The situation of ASF in Poland
One of the three most important problems today is African Swine Fever, and in this context also aid for farmers - with these words, the new Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Henryk Kowalczyk, announces that he will prioritize his tasks during one of the first interviews given after taking the position.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a huge problem for Polish agriculture, as well as for the entire meat industry, with which successive agriculture Ministers have been struggling hard since 2014, i.e. since the first ASF case detected in Poland. ASF is also slowly becoming a problem for the entire European Union. The disease is slowly spreading throughout the EU, and apart from Poland, it has also reached Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, and lately to Germany. It changes the optics of agricultural development, burdens many farmers, entire rural areas, makes life difficult for rural residents, and the state policy itself is exposed to a hard test of unequal struggle with a very clever opponent. Not to mention financial matters.
ASF in Poland
Currently, there are 119 ASF outbreaks of pigs in Poland, which is a record result, and among wild boars the number exceeded over 2 300 outbreaks. The situation is serious, new restricted areas are emerging and humans are becoming the main vector of the virus, especially considering the rate at which the virus is spreading among pigs. The area covered by ASF in wild boar is increasing, which also significantly increases the risk of new outbreaks on farms.
The presence of ASF in the herd causes significant drops in production, and the mortality of animals may be close to 100%. Due to the high risk of spreading, ASF is an ex officio disease. Administrative control methods include the elimination (slaughter) of all pigs in the infected herd.
In the opinion of known ASF expert, professor Zygmunt Pejsak, a big problem is the lack of compliance with safety rules by people, because from the very beginning, the disease was spreading in wild boars relatively slowly, but sequentially, at a speed of about 1-2 km /month, occupying an increasingly larger territory. Whereas, a human being as a carrier can easily transmit the virus several hundred kilometers in a few hours, e.g. traveling through Europe, and it is this factor, the human factor, that is the most dangerous in the case of uncontrolled development and transmission of ASF. According to professor Pejsak, it is a matter of time when ASF will appear, for example, in the Netherlands, if it appears within one or two years, it means that it has “traveled” here with a human. It is the human factor that causes such a serious acceleration of the expansion of the ASF area in Europe.
We have open borders, workers from different parts of the world who travel around our continent without any limits, often unaware of the risk of ASF transmission, can participate in the transmission of the disease. In addition, we have amateurs hunting for game, including wild boars, who often do not follow basic safety rules and spread ASF, sometimes also to their farms. – one of the pig producers from Podlasie region.
In the opinion of the State Veterinary Inspectorate, the situation is under control, and one can even speak of an improvement in the situation.
In the first half of 2021, 94 restrictive zones were abolished, especially when it comes to those most restrictive for pig farmers. At the moment, recently in October, we abolished zones, including the most restrictive zones, i.e. restricted zone III - there were 39 communes. Of which, which is very important, it also applied to communes in the Piotrków district, where they were actually freed, almost 160 000 from the biggest restrictions. […] We are constantly planning to remove these less restrictive zones, which are extremely burdensome for pig breeders, i.e. we are talking about the area covered by restrictions II, where there are outbreaks in wild boars, we intend to submit a dozen or so communes to the commission, especially in the Mazowieckie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodships [central and north Poland]- summarized Krzysztof Jazdewski, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer.
The president of the Greater Poland Voivodeship Swine Breeders Association expresses an opinion which is common among pig producers that the situation related to the imposition of zones by the European Commission is ridiculous - they are imposed over an excessively long period of time and over large areas. ASF experts are of a similar opinion, saying that the current regulations are particularly harmful to farmers whose farms are located in the so-called red zones, although no ASF was found in them.
On the other hand, many experts raise the issues of non-compliance with biosecurity rules, low level of education on safety rules in the case of ASF, especially among smaller pig producers which is in line with the results of the inspection by the Supreme Audit Office (Narodowa Izba Kontroli – NIK), which found that in 2017, 74% of the farms surveyed did not have the necessary safeguards to prevent the spread of ASF disease in pigs (although Polish pig producers, due to the years of ongoing struggle against ASF, are now more aware of safety rules than 4 years ago). The problem of non-compliance with biosecurity rules may arise, according to experts, from the fact that people are not susceptible to ASF infection, therefore, this disease does not pose a threat to their health or life. Hence, this recklessness often results among breeders, hunters, and pig producers.
In addition, a factor that promotes the increase in the number of outbreaks ASF is the concentration of farms in a the area - shorter distance between piggeries and an increased risk of human error, which is indicated as one of the important reasons for ASF entering herds. The Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (polish – ARMiR, Agencja Restrukturyzacji i Modernizacji Rolnictwa) data shows that the average size of a herd pig farm in Poland in 2014-2021 increased by 95% to close 115 animals. The same number of pigs registered in Poland in the last 7 years, according to ARMiR, it has only decreased by 2.03%. The pig population in Poland has remained relatively stable in the last 7 years. On the other hand, it caused significant changes in the structure of farms and accelerated the process of production concentration. With the increase in the number of cases and outbreaks, as well as the increasing area of ASF occurrence, the number of farms engaged in rearing pigs in our country has significantly decreased. ARMiR data shows that from 2014 to 2021 it decreased by half, and the average annual rate of decline in the areas covered by ASF was higher by about 5 pp. compared to the areas without outbreaks and cases of ASF. Small and medium-sized pig producers suffer the most from ASF in Poland and it is they who usually give up on further production.
