- Coinciding with a rapid expansion of the animal health market, the cost of developing traditional animal health products has skyrocketed even as number of new releases has fallen

- New statistics show large feed production increases alongside a quickening pace of consolidation - Only in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East did the number of new feed mills exceed the closing of older facilities

US pork and beef exports in November rose more than 20% in both volume and value year-on-year. A new monthly volume record for pork exports was recorded.

- The collapse of East Asian production has changed world shrimp trade flows - 2017's strong production and export recovery is being held back by China and Southeast Asia's failure to recover from disease and stocking density constraints

US pork and beef exports wrapped up an excellent 2016 performance with very strong December results, according to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

- Due to a combination of unusual circumstances, corn production increased by 19% and soybean output by 26% over the four years feed crop bear market

- Rapid domestic consumption growth, fear of US trade retaliation against comprehensive bans on - American chicken exports allowed output to grow even during the bird flu years

- Low farmgate milk prices, poor returns are causing milk production to slump, with much demand met from reconstituting WMP - With WMP stocks running down to nil levels, milk prices should firm up, with returns, production rising more strongly from 2018 onwards

- Rapid domestic consumption growth, fear of US trade retaliation against comprehensive bans on - American chicken exports allowed output to grow even during the bird flu years

- High corn costs, low poultry prices challenged integrators in H1 but falling feed costs, higher selling prices made H2 2016 far more profitable - China's large 66%+ rise in Brazilian chicken imports turned an otherwise flat trade performance into a 7.8% gain to a record 4.11 million tonnes

- High cattle prices initially caused a retention of heifers and calves, causing 2015 inventories and beef production to go in opposite directions - During a 1.5 market retreat, farmers released cattle as soon as they could. It minimized finishing weights but ...

- The substitution of EU grandparent stock in place of banned, bird-flu afflicted US supplies sustained production - Improving feed conversion ratios, finishing weights, biosecure housings boosted efficiency and meat safety

- Japan's swine sector, though large, is flat and levelled out at lower personal consumption levels than that of poorer, neighbouring Asian countries - Japan's zero population growth and tiny increases in personal consumption means that imports will not rise too far above their current 1.3 million tonne range

- Milk output has fallen below its longterm growth trend; India's paper currency crisis may cause it to miss 2017's projected 3.9% expansion - Despite the huge increases in output, dairy cattle still account for slightly less than half the milk produced

- 2017 should see world feed costs fall for a fourth consecutive year - Instead of low CBOT prices and China corn market reform shrinking inventories, a combination of good weather and better crop seeds are pushing both corn and soy stocks to record highs

- 2017 should see world feed costs fall for a fourth consecutive year - Instead of low CBOT prices and China corn market reform shrinking inventories, a combination of good weather and better crop seeds are pushing both corn and soy stocks to record highs

- Powered by a 400% increase in exports to China, a cheaper currency and rebounding per capita consumption, hog production and exports set new records, with H1 2015 shipments up 8.5%

The November 9 victory of latest US President-elect Donald Trump has delivered shockwaves through international markets as the surprise win rattled major currencies and consequentially poses a challenge to the global meat trade for 2017.

Global pork production is forecast to be slightly down 2% this year, compared with 2015, AHDB Pork reported, citing the latest estimate from the US Department of Agriculture's global outlook report.

- Everywhere from America to China, human disease outbreaks caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria have been traced back to integrated farming operations using AGPs - Alongside known human health effects, antibiotics have been used to transform unsanitary livestock or meat processing conditions into profitable 'cost savings'

- After decades of exponential growth, flat output, growing domestic demand, intensified international competition has flattened Chinese tilapia exports, caused market share losses - Pangasius from Vietnam, tilapia from Indonesia and Vietnam is edging out Chinese tilapia in both the world market and even in China itself

- A very immature, statistically murky aquaculture sector but capable of large, rapid production gains - Expanding pond acreage allowed output to increase 10-fold over 15 years but this strategy is reaching its limits

- Before a civil war, economic crisis and political coup disrupted it, Ukraine had one of world's fastest growing broiler sectors, expanding 3,560% over the previous decade - With export expansion exceeding a sharp drop in domestic demand, the crisis years slowed down growth but did not stop it

- Decelerating developing country dairy demand is only partly counterbalanced by higher rich country consumption growth - The dairy products and countries leading the industry's expansion are changing

- Despite unrealistic and contradictory official statistics, even by conservative estimates, feed demand has risen by 14% annually since 2012 and will keep rising by 10% through 2025 - Asian integrators CP, Japfa Comfeed, New Hope Group lead this feed milling expansion, accounting for a majority of output

- While China's 50% share of the world swine sector is well known, few are aware that it produces 40% of the world's eggs - Due to productivity gains from consolidation, layer genetics, better feed, scale economies, in 2015, it produced 33% more eggs with 25% fewer chickens than it did in 2000

- A cancelled Venezuelan trade agreement, the appreciation of its currency versus Brazil's real tanked its exports to Latin America, where it once dominated the market - With exports down 17% on-year and 53% over 3 years, producers are struggling to bring production into balance with demand

- A four-fold increase in chicken output over 16 years was made possible by equally impressive productivity gains - A lack of food safety scandals has kept growth on a steadier path than is the case in China

• 2016's output of 1.64 million tonnes is far below the 2 million tonnes predicted by now; nor does 2.5 million tonnes of chicken production by 2020 appear achievable • The problems are mostly on the demand side, as investments in capacity outraced consumption growth, leading to losses

• With half of Southeast Asia's population, Indonesia is driving ASEAN's overtaking of China for leading world feed demand growth • Despite its great potential, restrictive government policies, macroeconomic shocks repeatedly stall development