The Food Policy Research Center has released an issue brief on the impact of PED: Click Here to Read the Full Brief 

A summary of the brief is listed below (information provided by the Food Policy Research Center): 

• The entry of a novel disease, Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), into the United States (U.S.) in 2013 caused the death of 7 million piglets, with Minnesota having the second highest number of farms affected. The disease caused consumers to pay 13% higher prices for pork products.
• Pig production is a $6.9 billion industry in Minnesota, and a $22.5 billion industry in the U.S.
• The Minnesota state-funded Rapid Agricultural Response Fund allocated $100,000 within two months of PED emergence for the development of essential diagnostic tests and the state Legislature provided an additional $200,000 a year later to investigate risk factors associated with the spread of PED.
• The timely allocation of these state-appropriated funds early in the outbreak likely expedited the early detection of rapidly spreading PED and may have reduced overall losses to Minnesota’s pig industry.