China’s demand for livestock feed is down after African swine fever cut deeply into the country’s pork production, but Chinese farmers – spurred on by the government – are ramping up output in the poultry, egg and aquaculture sectors and offsetting some losses, according to a new analysis by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
China’s swine herd was cut roughly in half due to the ASF virus, but Chinese demand for feed is forecast to drop by just 1%, or about 5 million metric tons, in the 2019-20 marketing year.
It could have been much worse, but broiler production has already increased by about 16% and egg production has risen by 6%. Domestic industry estimates show that the “increase in poultry feed is estimated to offset 65 to 70 percent of the hog feed loss,” according to FAS.
