Hungary foot-and-mouth disease measures enforced

Foot-and-mouth disease: Measures underway

Following  the March 7 announcement of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a cattle farm in Kisbajcs, West Hungary, the National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) has put strict measures in place. (We reported on the outbreak and the initial measures.)

By Friday, March 14, the entire affected livestock population had been terminated. EU and Hungarian measures on the protection and surveillance zones are in place and all for now, it seems that the outbreak has been contained.

On Monday, March 10, Prime Minister Orbán broadcasted a live update on Facebook from Kisbajcs, on the process of terminating the affected cattle stock at the farm. While the PM vowed to visit the affected farm, independent member of parliament Ákos Hadházy posted on social media that Mr. Orbán was not allowed entry by the veterinarian in charge at the farm.

By Friday, March 14,18 countries had introduced limitations on Hungarian exports due to the disease. Mr. Gulyás said that “the European Union has issued the certificate that makes it mandatory for member states to import from Hungary.”

On March 11, the Commission implemented an interim emergency measure to regulate the handling of the situation and avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade. Hungarian news sites reported that EU member states cannot institute full import bans on Hungary following the Commission’s decision.

According to the NÉBIH website, countries that limit Hungarian exports fully or partially include Canada, the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, the UK, Czechia, Poland, Moldova, Serbia, Israel, Malaysia, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

At a governmental press conference on Thursday, Gergelgy Gulyás, minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office, announced that the termination of the affected livestock population is expected to be finished by the end of Thursday, and that no other infection has been identified – Which means that the response from the veterinary authorities might just have been fast enough to prevent a full outbreak.

According to the NÉBIH website, there are now various epidemiologic measures in place. There are lockdowns, traffic closures and animal transport bans in place, these can be found at the NÉBIH website. Furthermore, hunting is prohibited within the protection and surveillance zones. In Győr-Moson-Sopron county, all animal shows and events involving animals susceptible to the disease are prohibited until March 17. Touristic attractions that involve susceptible animals (zoos, wildlife parks) are also closed to visitors until further notice. The trading of susceptible animals is prohibited in Győr-Moson-Sopron county. In eight other counties, the transport of cattle to slaughterhouses is prohibited, while the slaughter of pigs or other even-toed ungulate livestock can only be slaughtered for domestic consumption. All export of all susceptible livestock animals is prohibited.

Before the disease was identified, manure from the cattle far in Kisbajcs was dispersed on farmlands near the city of Győr, the collection and containment of this started on Thursday, Telex.hu reported.

It was reported on Friday, on the website of atv.hu, that with the termination of the affected livestock population, all signs currently point to the disease having been contained, however, “we are not out of the woods yet,” the portal writes.

The petting zoo section of the Budapest Zoo has been closed. The Hungarian Hiking Association has reported that parts of the famous National Blue Trail have been closed to hikers due to the animal disease.

Pig sector also hit hard by FMD lockdowns

Agrárszektor.hu reports that as third countries are barring entry for Hungarian pork to their markets, the loss of export partners is hitting the sector hard.

The UK, Russia, and China have imposed import bans on even-toed ungulates from Hungary due to the infection. The UK has also introduced a ban on cattle from Slovakia because the site of the outbreak in Hungary is close to the border. The export restrictions mainly affect the pork and cattle sectors, with significant obstacles for pork exports.

Tamás Éder, head of the Hungarian Meat Industry Alliance told the portal that this will affect many export companies in the pig sector. Last year, 8% of the pork meat produced in Hungary was exported, around 12 thousand tons, and more third country export bans will probably follow in the coming period.

EU export restrictions on Hungarian pork, for the intention of processing and then exporting to third countries, could also have significant economic impacts, Mr. Éder said. One example of this is pig thighs exported to Italy, which are then cured and re-exported as ham. If the virus is contained, EU exports will recover in time, but regaining third-country markets could take a long time due to immediate bans and lengthy negotiations.

Sheep sector in big trouble

The sheep and goat sector was hit hard by the export bans instituted by the Chief Veterinary Officer due to the FMD outbreak. Dávid Mezőszentgyörgyi, director of the Sheep and Goat Sectoral Interprofessional Organization told Agrárszektor that the lockdown measures mean significant additional work and costs for producers.

In addition, stricter rules must be applied on farms, and entry must be restricted, which is particularly difficult during the current lambing season, which is already a labor-intensive period. If the epidemic restrictions remain in place long-term, Mr. Mezőszentgyörgyi added, they could have serious, even irreversible consequences for the Hungarian sheep sector.

