Reuters – Agricultural merchant Bunge Ltd warned on Wednesday of a drop in annual profits due to mounting challenges to its grain trading and processing business from the U.S.-China trade war and a fatal pig disease in Asia, sending shares down more than 4 percent. The company reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits, driven by higher margins […] Read more
Bunge shares slide as China trade war, pig disease upset exports
African swine fever: It’s not the ‘lazy’ virus — it’s unthinking people
African swine fever is spreading like wildfire in Asia, but it’s because people are bringing contaminated pork home
Reading Time: 6 minutes African swine fever continues to cut a devastating swath across Asia as North American pork industry officials work to keep the deadly disease off our shores. “The African swine fever virus is spreading very quickly throughout the Southeast Asia region,” Dr. Egan Brockhoff, veterinary counsellor for the Canadian Pork Council said in a Sept. 20 […] Read more
South Korea confirms new cases of African swine fever
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has confirmed new cases of African swine fever at hog farms in cities near the capital Seoul after the country’s first outbreak of the deadly virus last week, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. The new case occurred at a pig farm with about 1,800 pigs in the city […] Read more
Everyone needs to be on traceability system
Even if you have just one pig, you should be registered with Premises Identification
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you raise pigs — whether in a commercial setting, on a natural or organic operation or in the backyard — get a Premises Identification. “During the outbreak, we used it for tracing, and we used it for notifying farms in the risk area,” said Dr. Julia Keenliside, veterinary epidemiologist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. […] Read more
Philippines checks for swine fever as pig deaths rise
Manila | Reuters — The Philippines has set up a crisis management team to determine if the deadly African swine fever virus has reached the country after officials detected a rise in pig deaths in some areas. The Bureau of Animal Industry had reported an increased mortality of pigs “raised by farmers in their backyards” […] Read more
China June pork imports surge more than 62 per cent from previous year
Beijing | Reuters – China’s pork imports in June surged from the previous year, customs data showed on Tuesday, as the world’s top consumer of the meat stocked up on supplies after African swine fever has decimated domestic pig herds. China brought in 160,467 tonnes of pork in June, up 62.8 per cent from the […] Read more
PigTrace tag price going up
Hog producers will have to pay more for traceability in the near future. Canada’s PigTrace program will be raising ear tag prices as of Aug. 1. Prices will go up 20 cents for every small ear tag and 35 cents for every large ear tag, a release from the Manitoba Pork Council said. The Manitoba […] Read more
Canada, EU agree to swine fever zoning rules
Canada and Europe have agreed to new zoning arrangements in a case of African swine fever outbreak, but it’s not clear what will actually change. The agreement, which Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Wednesday. would allow for safe trade of swine products from disease-free zones if a case of ASF is found. Zoning principles applying […] Read more
China’s cabinet sees ‘shortcomings’ in bid to contain swine fever
Beijing | Reuters — China has shown shortcomings in some aspects of preventing African swine fever, and the situation remains complicated and severe, the country’s cabinet said Wednesday. The management of transporting live hogs is not strict enough, while there is insufficient capacity in testing for African swine fever virus in hog slaughtering, processing and […] Read more
Fears of a global grain glut on the rise
China’s pig herd has been decimated — and that’s bad news for feed grains and oilseeds, says economist
Reading Time: 4 minutes If you had asked Richard Gray last month whether global grain supply would outstrip demand coming into this growing season, his answer would have been a resounding yes. But now? It’s anyone’s guess. “A few weeks ago, it would have been very clear that global production was going to exceed demand,” said Gray, a veteran […] Read more
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