African Swine Fever Risk Means It’s Time for Action
The African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in China and in many other countries around the world is wreaking havoc on the international pork industry. Fortunately, ASF is not in the United States at this time, but the possibility of it or other foreign animal disease (FAD) means that American pig farmers must take the necessary steps to protect their farms and the domestic pork industry.
As U.S. pig farmers know, a robust export market is critical to the ongoing success of the nation’s pork industry. In 2018, U.S. pork and pork variety meats exports totaled 5.37 billion pounds valued at $6.392 billion, according to USDA. If an FDA such as ASF entered the United States, it would likely eliminate this entire valuation to zero for an unknown amount of time, which is why taking steps to prevent it from occurring require immediate action such as those outlined in resources in the link below.