Industry Minister Débora Giorgi concluded her New Zealand tour after meeting with several local government representatives and businessmen in the dairy sector, who expressed interest over investing in Argentina. Mrs. Giorgi first met with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Investment Director, Graham Matthews, with whom she discussed the business potential that both countries represent.

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One of the country’s farm leaders celebrated the fact that two Lower House committees addressed the duty segmentation issue, but his words should not be taken as an indication that differences among farmers have been overcome.

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John Chiarella is the new International Sales Manager for Prime Equipment.

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Beef exports from Australia, US, New Zealand and Brazil to South East Asia and Greater China during 2009-10 all reached new records, as booming population, coupled with vibrant economic growth continued to boost demand for red meat.

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DESPITE economic experts predicting a probable return to a global economic crisis - and the uncertainty of who will govern Australia - there appears to be no stopping the relentless desire by sheep producers to procure ewes.

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Numbers at Dalby dropped significantly after good falls of follow up rain in the supply area. Vealer steers to restock made to 227¢ to average 224¢ while heifers to slaughter averaged 206¢/kg. Lightweight yearling steers to feed made around 199¢ with the heavyweights to process at 186¢/kg. Heavyweight yearling heifers made to 190¢ to average 180¢/kg. C4 bullocks gained 8¢ to average 190¢/kg. Heavy D4 cows gained 7¢ to average 155¢/kg.

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Australian mutton production in 2009-10 reached 177,117 tonnes cwt, down 25% on the previous year's total, and the third year in a row that it has declined (Australian Bureau of Statistics). With sheep slaughter slipping 28% to 8.1 million head over the same period, a 5% increase in average carcase weights, to 21.8kg/head, slightly restricted the production fall.

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Poultry producers say increased national demand for eggs and low supply don't necessarily mean better returns for farmers. Jeff Ironside, from Townsville in Queensland, is the chairman of the Australian Egg Corporation.

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One of the world's largest agricultural biotech companies, Monsanto, has bought part of the Western Australian Government's grain breeding company, Intergrain.

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AN innovative Merino wool-based outdoor garment called WoolNet has taken out the Scandinavian Outdoor Award for Summer 2010. The netted base layer garment is part of the latest range from the acclaimed outdoor brand Aclima and showed an “innovative approach in terms of material, form and durability” according to the award judges.

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The board of the NSW Farmers’ Association has appointed Matt Brand as its new chief executive officer.

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Classified Santa Gertrudis bulls topped at $11,000 to average $4790, while purebred counterparts hit $9000 to average $3907 at Wednesday's annual Rockhampton Santa Gertrudis Sale.

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One of Australia's largest exporters is looking to tweak its business and ship live cattle from the country's northern ports to southern and eastern ports, which are closer to meatworks.

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THE Australian wool market has opened at a similar level to where it closed last month.

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JBS currently intends to merge Vigor into JBS, with JBS as the surviving entity (the "Vigor/JBS Merger"). If the Vigor/JBS Merger occurs, JBS will assume all of Vigor's obligations under the Indenture and will be restricted by its covenants. The existing covenants in the Indenture, to the extent that such covenants are more restrictive than the covenants in JBS' existing indebtedness, will limit the flexibility of JBS and its subsidiaries to conduct their respective businesses. Vigor is seeking Consents from Holders of the Notes to the Proposed Amendments in order to preserve such flexibility. The operativeness of the Proposed Amendments is not conditioned on the consummation of the Vigor/JBS Merger.

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Brazil forecasted to harvest smallest orange crop in eight years Orange growers in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, will harvest the smallest crop in at least eight years after rains hindered flowering, said Margarete Boteon, a University of Sao Paulo researcher.

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PotashCorp of Saskatchewan (POT) Chief Executive Officer William J. Doyle says he has tasted what's driving global demand for fertilizer on the Chinese mainland. "When I first went to China in 1979, we were eating monkey brains, crickets, and sea urchins," Doyle, 60, said in an interview. "Today you go to China and they ask you if you want to split a beef tenderloin."

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New farmers in Nova Scotia now have a resource to help them start their business. Agriculture Minister John MacDonell launched the new Thinkfarm initiative on Aug. 25, which provides information on available programs and services. "We have been getting frequent requests for information and support from new entrants in the agriculture sector, so we focused on providing resources to meet their needs," said Mr. MacDonell.

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New farmers in Nova Scotia now have a resource to help them start their business. Agriculture Minister John MacDonell launched the new Thinkfarm initiative on Aug. 25, which provides information on available programs and services.

