Hard-to-lift restrictions and pigs 🏋‍♂️

Restrictions due to an ASF outbreak in Lower Saxony, Germany, will be lifted on October 5. From then on, pig producers will be able to send their finisher pigs to the slaughterhouse. 

• The outbreak happened on July 1, on a farm 20km from the border with the Netherlands.

• Initially, the restrictions were to be lifted on October 14 – they’ve been moved up more than a week.

Over the past three months, pork raised within the restricted area had to be heat treated before it was allowed on the market. 

• So in practice, seldom any pigs got delivered and farmers had to deal with overcrowded pig houses containing pigs so heavy that they’re harder to lift than the restrictions!

🎉 Thankfully, that’ll no longer be the case!

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, though. Swine producers in the ASF infected area feel left out – some farmers have been partly compensated for their damages, while the rest have had to pay for the damages themselves.