opportunities are also believed to be available for the 200 livestock producers that supply the plants.
"Today we are placing the stamp to the first container that goes to Taiwan with a quantity of 48,000 pounds of beef to that market," said Minister of SAG Jacobo Regalado.

"We are pleased that the health authorities in Taiwan have certified Meat Processing Plant C and D located in Catacamas Olancho, which shows that we are working in coordination with producers and processors dedicated to this area. "

Heribato Amador Salinas, chief executive officer at the National Agricultural Service explained that new export destinations will hopfully encourage domestic production to rise.

Mr Salinas added that in 2012 Honduras exported 20 million pounds, equivalent to 3.8 billion lempiras to the US, Mexican, Guatemalan, El Salvador and Bolovian markets.

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Mr Thomas will join Tulip from Adelie Foods where, in the position of CEO since 2009, he has been instrumental in establishing Adelie as one of the UK's leading food to go businesses, supplying the retail, coffee shop, travel and contract catering sectors.

Before joining Adelie, Mr Thomas held senior management positions with businesses including Mars, PepsiCo, St. Ivel and, most recently, as Managing Director at Bakkavor, during which time he has gained a broad wealth of experience across a range of disciplines including R&D, Supply Chain, Commercial and Operations.

Tulip Ltd's current CEO and Chairman Flemming Enevoldsen said: " We have undertaken a rigorous search in order to find the right individual to lead the Tulip business here in the UK and I know that Chris' experience, customer relationships and value set make him a fantastic fit for our business.

"I will, of course, ensure an effective induction and handover before I return to Denmark and I am confident that Tulip Ltd will continue to strengthen its position under Chris' leadership."

Flemming Enevoldsen will relocate back to Denmark at the beginning of July where he will continue to work with the Danish Crown Group as Chairman of Tulip Ltd and CEO of DC Foods, which includes the four processing companies within the Danish Crown Group.

Mr Thomas said: "I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to join a business of Tulip's expertise and scale and look forward to working with the team to build on the phenomenal growth it has enjoyed over recent years."

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The Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, BMELV, has announced that the use of antibiotics in animal production should be significantly reduced in Germany.

Parliament has agreed to put forward an amendment to the regulations of medications (AMG). The changes, introduced by Consumer Affairs Minister, Ilse Aigner, will give the regional authorities stronger powers and the exchange of information between the regions will be improved by accessing a new national database. This measure will also increase transparency of antibiotic use on farms.

The amendment of the AMG would include input from the country's regions. The law will come into effect with the agreement of Parliament.

At the core of the amendment is the minimisation of antibiotic use in future. The control authorities will compare the use of these medications on one farm with others so that the producer is obliged to carry out any necessary tests or other measures - in cooperation with the veterinarian and the control body. The aim is to limit the use of antibiotics to strictly therapeutic purposes.

The most important changes in brief

The authorities and farmers will in future be able to compare the frequency of therapy on a particular farm with others across the country. This will indicate how urgently the use of antibiotics should be addressed on that particular farm.

The responsible authority will be able to take action against any farm where antibiotic use is above the national range and no measures have been taken to reduce drug use. The local authority will be able to take concrete measures against such a farm, including detailing changes to animal husbandry.

The framework will be developed for authorities to store and use the data on the frequency of therapeutic measures nationally.

It will be the responsibility of the farmer who raises animals to be consumed as food - together with their veterinarian - to monitor the frequency of medication. If this exceeds the range for that type of animal and farm set nationally, measures must be put in place to reduce it, which may involve improved hygiene, better disease prevention or improved housing conditions.

Producers and vets will be required to report the data requested by the regional authority on the the use of antibiotics in order to simplify and speed up any necessary controls.

Antibiotics that are also important in human medicine may only be used as authorised in the regulatory approval.

Authorisation will be required, for example, to change antibiotics; this will only be given based on a so-called Antibiogramm from a laboratory investigation, which is based on the likely efficacy of the antibiotic against that particular infectious agent.

A further authorisation will be required for particular antibiotics for clear conditions of use to be included in the instructions with the package to which the veterinarian must adhere. This will apply particularly to antibiotics administered orally.

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The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, supported by Compassion in World Farming and the World Society for the Protection of Animals, is the first benchmark of its kind.

It is designed to help drive higher farm animal welfare standards in the world’s leading food businesses, with findings published last week.

Best practice on farm animal welfare was found to be integral to The Co-operative Food's business strategy.

Achieving 100 per cent for its leadership and innovation in farm animal welfare, The Co-operative was praised for its work to promote higher farm animal welfare to consumers, and its commitment to farm animal welfare throughout its supply chain.

In terms of farm animal welfare management, The Co-operative received recognition for its policy on free range eggs. All fresh eggs sold across its estate of more than 2,800 food stores are British and are either free range or organic, and have been since 2008, and all egg ingredients in Co-operative own-brand products are free range as a minimum.

Steve Murrells, The Co-operative Food Chief Executive, said: “Farm animal welfare is extremely important to us and our customers and members, and we adhere to a strict ethical policy to ensure we meet the high standards expected of us.