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The sales increase represents a 49 per cent increase over the same period last year. The increase in turnover was mainly attributable to the Group's anticipated production capacity expansion plans and brand building over the past years, as well as the prosperity of the Chinese consumer market during the Period, which further accelerated demand for branded quality meat products. As a result, the Group's overall business recorded robust growth.

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China Cosco Holdings Ltd. (1919.HK) said Wednesday it swung to a first-half net profit, as its energy-related bulk and container shipping volume recovered from the global financial downturn.

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Chinese food is largely revered around the world for freshness. Yet modern Chinese living a high-pressure, urban life also value convenience, and one of the companies to benefit the most from growth in the popularity of frozen foods today reported a double-digit rise its first-half profit.

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Coast explores the strong bonds Britain has with its neighbour across the North Sea, Denmark. The Danes top the polls as the happiest people on Earth and Neil Oliver investigates the uniquely Danish concept of 'hygge', a cosy comfortable feeling almost impossible to translate into any other language. From palatial beach houses that are off limits to foreigners to Denmark's oldest seaside resort, Neil discovers how their coast keeps the Danes happy.

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Annan Receives Borlaug Medallion for Global Leadership in Africa Food Security

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IFA President John Bryan has said that the outcome of the nitrates review has the potential to make or break the Government’s Food Harvest 2020 growth strategy for the agri-food sector, which is essential to national economic recovery, exports and job creation.

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Dutch retailer Koninklijke Ahold NV (AH.AE) Thursday continued to grow sales in the U.S. in the second quarter at the expense of rivals, as it reported a 3.1% rise in net profit on lower financial expenses and boosted by currency effects, but refrained from giving a full-year outlook.

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Knowing the age at which cattle become faecal culture positive for Map can be used as a proxy parameter for age at onset of faecal shedding, which is an important parameter in the control of Map in cattle herds. The researchers carried out analysis on asynchronous interval censored data of faecal culture results from samples of 18,979 female Holstein-Freisian cattle.

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DAIRY and carbon farming pressure on New Zealand sheep production has driven the country’s meat sector into a collaborative strategy process. Rabobank’s Agribusiness Review this month reported that Beef and Lamb New Zealand had revised down its early season forecast for export lamb slaughter by two million (4.5 per cent) over the 2009/10 season (ending in September) to 21.5 million head.

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New Zealand (NZ) mutton exports were back 12% for the year to July compared with the same period in 2009, at 43,745 tonnes (NZ Meat Board). This included a 28% year-on-year fall in July, to 2,629 tonnes, the fifth consecutive monthly year-on-year drop.

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Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) North Zone Chairman Raza Khursand has said that the recent floods in the country caused up to Rs 8 billion damage to the poultry industry.

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Millions of displaced Pakistanis are threatened with starvation and an epidemic of water-borne diseases. According to the United Nations, there have already been over 120,000 documented cases of dengue and malaria, while hundreds of thousands have been affected by skin infections and diarrhea. The World Health Organization stated that there has been a 30 percent increase in cases of diarrhea around the country since the flooding began.

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With strong farm sector recovery Paraguay economy forecasted to grow 9% Paraguay raised its 2010 economic growth forecast to 9% from 6% on an improved agricultural production outlook, the central bank said this week. This would be the Paraguayan economy largest annual expansion in almost three decades.

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THE COMPANY BEGINS BUILDING TWO NEW PORK FARMS IN THE TAMBOV AND VORONEZH REGIONS

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Russia’s food safety agency Rosselkhoznadzor will increase monitoring and take other measures to ensure poultry imported from the United States is safe in the wake of a recall of U.S. eggs infected with salmonella, a spokesman for the agency told state-owned Interfax News Agency.

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Russia has put a halt to beef exports coming from the JBS Swift plant in Grand Island, Neb. No reason was given for the stoppage, reports Reuters.

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Russia has placed “temporary curbs” on imports of meat products from the United States, Brazil, Poland and Argentina, effective Sept. 8, according to a report by Russia’s ITAR-TASS News Agency.

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Russian demand for U.S. chicken is expected to remain strong until that country’s cold storage stocks are replenished. Presently only 12 U.S. processing plants are permitted to ship to Russia. The U.S. believes 27 plants should be eligible. Prices are strong. There is debate over an agreement between the two nations.

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An Aberdeenshire sheep producer told farmers attending a recent monitor farm meeting that EID can deter rustlers as well as offerin productivity and paperwork reduction benefits.

