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BeefLambMilkPigmeatPotatoes

 

WheatOilseedsBarleyPoultryMaize

In week ended 5th January, the deadweight prime cattle average price levelled on the week at 365.0p/kg. read more

As domestic lamb continues to compete with increased volumes of cheaper imports and demand remains subdued, DW lamb prices eased in week ended 5th January. read more

World prices eased back towards the end of 2012 although remained at levels comparable to the same period in 2011. read more

Having shot to record levels during September and October, GB finished pig prices continued to rise in November and early December, albeit more slowly. read more

The GB weekly average price rose by £4.63/t to £227.93/t and the free-buy average fell by £4.45/t to £330.74/t. read more

Mid-January saw the release of much-anticipated information from the USDA in the form of world supply and demand estimates, US winter wheat plantings, final 2012 production estimates and quarterly stocks. read more

The USDA data set a bearish tone for oilseed markets with upward revisions to US and Brazilian crops. read more

UK malting barley export prices are at €245/t FOB (spring, South Coast) w/e 11th April. read more

The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on the activity of UK hatcheries and poultry slaughterhouses. read more

USDA’s latest quarterly stocks report, released on 28th September, estimated US maize stocks (at 1st September) at 25.1m t, down 12% on the same point in 2011 and the lowest since 2004. read more

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PAPERS

 Three quarters of people who buy a whole chicken will wash it before cooking it, but this actually increases the risk of food poisining, found Which? research.  Washing the chicken can spread the bacteria on to work surfaces for up to a one-metre radius. Further figures found that when consumers were asked what they thought the largest cause of food poisoning was, 56% said salmonella.  Only 2% identified campylobacter which the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently discovered in 65% of raw shop-bought chicken. 

 Experiments are under way at a secret location to see if it is possible to grow kiwi fruit in Kent. A major company, with a base in Canterbury, is hoping to harness the changes in our climate to grow the fruit commercially and tap into a market worth £20 million a year in the UK. The hairy fruit – more usually grown in New Zealand, Italy, Greece and Chile – is a rich source of vitamins C, E and some vitamin A, plus an omega-3 fatty acid. Now staff at Worldwide Fruits have started tests at a secret east Kent location to see if kiwi fruit can be produced in sufficient quantities in the Garden of England to make it commercially viable within two years. 

 William Chase, owner of the only premium potato-based vodka distillery in Britain, plans to take on much larger, mass-produced luxury brands in the U.S. market, Chase told Reuters. Unlike all large-scale vodka producers, Chase Distillery grows, mashes and distils its own potatoes on the founder’s 400 acre family farm in the heart of the English countryside before bottling the spirit on site. "There’s a great market for high-quality spirits with provenance and pedigree...people are caring more and more where their products come from," said the 50-year-old potato farmer turned entrepreneur.

 Fast food chains and restaurants have quietly sunk a plan by Britain’s food watchdog to display calorie counts in eating outlets across the country, The Independent can disclose. With increasing numbers of Britons eating meals outside of the home – most often in cafés, sandwich stores and fast food outlets – the Food Standards Agency had set up a trial with many of the largest fast food and restaurant companies, in which they printed calorie counts next to products on the shelves, on menus or next to tills. But chains such as KFC and Burger King have failed to commit to extending the trials. Others, such as Pizza Hut, Mitchells and Butlers, which runs the Harvester chain, and the caterer Compass have abandoned theirs.