Black pig farmers battling to meet government rulesBy Chiu Chih-jou and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerSome farmers who raise black pigs in Pingtung County have cut their supply by 20 percent, or stopped producing them entirely, due to repercussions of the government’s efforts to keep African swine fever out of the nation. About 12 percent of domestically raised pigs are fed food waste, and most are black pigs, Council of Agriculture data showed. Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei TimesThe cooperative, formed by 62 hog farmers, produces an average of 120,000 to 150,000 black piglets per year, and has a 20 percent share of the nation’s black pig market. Demand for the meat of black pigs has long exceeded supply, making the decreased production a problem, he added. Most of Pingtung’s black pig farmers make a profit from breeding piglets, and while they often work alone, a potential solution could be forming alliances to build a complete black pig industry chain to sustain them, he said.

Source: Taipei Times September 21, 2020 15:56 UTC