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On Saturday SSPCA inspectors raided Hoganess Salmon on Shetland’s west side, acting in concert with the police, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage and the government agency Marine Scotland, reports Shetland Marine News . Hoganess Salmon operates from the shore base at Burrastow, near Walls, and grows around 3,000 tonnes of salmon over an 18 month cycle. Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: "I can confirm that the Scottish SPCA is leading an investigation into alleged fish poisoning in the Shetland Islands, working with SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage, Marine Scotland and the police.

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The long standing wrangle between the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers and the Food Standards Agency continued yesterday with the former accusing the latter of taking a "heavy handed approach" to enforcement. The issue flared up following the publication of a detailed enforcement review by Alan Kirkwood, a leading industry figure who concluded that the FSA's current approach to enforcement and its reliance on the use of criminal law to deal was "heavy handed" with issues which were, at worst, civil law matters.

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One of Scotland’s most iconic food brands, Scotch Lamb, is this year backing the Dundee Flower and Food Festival for the first time. Around 23,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day Festival, which also marks the beginning of Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight and heralds the start of Scotch Lamb’s main season.

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In a bid to drive sales to 15 billion baht by 2015, as an integrated food manufacturer, producing the whole gamut of foods from vegetables, frozen foods and seafood products to ready-to-eat products, under its Pranpai brand, is the way to go, says Anurat Khokasai, Union Frozen Products (UFP) chief operating officer, anticipating a growth rate of 10-15% annually.

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His Excellency Shiekh Syed Ali Hashmi. Visit to Birmingham on 3 September.

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A tough lambing season and a smaller than originally expected lamb crop makes for a strong market for producers Lamb producers should be selling into a strong market for the rest of this year and well into next – and it is last winter which has helped create it.

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He is far too nice a chap to talk about it, of course, but the departure of Christopher Thomas-Everard from the chairmanship of the National Beef Association recently was not the amicable affair the official announcement would have us believe. Sadly – as has become the pattern for so many agricultural organisations, notably the NFU – it was the public culmination to a welter of private lobbying, back-stabbing and general political horse-trading.

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Union leaders from all parts of the United Kingdom came out in force yesterday to issue a warning over the long-term sustainability of the beef industry. The trigger for their disgruntlement has been the continued year-long decline in the beef price which has now left beef farmers operating below the cost of production. Added to which, they now fear that production costs will escalate on the back of rADVERTISEMENT ising feed and bedding costs which are expected this winter. After their meeting, Rob Livesay, of NFU Scotland, Alistair Mackintosh from the English NFU, Peter Davies from NFU Cymru and Ray Elkin from the Ulster Farmers' Union issued a joint statement on their concerns.

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Scores of livestock farmers could be forced out of business unless there is an improvement in the beef price. With major increases on the way for the cost of fuel, animal bedding industry leaders have fired off an early warning at the rest of the supply chain.

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Congratulations to French milk producers, who have come away from the negotiating table considerably better off. Face to face talks in Paris with the processors last week resulted in them securing a 10 per cent rise for their product.

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Farmers are warning their retail procurement partners about an impending beef product sustainability crisis, owing to the prolonged low price of the meat.

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Are our rural communities and the countryside really under threat from the policies of governments past and present? Various organisations claim farming is dying due to lack of investment and opportunities for young starters.

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Beef industry leaders are warning of possible rises in fertiliser costs coming on the back of the recent, sudden lift in grain prices.

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The idea that the world needs to double its food production by 2050 in order to feed a growing population is wrong, says Isobel Tomlinson from the Soil Association. In this week's Green Room, she says the misuse of data could be used to allow even greater intensification of the global agricultural industry.

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An overall average selling price of £134.58 per head – a huge increase of £32.35 on 2009 – was achieved for the 3,388-strong entry at the annual show and sale of gimmer shearlings at Skipton Auction Mart. (Tues, Aug 24)

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Super Papoose Showcalf from Knowlesmere sells at The Northern Lights Sale 2010-08-26 For one time only, Knowlesmere Samuelo Papoose, who originates from Sleepy Hollow Holsteins in California sells at The Northern Lights Sale, Beeston on Thursday 2nd September. From one of the best Papoose lines at Knowlesmere, this September born black beauty originates from an incredible 14 generations of VG or EX.

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Sales Manager required for Eurostock Food Group who will be responsible for delivering on key sales and profitability targets.

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Meat Trade News Daily is recieving triple the number of visits of its nearest rival. "We get more visits on a Sunday morning than most sites get in a week" said founder William Hayes.

