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
Tag Archives African swine fever — page 5
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
Early control would ease ASF damage in U.S.
Officials predict costs of an outbreak could be reduced to $15 billion from $50 billion if it was controlled within two years
African swine fever could become endemic in the United States if it arrives in North America. Paul Sundberg of the Ames, Iowa-based Swine Health Information Centre said the virus is a looming threat that could cost the American pork industry an estimated $50 billion over 10 years. Speaking to a recent online session about ASF […] Read more
Backyard pig production remains ASF worry
British Columbia develops a production manual to help inform the province’s estimated 1,200 small hog producers
There are more than 7,000 “small-lot” pig producers in Canada, those who operate outside the commercial system. Their number and level of activity or knowledge regarding biosecurity are concerns for those involved in preventing African swine fever from entering the country and controlling it if it does. The illness has devastated hog populations in Asia […] Read more
Gov’t must do more on African swine fever front
It’s critical to get the agriculture portion of the next federal budget right. Then Canada can use the relative health of the farm economy to help rebuild the post-COVID future. The things the Trudeau Liberal government identified several years ago as being potential growth areas for the economy remain in place, despite the economic damage […] Read more
ASF prevention funding requested
Canada’s hog producers are calling on the federal government to invest $50 million over three years to combat African swine fever. In an open letter released Sept. 11, the chair of the Canadian Pork Council Rick Bergmann spells out the impact an outbreak of the disease would have on the industry. The call comes on […] Read more
Germany says has suspected case of African swine fever
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture said on Wednesday it had a suspected case of African swine fever (ASF) in a wild boar in the eastern state of Brandenburg. The suspected case concerned a wild boar carcass found near the German-Polish border. A sample of the carcass was being taken for tests […] Read more
International African swine fever response demanded
Two international organizations are calling for global action to stop the spread of African swine fever. In a joint news release, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called on countries to join forces against the deadly pig disease. “Today, 51 countries are affected […] Read more
