Chinese Pig Farmers Report Suspected Swine Fever Outbreaks as Prices Fall

Pig farmers in several parts of China are reporting suspected outbreaks of African swine fever that they say have killed large numbers of pigs and forced some farms to clear their herds, adding pressure on small producers already struggling with falling prices and weak demand.

Farmers in several provinces told The Epoch Times that outbreaks have been reported in their areas this year, with some farms being forced to sell or dispose of infected pigs.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has not publicly reported an African swine fever outbreak corresponding to the farmers’ accounts. Its recent major animal disease notices have included one September case of type O foot-and-mouth disease found among pigs in Chongqing.

The discrepancy between official reports and accounts from farmers makes it difficult to independently establish the scale of any current African swine fever outbreaks. In China, the regime frequently conceals data and imposes strict information control over major social issues.

Rapid Deaths and Herd Clearances

In Rong County in Guangxi Province, farmer Lin Yongchang told The Epoch Times his area has experienced two waves of swine fever this year.

Lin said some pigs developed health problems after being vaccinated.

“Previously, I had always used a vaccine from Guangdong [Province] and there were no problems. The first time I used a vaccine from China Animal Husbandry Group [a state-owned company], there was an outbreak,” he said.

He said vaccinated sows experienced miscarriages and stillbirths, while some weaned pigs also became ill.

Ruan Jiale, a farmer in Hunan, similarly said some large farms in his area had been affected despite vaccination.

“Those large farms all vaccinated their pigs, and they still went down,” he told The Epoch Times.

Ruan estimated that 80 percent to 90 percent of farms in his area had been affected and cleared their herds. However, that figure could not be independently verified.

He described pigs dying within days of showing symptoms.

“The pigs’ noses become dry, and they die in three days,” Ruan said.

For farmers with large animals, disposing of the carcasses can be a major problem. Ruan said his pigs weighed more than 300 pounds. He said infected pigs were sometimes sold at steep discounts, while dead pigs were buried.

“Everything is losing money now. When swine fever comes, you have to get rid of them at a low price, and the losses are huge,” he said.

Farmers also described informal channels for disposing of pigs after outbreaks.

Liang Jianguo, a farmer in Guangxi Province, told The Epoch Times that farms near his had recently cleared their herds after pigs began dying, but the pigs that were still alive can be collected and transported to refrigerated processing facilities.

“They’re taken directly to the freezing plant for processing, for making sausages,” Liang said. “Many sausages are made from diseased pigs and culled sows.”

The Epoch Times is unable to independently verify Liang’s claims about diseased pigs entering meat-processing channels.

Falling Prices Add to Farmers’ Losses

In Gao’an, Jiangxi Province, farmer Zhang Shujuan told The Epoch Times many local farmers had sold their pigs early because buyers had become harder to find.

Zhang said the problem was particularly difficult for small-scale farmers, who have limited financial reserves and few alternative sales channels.

“Now the government doesn’t provide much in the way of subsidies,” she said.

Swine fever occurs every year in some parts of China, Zhang said, but she believes this year has been particularly severe in some provinces.

The farmers’ accounts come as China’s pig industry faces a broader profitability squeeze.

According to data cited by Chinese media National Business Daily, the national average price for three-way crossbred pigs was 10.82 yuan ($1.61) per kilogram in August, down 21.42 percent from a year earlier.

For small farmers, an outbreak can therefore create a double financial burden, since infected pigs may have little or no market value, while farmers still have to dispose of dead animals.

The reported outbreaks and vaccine concerns remain based largely on farmers’ accounts, and the extent of African swine fever in the affected areas cannot be established from those reports alone.

Li Jing and Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report.