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IAgrE Fellow Dr John Stafford Selected as President-Elect of New Precision Agriculture Society 2010-08-26 A new international Society of Precision Agriculture launched at the 10th International Conference on Precision Agriculture in Denver USA, has elected Professor Raj Khosla of Colorado State University as President for two years and Dr John Stafford of Bedford President-Elect. Dr John Stafford

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Many pig producers are missing out on a simple way to improve performance and profits. But they could boost pig performance, enhance the health status of their herds and save money at the same time, simply by replacing their ventilation controls, says Hugh Crabtree, managing director of Reading-based Farmex.

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Ukrainian Government has stated they will not make a decision over potential limiting of grain exports until at least October. However due to newly introduced ‘customs controls’ effectively exports from the Ukraine are now a risky game – possibly resulting in jail if you break the rules. Belarus and Kazakhstan have decided not to follow Russia in banning grain exports, with the Kazakhstan Ag. Ministry seeing 2010/11 grain exports at 8mmt.

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Call it typical British summer weather or the early onset of autumn, the rain is now putting a real dampener on the harvest in areas where fields have still to be cleared.

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Uruguay has a million hectares of planted forests, according to FAO survey Uruguay has 1.7 million hectares of forests of which almost a million hectares have been planted to feed the growing pulp industry while the rest are so called native forests, according to primary data from an inventory compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture with support from United Nations.

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NZ Farming Systems Uruguay Photo / suppliedHeat is building in the takeover battle for NZ Farming Systems Uruguay as Singapore-listed Olam International boosts its offer.

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A special hearing with the U.S. secretary of agriculture, the U.S. attorney general and cattle producers is scheduled for Friday to determine if new rules are needed to make the cattle market more fair.

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In an age of super-sized meals and obesity epidemics, food-shortage doomsday scenarios always seem a little surreal. Backed by half a century of agricultural abundance, it's easy to imagine that cheap food will permanently abound. But in a new book, "Empires of Food," academic Evan Fraser and journalist Andrew Rimas show us that we are not the first advanced civilization to have a hubristic, misplaced confidence that we'll always be fed.

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An upstate New York dairy farm is selling bob veal calves with levels of the antibiotics Tetracycline and Penicillin in their edible tissues at levels that are higher than allowed for human consumption.

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Burger King Holdings Inc. agreed to be acquired by New York-based private-investment firm 3G Capital Management Inc. for $24 a share.

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Burger King Holdings Inc (BKC.N), the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, forecast weak demand for its new fiscal year amid a struggling economy and said it was unsure how costs for key ingredients like beef would impact the company.

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Local governments in California are scrambling to respond to the state government's decision to delay nearly $3 billion in funds for them, with some tapping reserves to keep programs fully funded.

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This week's fed cattle trading was thought to be nearly complete in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and western Nebraska, where sales are predominantly done on a live basis, but action in Nebraska's dressed-basis market is lacking.

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Billings, Mont. – In an Aug. 25, 2010, news release issued by U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., titled “Senator Roberts Questions USDA Objectivity with GIPSA Proposed Rule and Competition Workshops,” Roberts states that he led a group of Senators – Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Mike Johanns, R-Neb., Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in writing to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding what they called “questionable behavior leading up to a USDA competition workshop and continued objectivity concerns with the recent Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA) proposed rule.”

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Heat and Control provides one-stop service for the complete packaging line including the tray sealer, conveyors, weighers, fillers, inspection and labeling equipment.

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The leader of the nation’s largest animal welfare organization has pledged his support for the newly created Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.

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Between the initial task of breeding cows and maintaining pregnancy, having a live, healthy calf at birth, keeping the calf healthy and growing, and then successfully weaning the calf, there are a number of places along the way where this goal can be missed.

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KFC presented a check for more than $4.2 million to executives from Susan G. Komen for the Cure at KFC World Headquarters on Aug. 23. The money was raised by KFC franchisees and restaurant operators in April and May during the company’s “Buckets for the Cure” campaign. The total amount raised by the 5,000 KFC restaurants coast to coast was $4,249,539, which represents the single largest donation in the history of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

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McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) has been outperforming the market this year and recently set a new all-time high. A SWOT analysis – a look at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – can help assess whether the fast food giant can keep the growth on a high-calorie diet.

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McDonald’s has threatened the small business because it believes consumers might confuse the restaurant of Ivan Puddu with one of its own outlets. The restaurant’s specialty is Sardinian stuffed pasta with a locally-sourced sheep's cheese, potato and mint filling. McDonald’s signature sandwich is the Big Mac- two beef patties served with salad and a variant on Thousand Island dressing, in a sandwich with three slices of bread.

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USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) will hold the fourth of their series of “Competition Workshops” this Friday in Fort Collins, Colorado.

