How China's Swine Fever Outbreak Is Impacting Illinois Farmers

Aug 20, 2019

By Ryan Denham

Want to know farmer Chad Leman’s top concern? It’s not the trade dispute with China.

It’s African Swine Fever, a disease that’s ravaging China’s hog farms. Half of the world's pigs live in China — or at least they did before the epidemic began a year ago. Some estimates say China's production of pork could be cut in half by the end of 2019.

“It’s almost mind-boggling to think of how many pigs that is. We can never begin to supply what they’ve lost,” said Leman, a hog farmer near Eureka in Woodford County.

The No. 1 concern, Leman said, is making sure the outbreak doesn’t spread to U.S. hog operations like his. The disease can’t be transmitted to humans, but once it hits, a country’s pork exports are a goner.

“If we get it over here, you’re talking the largest disruption to the pork industry that we’ve ever seen,” Leman told WGLT. That would have trickle-down effects throughout the agricultural economy, he said, because hog producers would need less corn and soybean meal for their pigs.

African Swine Fever means that China needs another supply for pork. And the U.S. is ready — except for that pesky trade dispute.

“The trade dispute is certainly taking the enthusiasm off the opportunity we have,” Leman said. “We have a prime destination for pork right now (in China), but the tariff price is so steep that it’s muted. We’ve got this huge bait dangling, but if we get (the disease) here, it all goes away, and it goes away in a big way.”

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Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

Hog procurement is coordinated through electronic marketing platforms that connect regional contract finishing operations and independent producers to plant demand schedules. This digital procurement system allows for steady supply flow and scheduling efficiency across multiple facilities.

Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.