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ARGENTINA-FARM DISPUTE.

Farmers to take beef to Congress
Farmers who have been confronting the government for over a year yesterday came out disappointed from the fourth meeting with ministers in as many weeks and called on grassroots for a new plan to fight for lower export duties, pinning its hopes in Congress, which despite several defections is still controlled by the Victory Front of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
"Regrettably, the government’s main priority is revenue. As from this moment the (farmers’) liaison board sets the debate in Congress as one of its main priorities," Eduardo Buzzi, one of Argentina’s more well-known farm leaders, told reporters after the meeting between the farmers and Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo, Production Minister Débora Giorgi and Agriculture Secretary Carlos Cheppi.
Randazzo has already underlined that the ruling party will not facilitate quorum for the debate.
Mario Llambías, head of the Argentine Agrarian Confederation (CRA), said that during the meeting the government "made it only too clear that it would not lower duties."


ARGENTINA-EXPORT DUTIES ON FARM GOODS.
Farmers to press Congress on export duties.
Buzzi said that the government has offered some partial measures for wheat and beef, but that it adamantly refuses to bow to farmers’ main demand, a reduction in the 35-percent export grain duties weighing on soybeans, the country’s main foreign currency earner. He also said that they urged the government to review its decision to nationalize the road grain freight permits that were until recently managed by Buzzi’s Argentine Agrarian Federation (FAA) and to instruct state-run Banco Nación to refrain from auctioning property of indebted farmers.
Llambías said that they still needed measures for the dairy sector, wheat and regional economies (namely wool, honey and hide). Randazzo said, however, that there has been progress on financing, regional economies and help for farmers affected by the worst-ever drought in the country, which has been a factor in leading it to harvest this season about 30 million tons less than the 95 million of last season. Randazzo added that "we will make every possible effort to find solutions, but we will not squander the effort of millions of Argentines."
Buzzi said that during the meetings the ministers adopted a stance as if like saying "OK, now go and see how you manage in Congress." He added that the government’s fostering a bill to bring forward mid-term elections to June 28 from October 25 on allegations that otherwise governability would be at risk amid the global economic crisis, "doesn’t change farmers’ priorities."
Mrs. Kirchner’s predecessor and husband Néstor Kirchner, who chairs the Peronist Party, yesterday said at a rally in La Plata that "the differences with the rural federations must be defined on June 28." The bill on the election yesterday cleared the committee stage and is due to be debated today in the Lower House.
Congress in July last year forced Mrs. Kirchner to roll back to 35 percent the sharp increases she had imposed on March last year alleging that farmers were reaping windfall benefits and that she needed the extra revenue to foster a more even distribution of riches. Grain prices plunged a few months later amid the global crisis.
Farmers in more than 30 towns in several provinces awaited the outcome of yesterday’s meeting at the roadsides and farm leaders called grassroots to continue at the roadsides, to lobby legislators in Congress and those who are closer to Buenos Aires to march to the city to press their demands that Congress debate an opposition bill to lower duties.
Attending the meeting with the government officials were also Carlos Garetto, head of Coninagro and Hugo Biolcati, the chairman of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA).
Asked by the Herald whether farmers could stage new export sales boycotts in case Congress fails to lower duties, Biolcati said that no form of protest should be ruled out. In their year-long dispute with the government farmers several times launched export grain sales boycotts that deprived the government of revenu
e, and road blockades that hampered exports and caused food shortages in one of the world’s largest food exporters.
Farmers said that despite all difficulties they would continue meeting with government officials. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 31, considering that Tuesday 24 is a holiday.










BRAZIL-OLD MEAT TRADE RIVALS MAY JOIN FORCES.

Brazil’s largest meat processor, Sadia, said on Monday it was considering a business tie-up with Perdigao, another major meat processor and exporter.



Sadia said in a statement to the Sao Paulo stock exchange after the market closed that it was analyzing with Perdigao "the viability and the convergence of interests in some type of association."



It gave no further details on the type of cooperation being considered and said no agreement had been reached.



Sadia was among a handful of leading Brazilian companies that announced heavy currency losses as the global financial crisis roiled markets last year.



The company last year reported a third-quarter net loss of 777 million reais ($342 million) mainly from foreign exchange derivatives losses.



In 2006, Sadia tried to acquire control of Perdigao with a hostile takeover bid that was rejected by Perdigao shareholders.









UNITED STATES-TYSON ENTER BILLION DOLLAR PET FOOD MARKET.

With the economy going to the dogs, meatpacking giant Tyson Foods Inc. is forming an alliance to make a product its executives think is recession-proof: deli-like food for pets.



Tyson, Springdale , Ark. , is expected to announce Tuesday that it bought a minority stake for millions of dollars in closely held Freshpet Co., a Secaucus, N.J., company that is rolling out refrigerated dog food to thousands of stores such as Kroger, Supervalu and PetSmart.



