In just two years, African Swine Fever is likely to have reduced Chinese pork production by more than a third. However, Oklahoma State University economist Derrell Peel correctly notes that the disease will likely impact the global livestock market for many years to come. A possible proxy for the situation is the impact of Mad Cow disease in Europe during the 1990’s.  EU beef production peaked in 1991 at 11.8 million tons. But after more than a decade of battling the disease, European beef production had fallen by 30 percent and it has never recovered from this lower production level. Constrained by lower production and import quotas, EU beef consumption remains nearly 35 percent lower than at its peak. Instead, pork consumption...

TAGS – Livestock, China, Europe