Beijing | Reuters – China has detected new cases of African swine fever in six farms across four locations in Hainan province, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday, adding to two earlier cases of the contagious disease identified in the province on Friday. The disease, which is fatal to pigs but harmless in humans, has […] Read more
China finds more cases of African swine fever on Hainan island
Swine fever in China poses risks, rewards for Canadian pork
MarketsFarm — Sharp losses in China’s hog herd due to African swine fever (ASF) are underpinning the North American pork market and could create export opportunities for Canada — if this country manages to stay disease-free. ASF does not affect humans, but the highly viral disease is nearly 100 per cent fatal for hogs with […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: African swine fever paralyzes futures
MarketsFarm — Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s next crop report due out March 29, market experts are looking to headlines for direction in the Chicago futures. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin return to China next week, with the goal of hammering out a trade deal in weeks to […] Read more
Piles of pigs: Swine fever outbreaks go unreported in rural China
Baoding, China | Reuters — When pigs on the Xinda Husbandry breeding farm in northern China began dying in growing numbers in early January, it looked increasingly likely that the farm had been struck by the much feared African swine fever, an incurable disease that has spread rapidly across the country since last year. But […] Read more
China moves to halt swine fever with hog industry overhaul
Beijing | Reuters — China plans to divide its hog industry into five zones in an attempt to halt the spread of African swine fever across the world’s top pork producer and guarantee supplies. Beijing has reported more than 100 outbreaks of the disease, which is fatal to pigs but not harmful to people, in […] Read more
The situation is better, but Alberta’s pork sector not out of the woods yet
After a dreadful summer, prices are better but producers still losing money, says analyst
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hog markets have improved since early fall, but the situation is far from great. “In terms of the current prices, there’s nothing spectacular,” said Ron Gietz, an extension specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Still, that’s an improvement on the spectacularly bad period last summer when hog prices plunged by more than 40 per cent […] Read more
U.S. farmers, government fight risk of African swine fever
Chicago | Reuters – U.S. hog farmers are ramping up safety procedures and leaving animal-feed ingredients imported from China in storage in an attempt to keep out a highly contagious swine disease that is sweeping through Asia and Europe. U.S. government officials said in interviews on Friday they are also increasing their ability to test […] Read more
China culls 200,000 pigs due to African swine fever – official
China | Reuters – China, the world’s top pork producer, has culled 200,000 pigs so far following outbreaks of highly contagious African swine fever in the country, a Chinese animal health official said on Friday. While that represents only a tiny portion of the nearly 700 million pigs slaughtered in China each year for sale as pork, restrictions […] Read more
Fearful of swine fever, France to put up fence on Belgian border
Strasbourg, France | Reuters — France will put up fencing along its border with Belgium to prevent wild boars spreading African swine fever, a virulent livestock disease that could disrupt Europe’s pig industry. France has been on alert for African swine fever since Belgium detected the virus last month among wild boars a few kilometres […] Read more
China culls more pigs as authorities race to trace African swine fever source
Beijing | Reuters – China is culling over 1,300 pigs as authorities rush to control a fourth outbreak of African swine fever and try to trace the origins of the virus that first struck the world’s largest hog herd three weeks ago. Authorities in the eastern province of Zhejiang said they would slaughter 1,332 hogs […] Read more
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