Livestock and Meat

The prices for slaughter cattle could only just hold their own in the penultimate week of September. Unchanged to slightly weaker conditions prevailed among the young bulls. Depending on the region, the price bids for slaughter cows tended to be similar to the previous week or with discounts of up to five cents per kilogram of slaughter weight. According to a preliminary overview, the weekly average prices for young bulls in the R3 trading class fell by one cent to 2,72 euros per kilogram slaughter weight, for cows in the O3 class the national average was two cents less than in the previous week at 2,09 euros per kilogram. Despite calming demand, the beef business was largely satisfactory. Shoulder meat and leg goods could be placed on the market without any problems. Trade with neighboring EU countries turned out to be somewhat more difficult than before; exports to Russia of comparatively inexpensive goods continued to be steady. – In the coming week, beef cattle prices should only just hold their ground, maybe even drop a bit. Because the meat business will probably not do so well, and in some regions the supply of slaughter cattle is likely to be larger than before. – The prices for slaughter calves remained largely at the level of the previous week. Carcasses were sold a little cheaper, parts could usually be sold without any problems. – For farm calves, the prices were unchanged to slightly higher, with the supply not being too plentiful and demand picking up slightly.

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Overall, the fish in the North and Baltic Seas are healthier than they were years ago. This was the result of the most recent research trip by the fisheries research ship "Walther Herwig III", which focused on the occurrence of fish diseases in 18 areas in the North and Baltic Seas.

On September 23, 2004, the "Walther Herwig III" returned home from her 267th voyage to Bremerhaven. The first results of the research trip show that the number of diseased fish is declining. This was announced by the Federal Research Center for Fisheries. The studies on dab (the most common type of flatfish in the North Sea) and on flounder and cod in the Baltic Sea confirmed the regional differences in infestation with viral and bacterial skin diseases and liver tumors that had already been determined in previous years. Compared to previous years, the overall infestation is lower. Especially with cod from the western Baltic Sea, there were significantly fewer skin ulcers
noted; this continues a trend that has been observed since 1998.

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DBV: Changing the law takes science and reality into account

The German Farmers' Association (DBV) welcomed the Bundesrat's resolution calling for the continued use of female cohort animals in the event of a BSE case. The Bundesrat calls on the Federal Government to work at EU level to ensure that farmers whose farms have been diagnosed with BSE are allowed to continue marketing the milk from the cows. However, the use of the meat from the affected cattle should remain prohibited.

Under current law, in the event of a BSE case, the birth and feeding cohort will be killed. So far, not a single case of BSE has been found in these killed cattle or in the offspring of the BSE-infected cattle. Even according to the current state of scientific knowledge, the use of female cohort animals for breeding and milk production is harmless, the DBV states. In this respect, the Federal Council is only relying on the implementation of reality in its resolution.

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Import quotas are auctioned

Russia will auction 11 percent of pork and beef import quotas on October 45.000 this year. A total of 45.750 tonnes of pork quota and 500 tonnes of beef quota will be offered for auction. The minimum bids per lot of 51.100 tons are 46.500 euros for frozen pork and XNUMX euros for frozen beef.

The auction is organized by the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange “ZAO”. The other 90 percent of the quotas are assigned according to "historically grown market shares".

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Jens Deuker from Sinntal wins among the butchers and Nadine Anuth from Beerfelden among the butcher shop salespeople

The performances that were shown at this year's Hessian state performance competition of the butcher youth were of a consistently high level. Driven by strong motivation and enjoyment of their work, the total of nine butchers and seven butcher shop salespeople mastered the demanding disciplines with flying colors and made it difficult for the jury, headed by state apprentice warden Horst Harth, to choose the winners.

Pictured from left: Lord Mayor Gerhard Möller, Helene Emrich, Lord Mayor Ludwig Leist, Dennis Grünewald, Horst Harth, Nadine Anuth, Jens Deuker, Nadine Frisch, Manuel Heerich, Christoph Silber-Bonz.

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For the first time, a producer of chicken products received the test mark from the TÜV Foodstuffs Association

Chicken and chicken products from the Stolle company will in future be marketed with a blue “TÜV badge”: the company has received the “Food TÜV tested” test mark. The test mark of the food TÜV Vitacert (TÜV SÜD Group) stands for independent and complete testing and control. With the Gebr. Stolle GmbH & Co. KG, one of the largest poultry producers in Germany, undergoes the ongoing and strict TÜV control in order to have its quality promises verified by a neutral party.

