pork

Japanese news media reported that the government would reduce its high import tariffs on beef and pork and relax slightly its restrictions on U.S. rice imports as part of the proposed 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact, said Reuters.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found a new strain - the third variety - of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, a disease that has killed at least eight million baby pigs, says Reuters.

After several years of constrained supplies, pork production will climb by 5 percent this year, says economist Chris Hurt of Purdue. "Pork producers are gearing up to provide their customers with what they want and that is 'More Pork' and 'More Bacon,'"...

The world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods Inc, says more than 70 percent of its pregnant sows are in group housing, part of a shift from so-called sow crates that limit their movement, says Associated Press.

Pork production during the final three months of this year is forecast to be 5 percent smaller than the year-earlier figure, keeping prices for slaughter hogs high, says the monthly Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook report.

The farmer-funded National Pork Board "will use an online marketing campaign to counter a critical television documentary on antibiotics use in livestock," says Reuters.

Americans are paying noticeably more for the three main ingredients of a bacon cheeseburger - ground chuck, cheese and bacon - than a year ago, says the largest U.S. farm group in a semi-annual market basket survey.

The Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman is drafting legislation to overhaul the way the government reviews purchases of U.S. companies by foreigners. Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow disclosed her intentions as part of a PBS NewsHour review of the purchase of Smilthfield Foods by Shuanghui International, of China. "Food security is national security," Stabenow said on the program, according to a news release by the committee. "“And I can’t imagine that the American people will feel comfortable if they wake up someday and find that half of our food processors are owned by China."

Pork exports shot to $4 billion at the end of July, the first time cumulative sales hit that level in so short a time, says the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Exports from January through July equaled 28 percent of U.S. production, up 2 percent from 2013, said the federation. "U.S. prices began to moderate in August, so these price gaps have now been narrowed or eliminated. Going forward, this should relieve some of the price pressure on U.S. exporters.” said Philip Seng, chief executive of the trade group.

fter years of culling herds in the face of high grain prices, U.S. livestock producers "finally have a positive multiple-year outlook," writes economist Chris Hurt of Purdue U, boosted by more affordable commodity prices, waning of drought in the southern Plains and higher household income. "Animal industries are expected to be in a mini-boom phase in coming years led by rising per capita consumption, continued small growth in U.S. population, and growing export demand," Hurt says at farmdoc daily. Some cropland will return to pasture.

Grocery shoppers will pay record-level prices for beef and pork through 2015, says a University of Missouri think tank.

Tyson Foods, Inc. must sell its sow-buying unit, Heinold Hog Markets, to satisfy antitrust rules and proceed with its purchase of Hilllshire Brands Co. for $8.5 billion, the Justice Department said.

Food prices will climb a modest 3 percent this year, close to the long-term average of 2.8 percent, said USDA in a monthly update.

China barred pork imports from six U.S. processing plants and six cold storage facilities as part of its ban on the feed additive ractopamine, which helps hogs gain weight more rapidly, said Reuters.

A U.S. appeals court upheld USDA rules that require cuts of beef, pork and poultry to carry labels listing where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered, says the AP. Meatpackers challenged the 2013 regulation as a violation of free speech. The meat industry says the labels are bookkeeping headache and drive up costs.

The Agriculture Department proposed a regulation to allow import of pork and pork products from "a low-risk classical swine fever region in Mexico" and set a 60-day comment period on it. Swine fever, also called hog cholera, is a highly contagious viral disease among pig but does not cause foodborne illness among humans. It was eradicated in the United States in 1978, says a USDA fact sheet

Record beef and pork prices are pulling up the prices of seafood as consumers look for lower-priced protein, says the government in an update of the food price outlook. Overall, food prices are forecast to rise by 3 percent this year, roughly in line with the annual average of 2.8 percent since 1990. The Agriculture Department says pork prices are up by 12 percent since mid-2013 and it expects an increase of 6 percent for this calendar year.

Research into the grain, water and other material needed to produce food says that eating beef is 10 times more costly to the environment as other food derived from animals, such as pork or poultry, says the Weizmann Institute of Science, based in Israel. "Cattle require on average 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation water, are responsible for releasing 5 times more greenhouse gases, and consume 6 times as much nitrogen, as eggs or poultry," says the Institute in a statement.