Is this why China became more compliant in trade talks? Yet domestic frozen pork belly inventory is at record highs. Thanks Mr. Trump for saving our bacon.

One-Quarter of World's Pigs Died In a Year Due To Swine Fever In China

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times:

The [African swine fever disease] was first reported in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, in early August 2018. By the end of August 2019, the entire pig population of China had dropped by about 40 percent. China accounted for more than half of the global pig population in 2018, and the epidemic there alone has killed nearly one-quarter of all the world's pigs. By late September, the disease had cost economic losses of one trillion yuan (about $141 billion), according to Li Defa, dean of the College of Animal Science and Technology at China Agricultural University in Beijing. Qiu Huaji, a leading Chinese expert on porcine infectious diseases, has said that African swine fever has been no less devastating "than a war" -- in terms of "its effects on the national interest and people's livelihoods and its political, economic and social impact."

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Just took a drive through Iowa and was amazed at how many hog operations we saw per square mile... Iowa can handle the load!

Dont worry, there's plenty of wild ones in Montana and No Dak.

Our hog operations are subject to the same threats as the rest of the world.

it's a Muslim plot!

This! Virtually all of our hog operation are high density farms. If that virus gets loose here it will cause massive losses.

I have about 60 pounds of bellies for making bacon in the freezer now. Not because of the viral threat, but because high quality bellies are hard enough to come by that it just makes sense to by them by the case when the opportunity arises. I just cut them into brining size pieces and vacuum pack them so that I always have bacon when I need more.

You know that if enough people start hoarding anything, that creates the shortage the hoarders were trying to prevent?

It happened with .22LR ammo, it happened with primers, it happened with coffee, and now you want to make it happen with bacon.

We have plenty hogs at our deer lease.

Grow your own.

Here too, I shot five of the bassturds late last Winter into early Spring right here from the back porch off Wifes picnic table. all five black Russians.

The anti-vac and organic crowds will be trying to prevent vaccinating our pigs to keep everyone healthy.

Is there a vaccine for African swine fever?

There is :Turkey Bacon".

Yummy. Not.

Turkey "Ham", is something I have not seen for some time.

Not a consideration for me. Finding the quality of bellies that I want is difficult at best no mater when. My competition remains the same year round. It's the high end smoked meat stores that smoke their own. If you want that raw material you have to do what they do and buy it by the case. Like with the .22 ammo, there was no shortage of Eley Tenex.

Color added.

US hog farms are run to prevent disease and disease spread. I doubt the African swing flu could spread here like it does in China and the third world. The Chinese pig farms will have to adopt the US and European ways of farming. All the little mom and pop farms will go away due to the disease. It will take some time for the Chinese to adapt but they’re smart enough to get it done and done pretty quickly. The rest of the third world will suffer terribly and not recover anytime soon.

Haha!


The big packers here would love it.

Instant pork products price gouging if that happens.

Again, to the absolute delight of those selling the product.

You can roll your hp ammunition in bacon grease for antiterrorism purposes.

With far less pig s’hit being dumped into Chinese rivers, there will be a significant drop in tilapia production!

Excellent post! I always wondered about the reason for the taste.

Before you worry too much about tilapia, take a good look at what your veggies are raised in.