The Freshpet brand is unusual because the company’s executives, a collection of former Meow Mix managers, are trying to make dog food look, smell and taste as much like human food as possible. The line, the first national brand of refrigerated pet food, is aimed at consumers who give their pets everything from clothes and car seats to cemetery graves.



"Everyone talks about the humanization of pets," said Scott Morris, Freshpet marketing vice president. "But pet food looks the same as it did 30 years ago."



Tyson, which is being battered by gyrating feed costs and slowing consumer demand for pricey steaks and chops, is betting that some consumers won’t cut corners when it comes to their pets. It is a phenomenon that is coming under increasing scrutiny during the recession.



Paul Bulcke, chief executive of Swiss foods giant Nestlé SA, which owns several pet-food brands, said earlier this month that consumers who have "humanized" their pets refuse to trade down despite the economic climate.



Jeff Webster, a Tyson group vice president, said he expects refrigerated pet food to grow into a $500 million sales category within five years. "We want to make Freshpet huge," he said. Freshpet, which started operations in 2006, generated less than $100 million in 2008 revenue.



As part of its alliance, Tyson will begin to make Freshpet products this year and will use the Tyson truck fleet to haul Freshpet products to stores alongside Tyson’s microwavable dinners, chicken breasts and hamburger. Tyson, which also is opening its research kitchens to Freshpet, is stopping short of using the Tyson brand on dog food, however.



Until now, the meatpacking industry has been content to sell scraps such as chicken fat and byproducts to makers of canned and dry pet food, which generate roughly $17 billion in annual sales. Nestlé owns Purina Puppy Chow and Dog Chow, among others, while Mars Inc. owns Whiskas, Pedigree and Sheba . Del Monte Foods Co. owns Kibbles ’n Bits, Meow Mix and 9 Lives.



But Tyson is looking for business beyond the U.S. meat market. In addition to producing meat overseas, Mr. Webster’s renewable-products group is trying to make a business out of turning animal fat into fuel.











CHINA-AGFEED BIG PLAYERS IN CHINA.

Shares of AgFeed Industries Inc. soared Monday, after China-based animal feed maker and pork producer said its full-year profit more than doubled thanks to a steep increase in its hog production capacity.



AgFeed shares jumped 75 cents, or 69.4 percent, to $1.83 in midday trading. Over the past 52 weeks, the company’s shares have traded between 90 cents and $21.31, and are off nearly 33 percent since the start of the year.



AgFeed posted a profit of $16.9 million, or 53 cents per share, up from $6.7 million, or 25 cents per share, in 2007.









UNITED STATES-INCREASE IN CATTLE RUSTLING.

Cattle theft is on the rise in the Panhandle and ranchers say it is due to the poor economy.



The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association tells NewsChannel 10 they hope to reduce the rate of theft by passing legislation that will create a harsher punishment for stealing cattle.



Executive Director Larry Gray says, "It’s a state jail felony to steal ten head or less which is just punishable by up to two years in the state jail and we’re going to try to get it raised to a third degree felony which is punishable by two to ten years. "



Gray says to minimize theft ranchers should brand all their cattle and tighten security around their lots. "Well it’s devastating to ranchers especially now that the states in a drought and with the down cattle market and so the loss of 20-30 head of cattle is just catastrophic to them."



Ranchers say they would have to cut their own spending and support of area non profits if cattle theft takes a big enough hit to their own business.









EUROPEAN UNION- FARMERS WILL NOT LIKE AMERICAN BEEF ON THE MARKET.

The European Commission is offering to double the preferential quota for beef imports from the United States as part of a deal to end a long-standing dispute over beef trade, EU sources familiar with the plan said.



Last week, Washington said it would hold off on applying new retaliatory duties to EU products while it negotiates with Brussels on a solution to the trans-Atlantic row, sparked by an EU ban on U.S. imports of hormone-treated meat in 1988.



But the sources told Reuters the plan by the EU executive -- which oversees trade and food safety policy for the 27-nation bloc -- did not include lifting the embargo which Brussels says is based on scientific advice and is not protectionist.



"The proposal is aimed at giving a bigger incentive to U.S. beef farmers to export normal-treated beef in return for the U.S. ending its sanctions," one EU source with knowledge of the proposal said.



"The ban on hormone-treated beef stays. The Commission was quite clear on that," another EU source said, adding the proposal was discussed at a regular closed-door meeting of EU trade officials on Friday.



The United States and Canada currently pay a reduced tariff of 20 percent on the value of the first 11,500 tonnes of beef exported into the EU. Any beef imported above this quota must pay a combined tariff of 12.8 percent duty plus 3,000 euros cash ($3,877) per tonne.



