Posted: 03.20.2010

Wisconsin Ag. Secretary Rod Nilsestuen is applauding the announcement that China has reopened its markets to pork and pork products from the U.S. almost a year after slamming the door shut in the wake of the H1N1 scare.

"This is great news for hog producers in Wisconsin and nationwide," said Nilsestuen, Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. "Wisconsin's pork industry is an important segment of our agricultural economy, supporting 5,000 jobs and with a $200 million annual economic impact. Reopening the Chinese market should help boost demand and raise the price at the farm gate. That's good for producers and good for their rural communities."

China closed its borders to pork and pork products from the United States in April 2009, when the first wave of H1N1 influenza hit the U.S. and was misnamed "swine flu" although it was a human disease. Many other nations also closed their borders to U.S. pork, but China's action hit American pork producers particularly hard because it was such a large market. This week's announcement that the market would reopen came as a result of discussions that began last October when U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk met with Chinese officials.

Wisconsin produced 842,000 head of hogs in 2009, with about 360,000 head on farms at any one time. When the H1N1 virus first appeared in April 2009, the price of hogs fell by about 17 percent. It has since rebounded, closing at about $73/hundredweight Thursday. It is expected that reopening the Chinese market will push it higher.
 

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