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A new study, underwritten by the Pork Checkoff and conducted by Iowa State University, estimates that porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) continues to be a major drag on the U.S. pork industry – costing the pork industry $641 million per year. This translates into $1.8 million per day or $114.71 per sow annually. The previous economic study in 2005 calculated PRRS losses at $560 million annually.
The 2011 study differed most significantly from the 2005 study in the allocation of losses between the breeding and the growing pig herds. Specifically, losses in the growing pig herd accounted for 88 percent of the total cost of PRRS in the 2005 study compared with 55 percent in the current analysis.
Based upon a survey of swine veterinarians from across the United States, the study’s researchers were able to estimate additional PRRS statistics. They found that 28 percent of sows and gilts used for breeding in the United States were PRRS virus-free and 60 percent of weaned pigs were PRRS-negative at placement.
Pork Checkoff/ United States.
http://www.pork.org/