The focus is on the complete testing of production. The chickens come exclusively from farms that are members of the producers' association for slaughtered poultry in Visbeck and the surrounding area (EZG) - vice versa, the EZG only delivers to Stolle. Stolle only uses controlled feed from its own production, does not use any antibiotic performance enhancers, operates comprehensive preventive health management with contract veterinarians and has developed extensive strategies to avoid salmonella. The quality promises are constantly checked by TÜV Vitacert: in laboratory tests, unannounced checks or inspections - TÜV Vitacert relies on constant checks instead of one-off checks. Transparency is also a trump card: every chicken can be traced back to the parent animals in terms of origin, rearing or feeding. Transparency, which also applies to the outside: All test specifications, the results of ongoing tests and much more can be called up by anyone on the Internet.

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Results of the GfK consumer climate study in September 2004

While the indicators that express the mood of German consumers were still inconsistent in August, they stabilized across the board at the beginning of autumn. If the index for propensity to buy remained roughly constant, economic expectations increased for the second time in a row. Expectations regarding personal income development increased significantly. This meant that the downward trend in the indicators came to a standstill for the time being. The consumer climate stabilized - after a revised 2,1 points in September - at 2,4 points for the month of October.

After the indicators that record the mood of German consumers had developed rather inconsistently and in some cases even negatively in the previous two months, the indicators in September convey a more stable and somewhat more positive picture. The indicator values ​​all trended upwards. The irritations of the discussions about Hartz IV seem to be easing somewhat. It also looks as if fears about the consequences of rising energy prices have eased.

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Romania's pork production still weak

Pig production in Romania has grown again since 90 after the dramatic slump in the 2000s. This development was initially interrupted by the drastic shortage and increase in price of animal feed in 2003/04. In 2005, however, the expansion could continue. Nevertheless, for the time being there is still an import requirement of around 20 percent of consumption.

At the beginning of 2004, 5,14 million pigs were counted in Romania. This means that the previous year's line was missed by 1,7 percent, and the sows were even eight percent behind. In the months that followed, the gap to the previous year's line increased further. The clear cut in stocks is due to the scarce and expensive feed, because feed costs account for a large part of the total costs at 50 to 60 percent.

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Don't go hungry at work

Going to a company restaurant is very popular in Germany: 75 percent of employees who can take advantage of this option do so and prefer warm main dishes with meat and side dishes. Fish and potato dishes as well as casseroles and meat snacks are also very popular. A salad is often eaten as a main course.

According to the data for 80 from the new market study by the ZMP headquarters, company canteens are the most important segment in workplace and training place catering, both in terms of expenditure with a share of almost 65 percent and the number of visits with a share of 2003 percent Markt- und Preisberichtstelle GmbH and the CMA Centrale Marketing-Gesellschaft der Deutschen Agrarwirtschaft mbH based on data from Intelect Marktforschung GmbH. A proportion of 20 percent is due to the use of vending machines for catering, 9,3 percent of visits are to a canteen or cafeteria at the university and school.

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Caviar Creator uses first sturgeon in aquaculture facility

Caviar production can begin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: The Düsseldorf-based company Caviar Creator has started using sturgeons in the former FischCo-Demmin Aquakultur GmbH facility. Special trucks from a fish farm in Waren brought the first tons of game fish today (Tuesday, September 28, 2004) to Demmin, 50 kilometers away. The eighteen-year-old animals spent their journey in special tanks. In the coming weeks, further transports of sturgeons of different ages and weights will follow. A total of around 90 tons of sturgeons will then swim in the 72 breeding tanks of the aquaculture facility.

The game fish are delivered from all over Europe, including France and Italy. They are between ten months and six years old and weigh up to ten kilograms. Because there are already sturgeons ready for slaughter, the first caviar can soon be obtained. "If everything goes according to plan, we'll be harvesting the first caviar by the turn of the year," said Frank Schaefer, Caviar Creator's chairman and chief executive officer.

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The two Dutch companies BEST Agrifund NV and Nutreco Holding NV today reached an agreement to take over the Hendrix Meat Group. Subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities and a positive opinion from the works councils involved, the takeover will take place free of debt for an amount of 75 million euros.

The Hendrix Meat Group operates at six locations in the Netherlands with around 1.100 employees. The group specializes in the production of fresh and pre-packaged pork for the food trade in the Benelux, bacon for the English market, ham for Italy and other specialty products for the European markets. The company generated sales of 2003 million euros in 450. BEST Agrifund takes over all employees and management of the Hendrix Meat Group.

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