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In December 2019, the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture confirmed another 27 cases of African swine fever infection in domestic pigs; one case of wild boar infected was also confirmed in Poland in December near the German border. In response, Germany decided to build a fence to prevent the spread of the disease in its own territory. Another five cases of infected wild boars were confirmed in Moldova, near the Romanian border. In China, the situation is gradually stabilizing; some provinces plan to achieve comparable pigmeat production this year as before the outbreak of the African swine fever in August 2018. However, because of the spread of the disease, China has banned the import of pork from Indonesia, where during the year 2019 up to 30,000 pigs died due to the spread of the disease. The disease continues to spread in Vietnam, where around 6 million pigs have been killed since February 2019.

Nestlé, a Swiss food giant, plans to sell a 60% stake in its processed meat business (namely 60% stake in German Herta) to the Spanish company Casa Tarradellas to focus more on plant-based alternatives to meat products. Nestlé should replace up to 10% of its range of meat products with plant-based products by the end of 2020, with a further expansion in the coming years. The sale of the stake should take place in the first half of 2020, Nestlé and Casa Tarradellas will continue to work together as a joint enterprise.
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Researchers from the Queen’s University Belfast have conducted an analysis of the consumption of processed meat products and cancer. The results of the analysis, according to scientists, provide the strongest evidence so far of a clear link between the consumption of sausages containing sodium nitrate and the development of cancer, especially in the case of colorectal cancer. In 2015, the World Health Organization identified processed meat products as carcinogens, but according to British scientists, the consumption of products that do not contain nitrates does not pose the same risks of cancer. The health risks of both groups of meat products (not/containing sodium nitrate) should therefore be assessed separately.
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On 30/12/2019 the British government pledged £2.85 billion of subsidies to farmers for 2020, which should compensate them Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. Under the withdrawal agreement, British farmers will no longer receive subsidies from European sources on the date the UK leaves the EU. Britain should step out on 31/01/2020, followed by a transitional period until the end of 2020, during which Britain should contribute to the European budget.
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Representatives of German farmers from the German Farmers' Association, in an interview on 02/01/2020, expressed concerns about the possible disruption of trade relations with Great Britain following its withdrawal from the European Union. Germany's agriculture industry exports worth €4.5 billion a year to Britain, while agricultural products worth a total of €1.3 billion go from Britain to the German markets. The trade surplus in favour of Germany is €3.2 billion, and in trade relations with other countries the surplus is always lower for Germany - Britain is therefore a key market. According to representatives of German farmers, Brexit will particularly affect the pigmeat, poultry meat, milk, dairy products, beef and cereals sectors. Moreover, because of the secondary impacts of Brexit, agricultural commodity prices in Germany could fall.
More information is available here.