The past five years have been a challenging period for the UK pork industry, shaped by the intersecting impacts of Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global economic and geopolitical disruptions. While new trade deals and markets offer potential, labour shortages, rising production costs, and shifting trade dynamics have left a lasting mark on the sector.

In 2024, global animal feed production grew by 1.2%, reaching 1.396 billion metric tonnes, according to Alltech’s Agri-Food Outlook report. However, pig feed production bucked the overall trend, declining by 0.6% to 369.3 million tonnes.

The Philippines' Department of Agriculture (DA) has officially lifted its temporary ban on the importation of processed pork products from South Korea, following a comprehensive risk assessment and scientific validation of the country’s African Swine Fever (ASF) control protocols.

Average prices for live pigs and pork meat in Brazil declined from March to April, driven by sluggish demand from the processing industry, according to a recent market report from Cepea. 

In April 2025, the FAO Meat Price Index rose to 121.6 points, which is 3.7 points (3.2%) higher than in March and 5 points (4.3%) higher than in April last year.

The European Commission has approved emergency market support for farms in Germany's Brandenburg region affected by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

As of the end of April 2025, Poland has reported 1,925 cases of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars — almost as many as in the entire year of 2024, which saw 2,311 cases in total.

According to a new analytical report from CoBank, Mexico is likely to surpass Canada in the near future to become the top destination for U.S. agricultural exports. This shift is driven by a rapid increase in Mexico’s imports of U.S. grain, meat, and dairy products.

In mid-March, South Korea confirmed a new outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) at a farm in Gyeonggi province, where 44 pigs from a nearly 6,000-head herd died. According to the official notification to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), this marks the third confirmed outbreak in the country since the beginning of 2025 — all occurring in Yangju district, in the northwestern part of the country.

On 29 April 2025, the Danish-Ukrainian AgroTech Conference, organised by the Danish Council for Agriculture and Food and the Danish Embassy in Ukraine, took place in Kyiv. The event, which brought together representatives of government and business from both countries, provided a platform for discussing the prospects and opportunities for deepening cooperation between Ukraine and Denmark.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to swine genetics company PIC for its gene editing technology used to breed pigs resistant to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). The FDA confirmed that the technology is safe and effective.

The average purchase price of live pigs has increased by 2.4% for two weeks in a row, according to analysts at the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, citing the results of weekly monitoring.

As of late April, African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to affect swine populations in several Asian countries and raises concern in Ghana, while the European domestic pig sector shows signs of stabilization despite persistent cases in wild boar populations.

Since coming to power, Donald Trump has engaged in a trade war with U.S. economic partners. The economic consequences for pig farms vary from region to region.

On 11 June2025, the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders invites you to participate in the online event ‘Innovations in Pig Farming’, which will take place on the Zoom platform. The event will be a platform for discussing advanced technologies and practices that are shaping the future of the industry.

The Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders periodically conducts a snapshot of the mood of representatives of the Ukrainian industrial pig industry. The results of the survey are shared by analysts of the industry association.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has expressed serious concerns about growing instability in global trade of agricultural products. According to the WTO, recent trade measures imposed by the United States and countermeasures by China and other countries are creating significant disruption.

Lingering outbreaks of animal disease, especially African Swine Fever (ASF), are driving structural shifts in China’s swine industry, with farms adapting their business models based on geography and risk exposure, according to a recent USDA FAS market report. 

Hungary has carried out the preventive culling of nearly 10,000 pigs after a pig farm was found to be located near a cattle farm where Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) was detected last week. Hungarian veterinary authorities shared the information during a meeting of the EU Animal Health and Welfare Committee.

More than one-third of Canadian agricultural businesses (36%) have been affected by Chinese tariffs on agricultural and seafood products, with nearly one in four businesses (23%) suffering direct losses. This is stated in a recent report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).