World swine production seen to escalate in 2009

Swine production worldwide is seen to increase by more than 1.1 million tonnes in 2009 amid the global economic recession, according to experts.

 

Worldwide output drastically fell in 2007 before staging a recovery in 2008 and is set to pull through this year.

 

Global production increased by more than 1 million tonnes to 96.71 million tonnes from 2007 to 2008.

 

 

Rising feed costs globally and increasing currency value against the US dollar left many exporting countries in a luckless position.

 

But US exports went up due to the weak dollar and disease problems in China.

 

Declining supplies and increasing demand upped pig prices in China to record levels in 2008, which helped fuel some recovery in local production.

 

Meanwhile, the cattle and pig sectors in the US recently lost a court challenge to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality rules on the amount of coarse particulates that may be produced from their operations.

 

The American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association questioned the EPA's standards on allowable emissions, saying there was little evidence that exposure to coarse particulates in rural areas was harmful.

 

The ruling has been described as disastrous for American business, manufacturing and farmers.