US hog farmers faced devastating average losses of about $31 per head in 2023, according to a recent market report from Bernt Nelson at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The European Commission has approved a Danish scheme to support higher animal welfare standards for pigs. The scheme is allowed under EU State aid rules and has a budget of approximately €20 million (DKK 151 million).

The Philippines is under global scrutiny as it proceeds with the controlled rollout of an unproven African swine fever (ASF) vaccine from Vietnam amid doubts from experts about its safety and efficacy.

When the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus hit Asia, the infections took the countries like a whirlwind. That it was impactful and chaotic that much was clear. A few years down the road, it is possible to reconstruct what happened, figure out patterns and learn from them. In 2 papers, researchers at the University of Minnesota in the US did so for the ASF spread in the Philippines.

Representatives of Canadian pork and meat organisations have expressed concerns about a national rail strike, involving 9,000 workers, which could impact the transport of feed and food.

For the first six months of 2024, export volumes were at their lowest level since 2015.

JBS and BRF recorded the best financial results in their histories in the second quarter of 2024. This was partly driven by their pork activities.

In the face of mounting difficulties in collecting payments for delivered goods, Russian exporters are reportedly considering switching to barter trade, even though this move may have several disadvantages.

Last week, the USBA reported on the progress of the Animal Health in Ukraine project, which is being implemented jointly with the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

A looming stoppage of freight railway operations across Canada would disrupt North America's agricultural supply chain, snarling shipments of everything from wheat to fertiliser and meat, reported Reuters. 

russian pork producers are aiming to capture 10% of China's pork import market in the coming years from a standing start, seeking to take advantage of trade tensions between the European Union and China, the world's biggest pork consumer, Reuters reported. 

For the first time in 8 years, there has been a slight increase in the number of pigs slaughtered in Germany. In the first 6 months of 2024, 21.9 million pigs were slaughtered in the number #2 pig country in the European Union. That was 0.4% or 78,100 animals more than in the same period last year, the federal statistics office Destatis reported. The increase follows a decrease by 6.9% of the number of slaughtered pigs in 2023.

On August 12, 2024, Genesus Inc. announced further expansion in the global market, including in Ukraine.

African Swine Fever (ASF) virus has emerged on a small pig farm in the state Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the first time the virus emerged on a farm in that state.

Yesterday, 15 August, representatives of the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service visited the offices of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) and the Association of Milk Producers (AMP).

The French small-scale pig farming model is, according to sector organisation Inaporc, unique in Europe and even in the world. A French pig farm holds on average 214 sows compared to over 1,000 in Denmark or the Netherlands, over 10,000 in the USA and not to mention the massive multi-storey pig farms in China.

Danish Crown has announced it is to increasing its use of immunocastration to address the problem of boar taint in male pigs.

China’s pig prices are expected to fall in the second half of the year amid ample supplies and sluggish demand, according to the world’s top pork producer.

US June pork exports were lower year-over-year, shipments through the first half of the year remained ahead of the record value pace of 2023, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

The European Union has raised serious concerns over Italy’s efforts to combat the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), labeling the country’s current measures as insufficient. The European Commission has urged Rome to step up its actions to contain the virus, which poses a significant threat to the swine industry across Europe.