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Economist says ASF in the Dominican Republic likely to rattle markets

University of Missouri livestock economist Scott Brown says the finding of African swine fever in the Western Hemisphere will likely send ripples through the hog market.

“I think we want to be careful about how much we react to what we’re seeing in the Dominican Republic,” he says.  “This reminds us to keep our guards up here in the United States, but the spread to the Dominican Republic certainly is going to have folks’ attention out of the gate tomorrow.”

Brown says this is a good reminder for producers to implement risk management practices.  “Even though we might talk about futures markets that continue to have pressure, to provide some type of safety net for yourself as an operation against the small likelihood we would see ASF here,” he says.  

African swine fever was detected in China in 2018 and has been found in 15 countries since.  ASF was recently found in Germany’s domestic herd.

ASF cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans and is not a food safety issue. 

AUDIO: Scott Brown, University of Missouri