The number of pigs on German farms has fallen to the lowest in 25 years and more farmers are giving up keeping them because of weak demand and low pork prices, Germany’s national statistics office said on Wednesday.

After years of increases, China reduced its pork imports by 15% in 2021.

An agreement signed this week between the governments of France and China will allow pork producers in the European country to export pig meat in the Asian market even if an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak will occur in the future. During his visit to China in November 2019, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, had agreed with the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, to carry out work aimed at China's recognition of applying the principle of "zoning" in the case an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak is declared on French territory.

Households face big squeeze as driver shortage fuels price rises.

All pigs within 1km radius of the epicentre in Tripura will be culled and a 10-km zone will be under surveillance due to an outbreak of African swine fever.

A further expansion of exports to non-Chinese destinations, mainly the Philippines and Vietnam, and a recovery of exports to the UK is expected to largely offset the reduction of exports to China, says USDA.

U.S. beef and pork exports brought critical returns to the corn and soybean industries in 2020, according to an independent study conducted by World Perspectives, Inc. and released by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Rearing and finishing Feed Conversion Ratios (FCRs) did not improve in the 12 months to March 2021, compared to the 12 months ending December 2020.

The U.S. is continuing to take steps to keep African swine fever out of the country. USDA recently announced that it has approved blood swabs and spots as official African swine fever (ASF) testing tissues.

Global pig meat production is projected to grow 13% over the coming decade driven by growth in developing countries, according to the latest OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook to 2030.

The number of farms that got infected with African Swine Fever in Poland has risen rapidly over the last few weeks. At the moment 16 farm sites have been confirmed infected. The developments happen at a moment that numbers of infected wild boar rise in Western Poland and Germany, which is uncommon for the summer months.

The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook for 2021-2030 provides insight on global pigmeat production, and consumption for the next ten years.

Between April and June 2021 excess pork production in China has lowered pork prices, caused small and medium producers to liquidate farm inventories, and limited piglet restocking.

According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of pig farms has decreased by 47% in the last ten years.

As of May 3, 2021, the number of pigs in Germany stood at 24.6 million head.

Pig slaughter in Germany was down 4.2% in the first quarter of 2021.

So far this year, seven outbreaks of ASF have been detected in domestic pigs, three of them in the Lodzkie Voivodeship.

China’s hog population rose 24% in the year through May and has now almost fully recovered from the recent resurgence in African swine fever, according to the country’s agriculture ministry.