"It’s great to have our commitment recognised by The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, which demonstrates how we are raising farm animal welfare standards.

“Choosing higher welfare products should not necessarily mean paying a premium price, and this is why our customers can be assured of higher welfare standards across all our ranges."

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The legislation entitledDelivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals states it "will help scientists and public health officials to better understand and interpret trends and variations in antimicrobial resistance," as well as identify interventions for preventing and controlling drug resistance.

The bill would require drug manufacturers to obtain and provide better information to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on how their antimicrobial drugs are used in each class of food animals. The legislation would require poultry, swine, and other livestock producers to submit detailed annual reports to FDA on the type and amount of antibiotics contained in the feed given to their animals.

In addition, the bill would mandate that FDA report breakdowns on the percentages of antimicrobials sold for growth promotion and feed efficiency, disease prevention, disease control, and disease treatment. Further, the agency would have to provide a breakdown on drugs sold or distributed in each state and the quantity of drugs sold for each class of animals. Currently, FDA only reports on the total number of kilograms sold for use in animals for several classes of antibiotics.

The Coalition for Animal Health, including the National Chicken Council, held an informational briefing for congressional staff on Thursday to explain the complexities related to producing a safe and wholesome food supply while protecting public health and preserving antibiotics for future generations, while stressing a science-based approach in examining the effects of antibiotics in agriculture.

Participants included Dr Rich Carnevale, VMD representing the Animal Health Institute, Dr Christine Hoang, DVM, MPH, CPH representing the American Veterinary Medical Association and Dr Scott Hurd, DVM, PhD from Iowa State University.

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The acquisition by 2 Sisters secures a viable future for these businesses, as well as providing certainty to their UK supply chain, which is underpinned by British farmers.

The acquisition will help to meet growing demand from 2 Sisters’ poultry customers and further diversifies the company’s offering to include red meat, supporting 2 Sisters’ strategy of serving more meal occasions.

The deal follows the strategic decision VION announced on 19 November last year that it was selling its UK food operations to focus on its core food activities in the Netherlands and Germany and its global ingredients business and the subsequent management buy-out of its UK Pork activities in January of this year.

VION’s poultry and red meat businesses are suppliers of poultry, beef and lamb to the retail and food service sectors in the UK and Europe. They have 11 processing sites in the UK and approximately 6,000 employees and have suffered from challenging trading conditions, in particular in poultry, with the loss of a number of major contracts.

Ranjit Singh, Chief Executive of 2 Sisters Food Group, said: “We are delighted to be acquiring VION’s UK’s poultry and red meat businesses. They have faced significant uncertainty and tough trading in recent months, but today’s acquisition secures a viable future.

"With the majority of the operations being in Scotland and Wales, we are delighted that the Scottish and Welsh governments are supportive of this deal and we look forward to working with them and developing a sustainable future for these businesses.

"This acquisition will safeguard a key supply chain for high quality British poultry and meat, offering reassurance to farmers in England, Scotland and Wales and upholding the quality and provenance that UK consumers deserve.

"At 2 Sisters, we put the customer at the heart of everything we do and in line with our customers’ strategies, these businesses will help us to shorten the supply chain for consumers and meet growing demand for British sourced food. Our immediate focus will be to improve performance, as we have successfully done with our previous acquisitions. We look forward to welcoming VION’s colleagues to 2 Sisters Food Group, and to working together to grow our business.”

Peter Barr, chairman of VION UK, said: "We are pleased to have reached such a positive conclusion to our discussions with 2 Sisters, one of the food sector's most successful and respected businesses. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our employees for their support and commitment to the business during these challenging times and to wish the 2 Sisters team every success with the newly-expanded operation."

Edwina Hart AM, Welsh Business Minister, said: “I welcome today's announcement that 2 Sisters is to acquire VION’s poultry and red meat businesses, which safeguards the future of their operations in Wales. We have been working closely with both VION and 2 Sisters to help secure this deal in order to sustain the future for the workers and the supply chain in Wales."

John Swinney MSP, Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth in the Scottish Government, said: "I am delighted that 2 Sisters Food Group has agreed to buy VION. I first called for a sale last November because of the uncertainty facing VION and its importance to the Scottish food sector. Today's announcement is a significant step forward and my officials and I look forward to working with 2 Sisters over the coming months, in order to secure a sustainable future for VION and its plants in Scotland."

VION continues to explore opportunities for its Welsh Country Foods business which is currently in a 90 day consultation process following its key customer delisting it as a supplier.

www.thepoultrysite.com

To take you back to Economics 10, two primary forces affect price: supply and demand. Last week, Dr. Anderson highlighted the adjustments to beef and competing meat supplies from the recent supply and demand report. So much discussion lately has revolved around shrinking beef and cattle supplies.

Even with the increased beef production there is little doubt the supplies have shrunk and will likely continue to shrink moving forward. These tight supplies would translate to higher prices if everything else remained unchanged.