From the point of view of Poland's security in the context of ASF, another weak point is the presence of this disease in its eastern neighbors - Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the poorly functioning system of fighting ASF itself. In Ukraine and Belarus, the disease is diagnosed or confirmed (according to official Belarusian data) mainly in the pig population, not among wild boars, but it seems that this is due to the non-standard approach of these countries to the analysis of phenomena epidemiological ASFs in their territories. The reasons of such an approach in both countries they are different. In the case of Belarus, there are also recently tense political relations, which does not facilitate cooperation in the case of ASF.
The first cases ASF stock in Poland took place in direct adjacent to the border with the Republic of Belarus.- reminds prof. Pejsak
According to experts, unfortunately, despite the multi-directional activities undertaken on the reduction of the wild boar population, on a scale global, there is an increase in their number. The reasons for the progressive expansion of this there may be many species of animals. The most important thing is the quick adaptation of wild boars to changing environmental conditions. This adaptation is possible due to the specific behavior of wild boar.
Wild boar is a highly social and mobile species. Great reproductive potential and possibility adaptation to various environmental and food conditions contributes to the growth of the population and the related demographic and geographic expansion of the species. […] According to available data, wild boars do not make long distances. They usually circulate within a 3–7 km radius. Individuals can travel 25–50 kilometers in a straight line in 1-2 months. – according to dr Tomasz Podgórski, Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Białowieża.
In the opinion of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, one of the most important measures to bring about a significant improvement in the situation is to reduce the population of wild boar as the main factor of spreading ASF. Minister Kowalczyk admitted that it is important that the population of wild boar can be regulated. However, in order to be able to do it, you have to count them, to have some point of reference. Moreover, he announced that he had contact with the deputy minister in the Ministry of Climate and Environment, responsible for hunting, Edward Siarka, about what methods to use to encourage hunters (mainly professional, not amateurs) to actively kill, to lead to such a population of wild boar that they will not spread ASF.
Improperly organized, without adequate security intensive hunting can instead of reducing the ASF problem, actually aggravate the epizootic situation regarding this diseases. That is why it is so important that professional hunters participate in them.
Pig production due to ASF
In 2014, after the first ASF case was discovered, many countries such as Russia, China, South Korea or Belarus suspended import of pork from the Polish market. It is still a long way to normality and stabilization for pig producers.
ASF deepens regional disparities in pig prices in Poland. Restrictions on sales from zones covered by ASF mean that farmers keeping pigs in these areas score lower livestock prices, compared to ASF-free areas. The data of the Central Statistical Office (Główny Urząd Statystyczny - GUS) show that in the provinces covered by the occurrence of ASF to a significant extent deteriorated the relationship between purchase prices and the national average in the past 7 years.
According to the estimates of PolPig, an organization associating pig producers, up to 80 % of Polish breeders from ASF zones are not prepared for the changes in the livestock trade that began on November 1, 2021. However, the Veterinary Inspection decided to give farmers time to adapt to the new regulations. The requirement to develop a biosecurity plan was postponed until the end of November. The reason is the small percentage of farms that have complied with the requirement to develop a biosecurity plan. As recently reported by dr Krzysztof Jażdżewski, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, as of October 1, only 5 % of pig farms from Zone II and III had a safety plan in place. According to them, without following the procedures, it will not be possible to remove pigs from zones covered by ASF. Small producers will be particularly affected. The aim of the new requirements is to limit the spread of African swine fever. According to them, each farm that wants to export pigs outside the ASF zone should have Biosecurity Plans and the implementation of the plan should be checked and confirmed by the district veterinarian. A large group of breeders is also unaware of the changes and their consequences. Those who have already implemented new requirements at home, however, claim that they are not related to any revolutionary changes and that every breeder who has already introduced the principles of biosecurity should be able to meet the new ones as well.
According to specialists from the Analysis Center of Bank PKO, the presence of ASF in the area has negative economic effects. They are especially felt for farms keeping pigs and the meat industry due to production losses, reductions in selling prices, as well as increased costs of prevention, falls or elimination of the disease. The appearance of ASF in a given area is associated with difficulties in the sale of livestock. Covering farms with the zone significantly hinders the export of meat and thus has a negative impact on the economic performance. Livestock producers are also struggling with reduced demand on the domestic market. There were situations in which some retail chains decided to not purchase pork from ASF zones.
A big problem raised by pork producers, is the issue of lowering prices by resellers, if the animals come from the so-called red zones, despite the fact that the products are made of such meat, the food is wholesome and is also sold at normal prices. Meat from healthy animals from the red zone, produced in designated plants, is safe for humans and, after veterinary examination, can be sold without restrictions in Poland.
And not only resellers, also many processors are refusing to buy meat from producers in the red zones. The problem is so serious that UOKiK (Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) initiated checks on retail chains and large meat factories. It is about refusing to accept fully tested pork from healthy animals raised in ASF zones.
A situation in which a large entrepreneur does not want to accept healthy and tested food may be a manifestation of using a contractual advantage - claims UOKiK.
For many producers, the problem of selling meat is often a key factor in closing the farm, as production below the cost of maintaining the business is unwinnable.
African swine fever virus made the functioning of Polish farmers very difficult. It is therefore very important that pig farmers from zones where ASF cases have been found, can sell meat that has been confirmed as healthy and safe after undergoing veterinary tests - said the President of the UOKiK, Tomasz Chrósny.
According to the Polish law, the practice of canceling previously agreed deliveries, returning products or refusing to accept tested pigs or meat from restricted zones may constitute an unfair use of contractual advantage, for which a penalty of up to 3% of the entrepreneur's annual turnover may be imposed.
Currently, inspections are carried out in the largest retailers in Poland and among producers and distributors of meat and meat products.
LAN WAR: OH