Eye on Europe: 'Carbon footprint' a better yardstick than 'food miles'

Friday, August 8, 2008

So says a U.K. study which is mapping each stage of the food chain to pinpoint the most environmentally-friendly production methods

by NORMAN DUNN

A new carbon mapping project for food in Britain claims that global sourcing of hog feed could be more effective against climate warming than using grain from nearby fields.

In the University of Northumbria study, CO2 equivalents produced by each stage from feed growing through hog feeding, slaughter, pork processing, distribution and selling in the stores is mapped to pinpoint the most environmentally-friendly production methods. This has produced a "carbon footprint" for each part of the process and the aim of the project is to use this information in marketing at the retail level.

"We see 'carbon footprint labelling' as much more realistic than the present popular 'food miles' for telling consumers about a product's carbon burden," explains Prof. David Ogelthorpe of Northumbria University. The professor heads up this project, which also involves leading feed firm Associated British Nutrition (ABN), as well as food stores and major integrators.

Based on CO2 equivalents, farming in the United Kingdom is responsible for up to 45 per cent of the total carbon footprint. This includes feed grain production, feed transport and hog rearing to slaughter. From slaughter to point of sale, the carbon footprint can be another 40 per cent, with the rest coming from home consumption and waste disposal. But whether feed is shipped from South America or freighted from farms back home in Europe, transport produces a maximum 17 per cent of the total footprint, according to the research so far.

"We should be telling consumers that the transport involved is not that important and that, in many cases, it is intensive farm production of feed that causes problems," explains Ogelthorpe.

British hog farmers ask the superstores for help
While hog farmers in Europe sweat this summer under the same high feed prices and non-existent profit margins as those in other parts of the world, it hasn't escaped their notice that retail prices of pork and pork products have soared.

For instance, in Britain between August last year and May 2008 prices in superstores rose by the equivalent of $2.22 per kilogram. In the same period, producers' slaughterweight price increased by just $0.22.

Mick Sloyan, CEO of pork production and marketing organization with the British Pig Executive (BPEX) asks: "Where has this money gone?" Mick explains that a consumer survey by BPEX found that most buyers in the stores would be happy to pay more for pork products if it helped the beleaguered swine farmers.

"They are paying more now and, despite this, first quarter 2008 retail sales are up by around nine per cent on the previous year," he points out. "But the extra money has stayed with the retailers. We reckon the retails are making margins of from 20 to 45 per cent at the moment on pork. We want them to pass some of this down the line to processors and farmers."

Meanwhile, in France where, by June 2008, hog producers were losing a claimed $63 per 100-kilogram slaughterweight hog, farmers are demanding a government rescue program to help keep them financially afloat. Jean-Pierre Joly from the Brittany Swine Producers' Association says that he'll call all his members out on the streets for a nationwide demonstration if aid does not come in the summer.

By mid-June, the government in Paris had not responded to these farmer threats.

Swiss consumers willing to pay more for contented hogs
Housewives in Switzerland pay more for pork from welfare-oriented production systems, according to research by leading stores. This has led to an increase in so-called "labelled" pork which, for instance, guarantees that hogs have more space in their pens or have access to an outdoor run. At the same time the farmers have to abide by strict national program quality and hygiene regulations with full documentation of feed sources and veterinary treatments.

The latest introduction from Anicom, the country's biggest slaughter hog buying organization, is the EM-Hog label which means that the pork comes from "extra quality" feeding hogs. Producers supplying EM hogs currently get an extra $0.10 per kilogram of slaughterweight. Average slaughter prices without this bonus in Switzerland mid-summer were around $4.52per kilogram.

What does extra quality mean in this case? 

"The EM-Hog farms have to provide an outside run for all pigs," explains an Anicom specialist. "Feeders and breeding replacement gilts have to have outside access every day, and pregnant sows at least three days in the week."

Outside runs may be floored, but no more than 30 per cent of the flooring can be slatted. And only a maximum 50 per cent may be roofed. The simple (but admittedly expensive) addition of outdoor access for all pigs has brought substantial behavioural advantages to the swine production, according to trials of the EM-Hog system. For instance, with young weaners and growers the daily fresh air is reputed to have cut tail biting from eight per cent on fully slatted indoor systems to just 0.7 per cent.

