Growing PRRS losses cost pork producers

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome caused an estimated $1.2 billion per year in lost production in the U.S. pork industry from 2016 to 2020, an 80% increase from a decade earlier, according to a new analysis by an Iowa State University expert. The viral disease has been present in U.S. swine herds since the mid-1980s and remains a growing threat, Derald Holtkamp, professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, said in a university news release. “After 40 years of experience fighting this virus, veterinarians and producers are still losing the battle against PRRS,” said Holtkamp, who led the new research and a 2012 study that estimated the virus caused $664 million in annual losses from 2006 to 2010. Data crucial The sharp increase in economic damage caused by PRRS isn’t driven by changes in market prices, production cost or the size of the U.S. pig inventory. Those factors only account for about $108 million of the $536 million increase in annual losse