Share via Email


* Email To: (Separate multiple addresses with a semicolon)
* Your Name:
* Email From: (Your IP Address is 44.221.43.88)
* Email Subject: (personalize your subject)


Email Content:
Chick-News.com Poultry Industry News, Comments and more by Simon M. Shane

Broiler Production in China Compensates for Loss in Hog Output

12/06/2020

Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, as circulated by the U.S. Soybean Association, demonstrated the ability of the broiler industry in China to rapidly expand and compensate for sharply decreased hog production.  African swine fever emerged in China in late 2018 and has only recently responded to preventive measures.  It is questioned why a nation with competence in molecular biology faced with a devastating disease has not developed an effective vaccine against African swine fever.  During the past two years, officials in China have implemented biosecurity, herd depletion of affected farms and restriction on movement of live hogs.  Perhaps the most important change, as predicted in 2018, has been  restructure of production marked by integration and a shift in the size of hog farms favoring implementation of biosecurity and eliminating the need to transport live hogs.

 

In 2017, hog feed represented 45 percent of total production of approximately 220 million metric tons of feed in China.  Broiler formulations comprised 29 percent of feed manufactured. The effect of African swine fever during the fourth quarter of 2018 was evident as a one percent reduction in hog feed consumed, amounting to 97.2 million metric tons.  Concurrently in 2018, broiler feed increased by 8 percent to 65.1 million metric tons. 

 

The impact of African swine fever was more evident in 2019 as hog feed declined from the previous year by 22 percent to 76.6 million metric tons.  In the same year, consumption of broiler feed increased by 30 percent to 84.7 million metric tons.  There was no effective increase in total feed manufactured between 2018 and 2019 with layer, aqua and ruminant feeds remaining constant for the three-year period.

 

 It is evident that broiler producers in comparison to pork or beef producers are more capable of expanding production within limited time, attributed to the inherently faster rate of reproduction of chickens.  Faced with increased demand, parent breeders were molted, hatchery capacity was increased and growing and processing facilities were expeditiously expanded.  It is noteworthy that the increase in availability of chicken in China involved white-feathered broilers with little or no increase from the ‘yellow bird’ segment.  The capacity for broiler producers to increase production over the short term is obviously beneficial in the face of protein shortages caused by disease in competing domestic meat-producing species.  The ability to expand production is however a two-edged sword since it facilitates oversupply with lower realization resulting in inevitable losses. That as they say is a different movie.


 
Copyright © 2024 Simon M. Shane