Under the new proposal, the reduced quota would be increased to between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes in return for an end to U.S. sanctions on EU goods -- known as "carousel measures" -- worth around $116.8 million a year, the EU sources said.



FRENCH AND IRISH



EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton is expected to discuss the proposal with new U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on a visit to Washington on Tuesday.



Diplomats in Brussels said France and Ireland -- two of the EU’s largest beef producers -- are opposed to the deal which requires the approval of the majority of the bloc’s 27 member states.



Washington imposed duties on a raft of EU products in July 1999 after winning a World Trade Organization case in which it argued the EU’s ban on beef treated with artificial growth hormones was not supported by science and breached WTO rules.



The EU amended its ban in 2003 and filed another case challenging the continued application of the retaliatory tariffs. The WTO’s top court issued a decision in October that the United States says upheld its continuing right to impose trade measures on EU products.



The outgoing Bush administration changed the list of products facing duties in January, adding meat, chewing gum, chocolate, certain jams, and some fruit. Mineral water and chestnuts from France were added, and the duties on Roquefort cheese were to be hiked to 300 percent.



The new action was slated to take effect on March 23. But the USTR’s office said it would delay the new tariffs until April 23 to allow for renewed negotiations with the EU which threatened further WTO action.











BRAZIL-PRESIEDENT IN INTERVEIW WITH DAILY TELEGRAPH LONDON.

In an interview, he said that without the co-operation of emerging nations, the global economic recovery would be slower, incomplete and more painful.



One of the most outspoken leaders in the developing world, Lula said next month’s G20 summit in London was "proof enough that the G7 alone is no longer in a position to make decisions that require truly globally co-ordinated responses".



Lula, who leads one of the emerging ’BRIC’ economies of Brazil , Russia , India and China , has positioned himself as a spokesman for the world’s poorer nations, particularly in trade talks.



On the eve of the G20 meeting he warned richer nations they must recognise the growing clout of the developing economies.



"The BRICs have been the world’s most dynamic economies over the last several years, understandably so given their enormous economic potential," Lula said.



"In 2008, they represented 15 per cent of the global economy and, what is much more important, almost 100 per cent of global growth. To the extent that this leads to a greater willingness to invest in fast-growing emerging economies, this is the financial strategy for the future."



The G7 was formed in 1976, when Canada joined the ’Group of Six’ – France, Germany , Italy , Japan , the United Kingdom , and the United States .



Brazil has grown quickly since Lula took office in 2003, thanks in large part to its abundant natural resources. It is one of the world’s biggest exporters of sugar, soy beans, coffee, iron ore, beef and chicken. It is the undisputed pioneer in producing alternative fuels and recently discovered massive reserves of oil off the Atlantic Coast .



Commodities sales, along with a growing manufacturing base, have helped push Brazil onto the list of the world’s Top 10 economies, on a par with Canada and ahead of India , Russia and Mexico .



Brazil has yet to face the same wave of house repossessions, failing businesses and redundancies that have hit much of Europe and North America and Lula has boasted his country’s economy will withstand the downturn.



However, those boasts lost some of their impact last week when figures showed the economy shrunk 3.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2008.



Lula, though, is betting that Brazil’s robust domestic market will stay strong thanks to an ambitious public works program and an aid network that gives away more than £2 billion each year to 11 million of the country’s poorest families.



He also hopes Brazilian companies will keep exporting and he vowed to tell G7 leaders to they must encourage trade, not give in to the temptation to impose tariffs or barriers.



Although Brazilians are one of the most highly taxed peoples in the world, Lula said protectionism was counterproductive and energetically fought the case for more not less trade when he became the first Latin American leader to visit the White House last week.



"Protectionism at this point would, in my opinion, make the economic crisis worse," said Lula.



"If we shut off international commerce it would be like taking a fish out of water, it’s going to lack air."



Lula will also use the G7 meeting to lobby for a swift reopening of the Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks.



The talks broke down last year with the developed nations and developing nations led by Brazil and India deadlocked over agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.



telegraph.co.uk









NEW ZEALAND-CONCERNS OVER COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELLING IN US.

Country of origin labelling laws that came into effect in the United States this week could reduce demand for some of New Zealand ’s beef exports.



The new regulation requires retailers to display the country of origin for a range of food products, including beef cuts, ground beef, lamb and other meats, fish, fruit and vegetables.



The United States is New Zealand ’s biggest export beef market. Up to 90% of the beef sent to the US is manufacturing beef which is blended with American product for the hamburger and ground beef trade.



Meat and Wool New Zealand’s Washington-based regional manager for North America, Kelvin Whall, says the new labelling rules do not affect the food service sector and beef used in hamburgers.



The rules do apply to ground or minced beef sold in stores and supermarkets.



He says a number of retailers have already stated reluctance to use ground beef that does not originate from North America and have reduced their use of imported beef.



