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Farmer raises African Swine Fever concerns with Vice President Pence

A central Indiana farmer has told Vice President Mike Pence that he’s concerned about the African Swine Fever outbreak in China.

Mike Shuter spoke to the vice president during his visit to Indiana Thursday.

“One caution I have is that African Swine Fever has decimated the sow herd in China,” he says. “We’re hearing reports that probably 40 percent of the sow herd in China is gone now.”

He tells Brownfield producers are concerned about ASF entering the U.S. and about the impact of the outbreak on exports.

“There’s a lot of soybean exports we have lost, partly because of the tariffs, but they don’t have a swine herd to feed them to anymore,” he says.

Shuter says he isn’t surprised by reports that China is underreporting losses of pigs.

“I would almost guess that more than half of their swine herd is gone,” he says.  

Shuter raises corn, soybeans, hogs, and cattle in central Indiana.

Audio: Mike Shuter, Indiana farmer