Tuesday, January 21, 2020

One Quarter of all Pigs in the World Died of Swine Flu...in China

Swine fever devastated China’s stock because with unsound governance, even sound regulations have perverse effects.

On a recent visit to my hometown by the Yangtze River in eastern China, relatives welcomed me, as ever, with a feast: steamed perch and hairy crab, deep-fried river shrimp — and braised pork. My 84-year-old father made sure to serve pork, even though it was now twice as expensive as the year before. This time, he didn’t get the meat from my brother, who until this fall had been the village’s largest pork producer: All 150 pigs on my brother’s farm had either died or been culled because of African swine fever.


Gangs are spreading swine flu by drone to attempt to extort farmers into selling their stock for well below market prices.  So there is that, too.

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