This is what liquidation of herds and abandonment of breeding looks like. ASF is with us for another year

Tak wygląda likwidacja stad i rezygnacja z hodowli. ASF kolejny rok z nami

We have all become accustomed to the ASF virus in Poland. You could say that pig farmers are living on a time bomb. Not only have they been struggling for years with an uncertain economic situation, lack of stability, new legal requirements in terms of well-being or biosecurity, or even complicated procedures for the construction of new livestock facilities, but there is also this unpleasant risk associated with the possibility of insidious disease.

We have already learned that there is no guarantee that, for example, my farm is located far from the potential zone. These are just appearances that reduce vigilance. We have often seen the virus suddenly jump hundreds of kilometers to a new region of the country, either in wild boars or in pigs. Later it turned out that we did not have a full picture of the disease, because sick wild boars had probably appeared in the region before.

Today, there is little talk about what's next with the plague. Breeders are left with the problem of keeping an eye on their herds and biosecurity. So what if they can get 100 percent? reimbursement of biosecurity costs? This is just a drop in the ocean of what ASF really is. Local veterinary inspectorates are reacting as much as they can to nip the virus in the bud. All these are just secondary actions. There are no decisions or pre-emptive actions. There are no large-scale campaigns to collect dead wild boars, fencing off local areas to clean them of possible carcasses, and, above all, verifying the situation in the wild boar population, and there is no talk of a more organized shooting. Where is the national coordinator for combating ASF? After all, this is a problem that needs to be solved at various levels and at various levels of government.

Today, there is no strategy for combating ASF in the country. Everyone, grassroots and organically, saves the situation as best they can.

And again we are observing further outbreaks, fighting outbreaks in herds, their liquidation, preventive slaughter, and if it does not take place, slaughter for welfare reasons or the sale of animals for half-free after the lockdown is lifted from the region. The situation is the same every year. Is it possible to function this way, to think about the development and continuation of pig fattening, not to mention the labor-intensive breeding and constant stress? I don't think so.

The situation in the pig sector will remain complex in various respects. However, it must be admitted that economically ASF has taken away our production, export and social potential in terms of continuing animal production by our successors. The losses will remain incalculable.

I will say that today there are only a handful of pig herds left. As we wrote on the website recently, as of June 30, 2024, there were 49,539 pig herds in Poland, which is 271 less than at the end of April. At the same time, we have lost exactly 2,250 herds since the beginning of the year. Production is, of course, slowly concentrating, so the population is constantly fluctuating around 9 million pigs . But how are those left behind supposed to survive? How to encourage young people to continue or recreate breeding?

Theoretically, the policy of the Ministry of Agriculture is to favor both young farmers and animal breeders. Young farmers are to be rewarded everywhere in the Strategic Plan calls, breeding is also to receive support from various directions, and priority is to be given to either the CAP or the KPO. We know these assurances. The Ministry understands this too.

Recently, both Minister Czesław Siekierski and Deputy Minister Adam Nowak explained to the Senate Agriculture Committee how important breeding is. They themselves emphasized that without animal production, "we will literally be left with no feed grains in the country." It is no longer about opening new export markets. The situation without animal production will be difficult and will affect all farmers, as well as the entire business environment that cooperates with them.

However, as it was before, aids, programs, compensation and other financial measures will be of no use now if we only monitor the scope and development of the disease.

Has the determination to get rid of ASF from Poland already evaporated?