The 29 and 30 month old animals were released for consumption by the authorities and processed by Sunval Nahrungsmittel GmbH in August and September 2003.
This offensive should make it clear that the agriculture and food industry offers quality products that make an important contribution to a good attitude to life and thus have a task beyond mere nutrition. Discount and price battles offer no prospects, neither for trade and industry, nor for consumers, stressed Traumann. By discount battles, consumers would be unsettled and would just wait for the upcoming even cheaper offer and leave the goods on the shelf for the time being. The discounters are a successful sales type that has its place in the market, stressed Traumann. But there should also be alternatives for consumers, on which industry and trade would have to work intensively.
In contrast, the representatives of the German Fruit Trade Association and the Federal Association of German Fruit Trade Companies decided in December not to pursue the work on the QS scheme “Fresh Fruit and Vegetables” for the time being. The members of the working group regret this decision, especially since the previous joint development of the QS system for this product area was constructive and future-oriented. The working group will continue to inform the two associations about the progress of the work and is open to continuation of the successful cooperation at any time.
Consumer Protection Minister Bärbel Höhn: "All pharmacologically active substances must be removed from the regulatory area of feed law and transferred to pharmaceutical law. We have already been able to implement this requirement for this substance area by banning or transferring antibiotic performance enhancers from feed law to pharmaceutical law. In the field of coccidiostats, the Commission does not want to make any decisions for several years. This is decidedly too late. In the interests of preventive consumer protection, action must be taken immediately."
"The 2.000 biogas plants operated in Germany already supply electricity for 500.000 households," explains Claudius da Costa Gomez, Managing Director of the Biogas Association, on the occasion of the opening of the adventure farm at the International Green Week. Local farmers could supply the electricity for 12 million households. This would save immense amounts of coal, oil and gas. According to da Costa Gomez, the farmer of the future will increasingly be an energy farmer and less dependent on fluctuating food prices. The potential of biogas is illustrated by da Costa Gomez with further numerical examples: “Even the manure from 4 cows is enough to supply an average household with electricity all year round. The energy from a bale of grass silage is enough to drive a car from Berlin to Barcelona.”
The supply of young bulls in January and February is expected to be smaller than in the last few weeks of the old year. On the one hand, there are seasonal reasons for this, on the other hand, in the last few weeks of the old year, the bull fatteners brought more young bulls to slaughter in order to still receive the slaughter premium for 2003. The market accepted these animals at the turn of the year. The provisional results of the November 2003 livestock census also indicate that the number of young bulls will continue to be limited in the future. The payout prices for male slaughter cattle in January will be noticeably higher than in the previous month, and producer prices are also expected to rise in February. In February 2003, young R3 bulls cost a monthly average of 1,30 euros per kilogram slaughter weight; whether this price level can be reached is questionable against the background of the BSE discussion that was picked up again in the media at the beginning of January.
The role of the DIfE will be to accurately measure food intake, energy expenditure and activity in overweight experimental animals. However, the relevant neurotransmitters and receptors in the brain are also to be characterized in order to derive new mechanisms for regulating body fat mass.
The success of the companies belonging to the group to date shows that the Bitburger Group offers the brands of its association optimal opportunities for development. "Our decentralized holding structure and the independent brand management favor the preservation of the brand personalities and are therefore an essential cornerstone of our success", said Dr. Dietzsch. He sees potential synergies in the transaction in particular in the improved market development through the mutual use of the sales and logistics networks, the creation of a platform for the expansion of specialties and a larger volume of purchases. Against this background, the purchase price of EUR 469 million is appropriate. This corresponds to almost nine times the operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of both companies. "We are convinced that the approximately 650 employees at König and Licher will continue to expand the success of their traditional brands under our roof," emphasized Dr. Dietzsch.
By entering into conditional agreements, Carlsberg Breweries has agreed to acquire 51% of the share capital of the Holsten brewery from the Eisenbeiss family and other shareholders for €38 per share. At the same price, Carlsberg Breweries will make a voluntary public tender offer to Holsten shareholders to acquire all of the outstanding shares.
With 26,5 million pigs in November 2003 there were more animals in German stables than in eleven years. Compared to the May 2003 census, the stock fell seasonally by 0,2 percent, but compared to the previous year there was an increase of 0,9 percent or 246.000 animals.
For lambs billed at a flat rate, suppliers received an average of 3,55 euros per kilogram of slaughter weight in the last month of the previous year, which was five cents less than in the previous month. The proceeds from December 2002 were thus missed by 19 cents. The notifiable slaughterhouses accounted for around 1.300 lambs and sheep per week, sometimes on a flat-rate basis, sometimes according to commercial classes. This means that the offer was almost 17 percent smaller than in November, but the comparable figure for the previous year was exceeded by almost 15 percent.