Will 'Geumran' Value Stabilize... Government to Reduce Culling in Farms with Excellent Quarantine Measures

Pilot Operation of Disease Control Grading System from the 15th
Farms with Excellent Quarantine Facilities and Compliance with Quarantine Rules Excluded from Preventive Culling Targets

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] While egg prices remain higher than the average level, a disease management grading system that excludes farms with excellent quarantine equipment and facilities and those that strictly follow quarantine rules from preventive culling is being piloted.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held a briefing at the Government Sejong Complex regarding the pilot operation of the disease management grading system for layer farms and announced that from the 15th, quarantine standards by farm type and compensation payment standards for culling will be announced. The disease management grading system is designed to enhance farmers' autonomous quarantine levels by granting the option to be excluded from preventive culling to farms with good quarantine conditions and thorough biosecurity measures.

This year, the pilot targets layer farms with large-scale breeding and relatively good breeding and quarantine facilities but where multiple AI outbreaks occurred due to inadequate quarantine management. Farms wishing to participate in the disease management grading system can apply to local governments (city, county, district). The facilities, equipment availability, and quarantine management levels of the farms will be evaluated, and considering past AI outbreak history, farms will be classified into three types.

If quarantine facilities, equipment, and management levels meet standards and there is no history of AI outbreaks, the farm is classified as type 'Ga'; if there is a history of AI outbreaks, it is type 'Na'. If quarantine facilities, equipment, or management levels are insufficient and require improvement, it is classified as type 'Da'. Farms classified as 'Ga' or 'Na' can choose the extent to which they are excluded from preventive culling.

If AI occurs in farms excluded from preventive culling, the culling compensation will be reduced proportionally to the incentive. For example, if AI occurs after exclusion from preventive culling within 500m to 3km, the compensation for culling, which was previously 80% of the livestock and property appraisal value, will be lowered to about 60%.

Farms wishing to participate in the disease management grading system can submit applications to the local government where the farm is located from the 19th to the 30th. After evaluation by the local government and the Animal Hygiene and Quarantine Headquarters, the type will be assigned before the start of the special AI quarantine period in October.

Farms classified as 'Ga' or 'Na' can select the scope of exclusion from preventive culling to the local government between October 1 and 5, and this will be applied from October 9 this year until the end of March next year. For these farms, enhanced quarantine measures such as disinfecting farm entrances, farm and environmental inspections, and restricting entry of feed and manure vehicles into the farm will be implemented to prevent AI occurrence and horizontal transmission.

If AI occurs in neighboring farms, vehicle and outsider access to the farm will be restricted, and disinfection, monitoring of mortality and laying rates, and farm and environmental inspections will be further strengthened.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs expects that the introduction of the disease management grading system will serve as an opportunity to shift the AI quarantine promotion system to be led by farmers, the actual quarantine agents, thereby establishing a foundation for autonomous quarantine. By setting the scope of preventive culling based on risk assessment through the disease management grading system, AI quarantine measures can be efficiently implemented while minimizing the impact on the poultry industry. If the effectiveness is proven through analysis of this year's pilot operation results, the system will be expanded to the entire livestock industry.

Park Byunghong, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "The disease management grading system and AI risk assessment plan will be a new turning point that changes the direction of quarantine policy," adding, "We will prepare detailed implementation plans for AI quarantine improvement measures announced last May, such as reforming the inspection system and strengthening management of integrated operators, and proceed without delay."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.