The latest AHDB/BPEX forecast for UK pig meat supply points to an increase in availability in the coming months, according to Pig Market Weekly.

Changes to EU food hygiene rules introduced by Regulation (EU) 218/2014 mean that from June 1, 2014, restrictions on the marketing of meat from animals slaughtered outside of an approved slaughterhouse (emergency slaughter meat) and the requirement for such meat to be specially health marked have been removed as long as the meat successfully passes the ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections by veterinarians.

Independent animal feed manufacturer Harbro has continued its retail expansion with the acquisition of RH Miller Agriculture Limited, which operates on three sites at Dalkeith (Fordel), Peebles and Hawick in the East of Scotland.

While the recent hot weather is welcomed by many, the effects of heat stress on pigs can be profound and can compound the effects of seasonal infertility, warns ACMC veterinary consultant Paul Thompson.

The news that a weaner in Northern Ireland has tested positive for livestock-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) has left vets wondering how the bacteria arrived in the herd.

BPEX is stepping up its export drive with visits to Hong Kong, India and the Philippines in the next few weeks.

I'm in absolutely no doubt that worn-out ventilation, in grow-out piggeries especially, is costing pig producers dearly. It's probably contributing towards 0.4:1 food conversion (from 25-105kg) and more than 100g/day of growth, writes John Gadd.

BPEX is looking for more pig vets to help it test its iPig pig sampling app for smartphones and tablets that can be used to carry out Real Welfare assessments in the field.

BPEX weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.

Merchant's ex-farm buying-in straw prices supplied by the British Hay & Straw Merchants Association.

The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) latest study looking at the origin of foods claiming to be from the UK and Ireland hasn't identified any cases of food on sale with misleading country-of-origin claims.

Cranswick plc has revealed that revenues were 5% higher in the first quarter of its 2014/15 financial year (April 1, 2014 to July 27, 2014) compare to the same period last year. 

Dalehead Foods  has increased the value of its scholarships scheme, bringing a welcome boost for students pursuing careers in the meat industry at Harper Adams University.

Despite ideal barbecue weather, UK demand remains sluggish, with loins hard to clear. Imported pigmeat is also presenting a significant competitive challenge, with a current gap of approximately 35p/kg between EU mainland and UK producer prices.

At 771,700 head, UK clean pig slaughterings in June increased by 4% compared with the same month in 2013. This was the largest year-on-year growth in two years.

We live in a truly amazing and rapidly changing world – and for many of the older generation, things change far too rapidly, writes Stuart Lumb. Twenty years ago commodity price movements were, on the whole, relatively minor. At the time we had intervention stocks to fall back on when crop production problems occurred around the world.

The Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) has announced a strong line-up for its annual conference. Agribusiness 2015, which takes as its theme ‘Growing the sustainable agrisupply chain’, will take place on November 12, 2014, at the East of England Showground.

The BPEX board has confirmed that the final Deadweight Average Pig Price (DAPP) will be published on Wednesday, October 1, for the week ending Saturday, September 27, 2014.

Central Government has committed to buying fresh, locally sourced, seasonal food from 2017 through a new, simplified food and drink buying standard.

With feed representing the major cost of pig production – as much as 70% in some countries – the relationship between feed usage and productivity was highlighted at an international conference in Segovia, Spain recently.

According to new data published by the European Commission, the UK has some of the best carcase classification results in the EU.

PIC is implementing relationship-based genomic selection in all of its crossbred boar products from next month (August 2014).

Some 40 years ago, after writing a few press articles based on my farm experience of attending to piggery ventilation, I got a tactful letter from the ventilationists at the then NIAgrEng (why do the British close down such valuable research and trial organisations) that made me sit up a bit.

NFU president Meurig Raymond was in Strasbourg on Wednesday (July 15) to rally support from MEPs to sign the ‘Back British Farming EU pledge.’ By signing the pledge, 33 MEPs out of the UK's 73 representatives have committed themselves to using their position in European Parliament to champion the cause for British agriculture during the next five years.

The Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) has announced that Dr Bert Lambooij DVM, of the Animal Science Group, Wageningen University, in the Netherlands, has won its 2014 award for significant advances in humane slaughter.

BPEX is to fund PCR testing of faeces or intestinal contents from outbreaks of diarrhoea in any age of pig on premises in England and Wales to increase the chances of early detection of PEDv.

Buyers from the South-west, Kent, East Anglia and the Midlands turned up at for one of the largest sales Peter Crichton has ever conducted when he auctioned the outdoor pig equipment for Teffont Magna Pigs in Wiltshire on July 5.

Red Tractor has published a "What Has Changed" leaflet that lists changes to the organisation's pig scheme that producers will need to meet from October 2014.

Red Tractor has completely revamped its farm assurance standards, making them significantly shorter, with simple, easy-to-read content that clearly explains what each standard is, why it's important and what the assessor will be looking for.