The export ban might lead to losses of up to €25 million in the sheep sector in the coming period. Small producers might be in big trouble, for whom the Easter period provides the majority, or even all of their annual income, and might experience a 100% revenue loss. Sheep farming is a low-capital sector with no significant reserves. Additionally, Hungary's slaughtering capacity is insufficient to process all the affected animals locally, with the largest slaughterhouse able to handle only 30-40 thousand lambs annually, while the country exports around 400 thousand lambs each year, the expert added.

Government reintroduces price caps

On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced in a video on Facebook that the government would introduce a new price cap measure in Hungary.

Mr. Orbán has mentioned in the video that they have been negotiating with commercial chains in recent days. Unfortunately, retail companies’ offers '”fell short by far” of the government's expectations, so they “had to decide to introduce regulatory measures.”

The announcement came after the Hungarian Statistical Office (KSH)’s latest report on monthly inflation, which was 5.6% in February, with 7.1% annual food inflation, while prices increased by 0.8% m-o-m from January, with a food price increase of 1.2%, with a few outliers with drastic price increases, like milk, sunflower oil, flour and eggs.

The current iteration of the price cap measure limits profit margins at 10% for 30 basic food items. Telex.hu reports that retail chains in the country have had low margins in the past period, with low profits relative to revenue. Various chains have barely broken even or even operated at a loss in 2023, and the figures for 2024 will not be much better, the portal adds. The special tax on retail is still in effect, as well as other taxes and fees (EPR, and two separate increases for water and sewage charges.)

According to to Portfolio.hu, the list of products regulated by the new measure is the following: Chicken breast fillet, chicken leg/thigh, chicken back/rump, chicken wing, whole chicken, turkey breast fillet, UHT milk 1.5%, UHT milk 2.8%, ESL milk 1.5%, ESL milk 2.8%, cooking oil, margarine, pork fat (lard), butter, fine flour, strudel flour, late potatoes, granulated sugar, pork thigh, pork loin, pork ribs, pork neck, egg, sour cream, Trappist cheese, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, fruit yogurt, garlic, bologna (sandwich meat).

Cultured meat to be decisively banned in Hungary

The ministry of Agriculture proposed new legislation last July on the banning of cultured meat in Hungary, following Italy’s example. the country submitted a TRIS notification which the Commission rejected in October. The plan to ban cultured meat was also opened to societal consultation in July.

Despite the Commission’s rejection, a legislative proposal was submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén on Tuesday, March 11. The proposed legislation would ban the production and marketing of artificial (cultured) meat in Hungary, with the only exception being its use for medical and veterinary purposes.

The justification states that “a significant portion of food is incorporated into the human body, therefore everything must be done to exclude and reduce possible negative effects.”

Apple farming: 2024 harvest proved disappointing

The Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) reported this week that the country’s apple harvest in 2024 was underwhelming, with a total 303 thousand tons which is much lower than the 2023 figure, which was 472 thousand tons.

The early spring flowering caused a pollination problem in 2024, and the late April frosts reduced yields. The extremely hot and dry summer further exacerbated the problem.

However, aging and technologically obsolete orchards also contributed to the lower yield, which is also evident from the fact that the decline was mainly observed in industrial apple crops, NAK reports. Furthermore, the weaker condition of apple trees that were heavily loaded the previous year may also have played a role in the decrease in yields.

Despite increased fertilizer sales in 2024, prices decreased

The Research Institute of Agriculture Economics (AKI) recently reported on the trends in the fertilizer market in 2024.

Fertilizer distributors sold 1.39 million tons of fertilizer in 2024, which was 28.9% more than in 2023. According to KSH data, however, the price of fertilizers was 24.6% lower. The net revenue from fertilizer sales (despite the increase in volume) fell by 8.1% to €545.6 million in 2024.

Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) was the most demanded fertilizer and it accounted for 46% of total sales (642 thousand tons), and increased by 3 percentage points compared to 2023. 83 thousand tons of urea were sold, which accounted for 6% of total sales (88 thousand tons in 2023, 8% ratio).

Urea treated with inhibitor accounted for 7% of all sold urea, its average price was €512.32/ ton, while the price of conventional urea was €454.82 /ton. The price of inhibitor-treated urea decreased by 60% compared to 2023.

From ammonium nitrate, 15 thousand tons were sold, which is a 36% increase compared to the base year. Liquid fertilizers accounted for 15% of total sales, two-thirds of which were Nitrosol and DAM fertilizers.