Parliamentarian from the Center Party calls for the Rural Affairs Committee to tackle the agricultural predicament immediately.
In Estonia, a second large-scale outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) has hit the country's pig farming industry, causing significant concern among agricultural stakeholders. Around 10% of Estonia's pig population, approximately 25,000 pigs, have perished due to the disease in 2025.
The crisis has severely impacted major farms like Ekseko, Estonia's largest pig farm with about 50,000 pigs. Strict biosecurity measures, such as one-month entry bans, have been imposed to prevent the spread of ASF and protect food supply stability.
Lauri Laats, a concerned expert or official, has expressed alarm about the threat posed by ASF to livestock farming, exports, and food security. The Estonian government and officials, including Agriculture Minister Hendrik Johannes Terras and Prime Minister Kristen Michal, have voiced urgent concern over the impact of the outbreak on the industry and the nation's food security.
The crisis has led to large-scale culling, movement restrictions, and disruptions in farm operations, contributing to economic strain and the risk of rising pork prices due to reduced domestic supply.
To address the outbreak, authorities have proposed several measures. These include strict biosecurity and movement controls around affected farms, rapid reporting and testing of suspected ASF cases, improved government communication to address public fears, misinformation, and conspiracy theories, and continued culling of infected and exposed pig populations, while providing financial compensation to farmers.
However, challenges remain. Compensation delays or disputes have caused additional difficulties, and the culling of pigs awaiting culling due to the ASF outbreak has been put on pause until the results of additional analysis are known. Nearly 10,000 pigs are currently awaiting culling.
Lauri Laats, chairman of the parliamentary group of the Center Party, has proposed an extraordinary sitting for the rural affairs committee to discuss and seek solutions to current concerns regarding the country's agricultural policy. He believes that the extraordinary passivity of the minister responsible for the field is having a negative impact on rural life.
The case of the Nurme farm in Viljandi County still requires a special approach, as 30 additional samples taken after the discovery of the disease turned out to be negative. The samples from the farm have been sent to a foreign laboratory for further analysis.
In summary, the ASF outbreak has decimated Estonia's pig herds by about 10%, prompting targeted containment and biosecurity actions, sparking concerns about food prices and national food security, and eliciting calls from experts and officials for urgent, coordinated response and improved communication to mitigate economic and social impacts.
- Lauri Laats has proposed an extraordinary sitting for the rural affairs committee to discuss and seek solutions to current concerns regarding Estonia's agricultural policy, expressing concern over the potential negative impact of the minister responsible's passive approach on rural life.
- Apart from the compensation delays and the halt in culling due to the results of additional analysis, challenges also remain in controlling the ASF outbreak, such as the need for continued culling to prevent the spread, improving government communication to counter public fears and misinformation, and the ongoing analysis of samples from farms like Nurme.
