Wiesbaden, HE | Carsten Reimer, agricultural expert at R+V Versicherung, warns of the massive damage that the current animal epidemics could cause in Germany. R+V Versicherung estimates that the financial losses for bluetongue disease (BTV-3) alone could amount to around 14 million euros.
African swine fever: Impact on pig farming and arable farming
African swine fever (ASF) is spreading in parallel to BTV-3, especially in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. In the event of an infection, the disease requires the entire herd of an affected farm to be killed. While the affected pig farmers in the restricted area are entitled to state compensation payments, they still have to bear high additional costs for blood samples and transport. Arable farming is also suffering from the strict regulations in the restricted zones, as the further spread of the disease is to be prevented by restrictions on field work such as sowing, fertilizing and harvesting. R+V offers ASF crop insurance that reimburses up to ten percent of the market price of the affected crop, thus securing the farmers’ liquidity.
Bird flu: short-term relief, long-term worries
In contrast to the other epidemics, the situation with bird flu is currently easing slightly. Since October 2020, R+V has recorded losses of 36 million euros for poultry farmers. Avian influenza is usually concentrated in the winter months, but the current 2023/2024 season has already caused significant losses of over six million euros. Reimer warns that bird flu could flare up again this autumn, as the disease is spread by migratory birds that carry the infection on their way south.
