A resurgence of African swine fever in China has stalled the swine herd recovery that helped trigger the bull run in grain markets, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Swine numbers are not likely to rebound until at least mid-2021,” the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service stated in a recent report. And that is assuming […] Read more
Tag Archives African swine fever
Losses to new ASF wave may be 30 percent
Pig density, poor biosecurity and ineffective control are thought to be behind sustained waves of the disease in China
China’s hog sector is in its third wave of African swine fever primarily due to a mutated strain of the virus, says an international swine management consultant. Todd Thurman, who owns SwineTex Consulting Services and typically spends about half his year in China, said the mutated virus is less deadly but harder to identify. “Most […] Read more
China’s hog recovery reported to be stalled
A resurgence of African swine fever in China has stalled the swine herd recovery that helped trigger the bull run in grain markets, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Swine numbers are not likely to rebound until at least mid-2021,” the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) stated in a recent report. And that is […] Read more
Hog sector continues to prepare for African swine fever
A multi-pronged national strategy is designed to keep out the disease and co-ordinate a response if it does arrive
A grim spectre hung over the Manitoba Pork Council’s annual meeting, but it wasn’t the pandemic. “The threats are growing,” new Manitoba Pork Council general manager Cam Dahl said during the April 16 meeting. “We see the threats of foreign animal disease increasing and we all know the significant impact and repercussions if it does […] Read more
ASF resurgence in China may slow feedgrain imports
China’s soybean consumption is slowing as a new wave of African swine fever takes hold in that country, says an analyst. The country’s hog herd had been rebounding from the disease much faster than many analysts had anticipated, but there has been a setback in that recovery. A new variant of the disease is spreading […] Read more
Canada, U.S. agree on plan if ASF infects wild pigs
Wild pigs are a worry in Canada and the United States for reasons beyond the damage they do to farms, pasture land and ecosystems. They could be an uncontrollable factor if ever infected with African swine fever. Though the fatal swine illness has not yet arrived in North America, it devastated China’s hog population and […] Read more
China vows action on fake African swine fever vaccines
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has vowed to crack down further on illegal production and sales of African swine fever vaccines, signalling the extent of a problem damaging the world’s largest pig industry. The ministry, which has been warning against such behaviour since 2019, said tougher measures were needed […] Read more
China’s struggle with ASF variants may hike pork imports
Canada posted a record for pork exports in 2020, and as new variants of African swine fever spread in China and elsewhere in Asia there is a good chance off-shore pork movement could again be strong in 2021. Canada exported $5.09 billion of pork in 2020, up 20 percent from the $4.25 billion exported in […] Read more
ASF may boost China’s corn imports
Producers removed 30 million tonnes of food waste from their hogs’ diets following the African swine fever outbreak
Heading into 2020-21, analysts were convinced that African swine fever would minimize China’s corn imports. They were wrong. What it did was eliminate about 30 million tonnes of food scraps being fed to hogs in that country, said Bryan Lohmar, China director for the U.S. Grains Council. Instead, rations comprising corn and soybeans have now […] Read more
China pork estimates hard to gauge
China’s claims that it has regained 90 percent of the hog production lost during an outbreak of African swine fever are not gaining traction among North American hog and livestock market analysts. Through disease losses followed by precautionary slaughter beginning in 2018, China is thought to have lost more than 40 percent of its herd, […] Read more