We economists like to sound fancy by using the Latin phrase “ceteris paribus”, which translates to “with other things the same.” Scientists are able to create this environment with trials and therefore can isolate the effect of, say, inputs A or B on output. There are so many moving parts in an economy that pinpointing the cause of price movements with precision is extremely difficult.

A great example of this phenomenon is the start of 2013. As the authors of this publication and others have pointed out “all else” has not remained the same and beef demand has been under pressure. This is a fairly recent outcome given that demand did show strength in 2011 and 2012. Therefore, it is appropriate to highlight the factors currently shaping beef demand but first to discuss what beef demand is not (using an updated adaptation of remarks from Schroeder, Marsh and Mintert.

First, beef demand IS NOT simply consumption (or per capita consumption). Beef is a perishable product. Given the long production lag for cattle, each year the production, i.e. production, of beef is fixed. Outside of some minor shifts in frozen supplies of beef or beef leaving and coming into the United States (which have been roughly equal since 2010), each year the amount of beef consumed is roughly equal to the amount of beef produced. Therefore, the reports that show shrinking consumption per person are completely acceptable since the total available supply of beef has been declining and the population is growing.

Beef demand IS NOT the percentage of beef consumed relative to other competing meats like pork or poultry. These products are perishable too and thus their proportion of total meat consumption will fluctuate as their supplies increase or decrease. For example, if one billion pounds of beef, pork, and poultry are produced this year then the ‘average’ person will consume 33.3 per cent of each product.

If poultry production were to increase to 1.5 billion pounds and beef and pork remained at one billion, then the average individual’s meat consumption would consist of 43 per cent poultry and 29 per cent each to beef and pork. This does not indicate that beef and pork demand declined from 33.3 per cent to 29 per cent nor did poultry demand increase from 33.3 per cent to 43 per cent, it is simply a case where more poultry was available.

Finally, beef demand IS NOT the percentage of income that consumers devote to beef purchases. This concept is a bit trickier since income does affect demand, but the proportion of consumer spending for products is not directly indicative of demand changes. On the other hand, if a consumer’s income were to increase 10 per cent, which resulted in an increase of purchases for beef, then demand for beef has gone up.

So, what are the leading culprits to the recent decline in beef prices? The predominant factor is the loss of the income tax break for social security (6.2 per cent of pay is now being deducted compared to 4.2 per cent last year). Using the median household income in 2011 of $50,054 as a gauge for current levels, this results in a $1,001 decrease from the family budget or about $83 per month.

While this may not sound like a substantial decrease when carried across all households it does add up. A second factor is that the costs of other items in the family budget are increasing. Gasoline prices, for example, increased 7 per cent in the first month of 2013. Most families cannot make sweeping changes to their driving habits, while they can more easily alter their purchases at the meat case. Finally, the flu epidemic in the U.S. and the brutal winter storm in the Northeast impeded beef consumption.

In the strictest economic definition, only the drop in take-home pay is a true decrease in beef demand. The increase in fuel and other necessary products and the flu issue have resulted in potential lost beef consumption. To be more specific, similar to the short-term impact of hurricane Sandy in October and November of last year, displaced consumption has caused a short-term build up of current supplies. This will likely be reflected in upcoming Cold Storage reports.

Still, this lowers prices in the short term since suppliers cut prices in an attempt to move their inventory. The decrease in take-home pay is a longer-term issue and is directly attributable to decreased beef demand.

The price of beef coming into 2013 left some consumers priced out of the market. Since, as noted earlier, the amount of beef produced must equal the amount consumed given that beef is perishable this has forced the price of beef lower via a decrease in beef demand.

In the Markets

Cash fed prices were lower this week. Prices on a live basis were down about $2 per hundredweight across the major feeding regions and dressed prices were reported lower by $2 per hundredweight in Nebraska.

Wholesale boxed beef prices were marginally lower this week with Choice carcasses finishing with a weekly average of $183.07 per hundredweight, down $0.24.

Oklahoma feeder steers were $4-$8 per hundredweight lower and steer calves were $3-$7 lower.

Corn prices held mostly steady losing 3 cents per bushel to close at $7.40 in Omaha.

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The process involved a simple microscope, a micro blade dissection and a fusion machine and has been said to have great potential for the cattle industry, according to ABC Rural.

Farmer, Nev Hansen from Oaklands brangus told ABC Rural that he was thrilled to welcome the animal to the farm adding that the birth worked out better than expected.

Handmade cloning could be a step in making cloning a commercial reality for the industry, said IVF specialist Simon Walton.

"Certainly the ability to clone elite bulls cheaply and to have many of them and take them perhaps even into the far north where you can have really elite bulls servicing many, many cows.”

Mr Walton was confident of Eve’s future as she was born a healthy calf although did warn that the early weeks are vital.

"We are not expecting any complications to arise, but drawing on the experiences of those that have gone before us; we know that there can complications for up to three months.”

The new cloning method requires fewer expensive machines and, according to researchers, is efficient and fast.

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