Inside, group penning of the in-pig and dry sows must be on bedded solid floors with individual feeding facilities. Among other special rules for EM-Hog production are that no crates are allowed in farrowing pens (except where sows are of "exceptional bad temper").
Large windows must allow natural light into at least part of the indoor sow and hog accommodation at all times.

There are already a series of other premium "labelled" pork products on the Swiss market, according to Anicom. But the company feels that there's still plenty of room for more and it is launching its EM-Hog programme with 50,000 slaughter hogs this year, moving up to an annual target of 100,000 hogs.

Turning hog manure into plastics
A Danish farm with a 7,500-place feeding hog unit is to be fitted this summer with a self-contained liquid manure processing system claimed by the manufacturers to produce crystalline urea for further processing or sale.

The urea, says Agroplast CEO Jes Thomsen, can then be used as base material for a series of potentially valuable products, including plastics, de-icers, detergents, glues and even a pollution-reducing tank additive for diesel fuel. Agroplast has already developed and patented many of these products.

Anders Echberg, the farmer fitting the Agroplast manure management and processing concept, is investing something like $1.5 million and his unit will be used for testing the process with biochemical company Agroplast taking care of further processing and marketing of the various products. 

The plastics produced from the hog-urea, for example, could be up to one third cheaper than even plastics based on maize-starch, claims the company. The main reason for their cheapness is that hog manure has virtually no value. In fact, pollution prevention regulations mean that getting rid of it on large European hog units actually costs the farmer money.

The Agroplast system first of all separates manure into liquid and solids, with liquids further refined on-farm for urea production. The solids are processed through a so-called NPK module which once again adds water to produce a liquid fertilizer – one which has lost its unpleasant smell in the process.

Even although he sees the urea as a product of potentially great value for intensive hog producers, Jes Thomsen stresses that in many countries the main value of the self-enclosed Agroplast system could well be the cost-efficient treatment of manure and reduction of its odour and pollution factors.
 

In Denmark, soft flooring makes for cleaner hogs
Covering the solid concrete laying area of hog pens with a soft rubberized compound was initially an experiment aimed at reducing leg and joint problems. But, after almost a year of testing in four commercial feeding units in Denmark, soft flooring has proved to have another advantage.

"It's perhaps too early yet, but so far we cannot see any significant difference in hog leg health or performance," admits Danish Pig Production researcher Torben Jensen. "But what we have seen is that the slaughter hogs tend to keep the areas of soft flooring much cleaner compared with similar pens in the trials without cushioned flooring.

"Even when temperatures rise in the feeding house to over 22 C, there tends to be fewer incidences of hogs defecating on the laying area. The result is cleaner pens and less labour requirement for washing the hog accommodation."

Working together with the Agricultural Research Centre at Foulum, Aarhus University and several flooring companies, Danish Pig Production spent some years in finding a suitable way of producing soft flooring for the laying area which makes up one-third of feeding hog pens, the remainder comprising slatted-floored feeding and dunging area. The system ultimately applied featured 40 millimetres of bonded foam with a top layer of two millimetres of rubber matting, all fixed to the concrete with stainless steel borders.

"Finding a system which proved resistant to the hogs' rooting behaviour has not been an easy task," admits Torben Jensen. "Initially, there was a lot of damage done by the hogs and work continues to find a satisfactory, and hopefully economically acceptable, way of bonding a soft surface onto the concrete laying area."

This scientist emphasizes that, from the results of the work so far, there is no doubt that hogs actively prefer the soft flooring for lying on, and that they tend to make less of a mess when in that area.

The 'Toasty' takes on the hamburger in Germany
Pork producers' answer to the beef hamburger could be the "Toasty," launched this year by the world's seventh-largest hog slaughter concern, Germany-based Tönnies (10 million hogs per year).

The Toasty is a wafer-thin deep-frozen slice of lean pressed ham the size of a standard slice of bread and weighing around 70 grams (2.47 ounces). The pork slice is lightly breaded and contains no extra fat. This means, according to Tillman's, Tönnies' marketing subsidiary, that the snack can be quickly heated in a conventional toaster or kitchen grill without fat splashing all over the place. Unlike the beef hamburger, the new Toasty is pre-cooked and so can be thawed out and eaten cold or simply put into the toaster frozen for a hot snack.

Tönnies has a tradition of emphasizing the natural goodness of pork products from its plant in Saxony and so the Toasty pork slices are guaranteed without artificial flavouring or colouring. They come with a maximum fat content of 9.4 per cent and a protein content almost double that at 18 per cent. BP