Mr Whall says later in the year, when North American supplies run down, the situation may change.



He says the labelling law does not affect lamb exports to the US because they are already branded and marketed as New Zealand products.



The horticulture industry body, Horticulture New Zealand , does not think the rule change will create any problems for its exporters.



Communications manager Leigh Catley says most fruit and vegetables already carry a "produce of New Zealand " label, and the produce attracts a premium.



Source: Radio New Zealand













UNITED STATES-RECENT IMPROVEMENTS TO PORK INDUSTRY.

1989 – Developed Pork Quality Assurance program to identify practices with the potential to result in a food safety hazard and to minimize that risk through producer education about relevant on-farm practices.



2002 – Developed Transport Quality Assurance program to educate personnel who transport hogs on the proper care and handling of animals during the loading, transporting and unloading processes.



2003 – Developed Swine Welfare Assurance Program to assess the well-being of pigs during all phases of production.



2007 – Developed Pork Quality Assurance Plus, a continuous improvement program that helps producers measure, track and continuously improve animal well-being. The program includes "10 Good Production Practices," on-farm assessments of animal well-being and random third-party audits of production practices. Producers who complete the program are certified.



2008 – Launched "We Care," a responsible pork initiative that includes Ethical Principles for U.S. Pork Producers. The principles include pork producers’ obligation to protect and promote animal well-being by:



· Providing feed, water and an environment that promotes animal well-being.

· Providing proper care, handling and transportation for pigs at each stage of life.

· Protecting pig health and providing appropriate treatment, including veterinary care, when needed.

· Using approved practices to euthanize, in a timely manner, those sick or injured pigs that fail to respond to care and treatment.



2009 – Urged all pork producers to become PQA Plus certified and participate in PQA Plus on-farm assessments and all animal transporters to become TQA certified.



Source: National Pork Producers Council, National Pork Board













UNITED STATES-END OF CASUALTY COWS.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Saturday announced a final rule to amend federal meat inspection regulations that will require a complete ban on slaughter of cattle that become downers, or disabled, after passing initial inspection. The issue of processing downer cattle for use in human food products came under fire after the discovery of the U.S. ’ first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, or commonly known as mad-cow disease, in December 2003.





BRAZIL-CREDIT UPGRADE FOR MEAT COMPANY.

Credit Suisse upgraded its recommendation for shares of Brazilian meatpacker Perdigao S/A (PDA) to outperform from neutral, the investment house said Tuesday in a research report for its clients. "[We are] upgrading Perdigao to outperform on adjusted valuation grounds. Perdigao has dropped 19%, underperforming the Ibovespa [the local stock market’s main index] by 18%, on weak export volumes and prices in the fourth quarter and in the first two months of 2009," said Credit Suisse.





BRAZIL-MEAT MERGERS.

There will be mergers and rumors of mergers and there will be corporate failures and name brands disappearing - for many of Brazil ’s heavy-hitting food companies, these are indeed the end times. Beef companies Independencia and Arantes have defaulted on debt payments and filed for credit protection recently. Brazil ’s No. 2 beef exporter, Bertin, could be next, according to Moody’s.









DENMARK-MEAT COMPANY CUTTING COSTS.

Danish meat giant Danish Crown last week announced the first elements of a plan which aims to ensure competitiveness throughout the value chain, also in the future.



Under the name DC Future, employees at the Danish Crown head office in Randers, Denmark, were informed of the plan’s initial measures, which this year include a pay freeze for all employees who normally negotiate their pay every year.



"Our owners are also our suppliers, and we must ensure competitive settlement prices for them. Otherwise, jobs are going to be lost in Denmark ," says Kjeld Johannesen, CEO.



Employees

Most Danish Crown employees in Denmark are paid by the hour and employed under a general wage collective agreement. They are covered by a three-year agreement, which this year is resulting in increased costs of just over DKK 120 million (€16.1 million) for Danish Crown.



"We are, of course, going to honour the agreements made – this sort of thing goes both ways. However, we are at the same time looking at cost increases which none of our foreign competitors are facing, and for this reason pay increases must be balanced by rationalisations and increases in productivity if Danish Crown and thereby jobs are to be safeguarded," Johannesen added.



Broader package

The pay freeze is part of a broader package, and over the coming weeks the Danish Crown group must decide what other measures to implement under the DC Future plan.



"We are working on the early stages of the budget for 2009/10, and a lot can be gained by taking a smarter or fresh approach to things. However, I cannot rule out the possibility that we may have to look at the number of employees, also in administrative functions."



He is unable to say exactly when the next announcement will be made, but the Danish Crown management is hoping that the process will have progressed some way before the end of March.



"I appreciate the fact that his may be a cause for concern among employees, but we have decided to be as open as possible about this process, he concluded."

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