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The growing demand for locally raised, pasture-fed meat is confronted by a lack of high-quality, humane, and regional processing plants. Even the USDA has gotten involved in identifying where outreach is most needed, by helping to build or maintain local slaughtering facilities. The agency just released an updated version of slaughterhouse maps that target local processing establishments.

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Applebee’s said Thursday it added Florentine Ravioli with Chicken and Provolone-Stuffed Meatballs with Fettuccini on its 2 for $20 every day value menu. Florentine Ravioli Chicken features pasta pillows cooked with herbs and brown butter, filled with a blend of Italian cheeses and spinach, and tossed with roasted garlic alfredo sauce. The pasta is blended with grilled chicken breast, Bruschetta tomatoes, garlic-thyme butter and roasted red peppers, then topped with shaved Parmesan cheese.

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Perdue plans to begin this month a two-year, $12.8 million project to redesign its corporate headquarters in Salisbury, Md., to be more environmentally friendly, the company said in a news release.

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Fifty head of Piedmontese cows -- a breed originally found in Italy -- are now calling a Missouri farm home, according to St. Louis Today. The breed's name comes from the native pastures in the Piedmonte region in the northwestern Italian Alps.

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During July, poultry certified wholesome (ready-to-cook weight) totaled 3.55 billion lbs., down 3% from the amount certified in July 2009, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The June 2010 revised certified total at 3.68 billion lbs., was up 2% from June 2009.

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Red Angus and Simmental breeders from around the nation gathered in Sioux Falls, S.D., July 25 – 27 for the annual Young Guns Summer Conference co-hosted by the Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) and American Simmental Association (ASA). The joint seminar reflects the two breeds’ new collaboration to run multi-breed genetic evaluations of their growth and carcass trait EPDs.

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Kevin Keener, an associate professor of food science, said quick cooling of eggs after they are laid would significantly reduce the ability of salmonella to grow inside eggs and potentially keep consumers from getting sick. There are no federal guidelines for how quickly eggs should be cooled, but current industry procedures can take as long as six days to cool eggs to 45°F, the temperature at which salmonella can no longer grow. Keener's rapid-cooling technology would take two to five minutes.

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The focus of the US meat industry this week has been on the US pork industry, due to significant price hikes amid tighter supplies. Assisting the upward price pressure has been a fall in US hog and pig numbers, which in turn has seen US pork production volumes over the past four months lower than last year.

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There was no first shift pork processing at Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Waterloo Wednesday morning due to a "temporary disruption" in slaughtering operations Tuesday morning.

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All but one of the mechanic’s liens listed in a civil lawsuit against Northern Beef Packers have been paid.

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Cash hog prices in the Midwest direct markets Thursday are called mostly steady but a break in wholesale pork prices Wednesday afternoon may cause some buyers to bid cautiously.

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Mexico's expansion of its NAFTA retaliation list to U.S. pork in the long-running trucking dispute with the U.S. means millions in new tariffs on ham and other pork sold in Mexico.

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The four-patty NY Pizza Burger is available only at Burger King’s new Whopper Bar location in New York City, but the chain appears serious about exploring multi-patty burgers as sales builders. In Austria, the chain offers the X-tra Long Chili Cheese (left) with three patties lined up horizontally on a long sesame-seed bun. On top is melted Cheddar cheese, chili sauce, more cheese slices and jalapeños. It weighs in at 750 calories, 48 grams of fat, and resembles the three-patty Touchdown Burger that McDonald’s once tested in Wisconsin. Loved it.

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Tom Vilsack is a guy who lives for his job, but that did not stop him from telling President Barack Obama a few weeks ago that he was willing to resign as secretary of agriculture.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture today issued a final rule amending the definition of Class I fluid milk products in all Federal milk marketing orders effective Jan. 1, 2011.

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What determines the value of a market animal? We all know that the answer to that question could fill volumes, depending on the level of detail one wants to use. Costs, supply, productivity, demand, processing costs, the level of competition in the market on a given day. All of those factors plus many more contribute to the value of a market animal.

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National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Beef Innovations Group (BIG) introduced six new cuts generated from the beef round at the Innovative Beef Symposium in Denver, the group said in a news release. The six new cuts include a portfolio of lean steak and roast options suitable for retail and foodservice outlets:

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Welsh farmers have been investing in rams with superior genetics in a bid to boost the performance of their flocks. A total of 97 performance recorded Texel and Suffolk rams were sold at an auction held at IBERS in Aberystwyth.

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Efforts to improve the iconic Welsh Black cattle breed have been given a boost thanks to a new scheme funded by Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales. The Welsh Black Cattle Society will receive £60,000 under the Rural Development Plan for Wales to performance record animals in terms of growth and ability.

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