«He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree» is a famous proverb which accurately characterizes the current state of the pig industry. Uneasy epizootic situation in the sector requires market players to take an important decision or to continue the work or to close their business. At the same time, staying in business means strengthening measures of biosecurity. According to the current scale of the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in Ukraine it’s very hard to believe in lucky final. Main question is how much biosecurity costs?

— What does the level of biosecurity in production depend on?

— The epizootic situation in the country gradually displaces unprotected farms from pig production. The rest of farms are forced to use and strengthen biosafety measures to reduce the risks that are connected with ASF. Of course, basically the level of biosafety of the production unit depends on many organizational measures that are taken.

— What is the relative share of costs for basic biosafety measures and equipment?

— The larger the industrial pig farm is the greater is the potential loss due to ASF. This reasoning forces some producers to turn their farms into an unattainable «fortresses», reinforcing standard biosafety measures with additional innovations. According to FAO experts, relative share of costs for basic biosafety measures and equipment will vary within 15-20% of the total investment.

— How much will biosecurity cost for small pig farms?

— For small-scale pig farms or households, which have appropriate conditions for keeping animals (a fence, a closed production room), additional biosafety measures will cost 10-50 euros per head or more than 100 euros per head if such conditions of detention are absent.

Comments of agrarians on the issue of biosecurity you can read in the full version of the article in the journal «Profitable Pig Production» No. 38 (No. 2, April 2017)