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SW Minnesota pig farmer paying close attention to African Swine Fever

A pig farmer in southwest Minnesota is paying close attention to the African Swine Fever outbreak in China.

Tim Schwartz of Sleepy Eye says cases in both Asia and Europe have heightened his awareness.

“It’s been around for quite some time, but being it’s in China, (a country) with a large population of the world’s pork.  And they consume a ton of pork.  So that’s big news.”

Schwartz tells Brownfield he’s been educating himself on the disease and is confident USDA safeguards will prevent ASF from being introduced domestically.

“Whether it’s feed ingredients or contamination from people entering the country (or) meat products entering.  A lot of research dollars (and) time invested in that.”

For tracking feed ingredients, Schwartz says he communicates with area feed mills and leans on an in-house nutritionist who formulates rations while working closely with suppliers.