Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period
… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).
… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)
… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)
… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size and duration.

Swine Fever Is Killing Vast Numbers Of Pigs In China and Destroying Soy Bean Feed Imports.

August 15, 20195:04 AM ET. NPR.

An epidemic of African Swine Fever is sweeping through China’s hog farms, and the effects are rippling across the globe, because China is a superpower of pork. Half of the world’s pigs live in China — or at least they did before the epidemic began a year ago.

“Every day, we hear of more outbreaks,” says Christine McCracken, a senior analyst at RaboResearch, which is affiliated with the global financial firm Rabobank.

McCracken and her colleagues now estimate that by the end of 2019, China’s production of pork could be cut in half. “That’s roughly 300 million to 350 million pigs lost in China, which is almost a quarter of the world’s pork supply,” she says. “It’s a massive number.” (This measures the reduction in pigs slaughtered annually, which is roughly twice the number of animals in China’s swine herd at any one time.)

The estimate, McCracken says, is based on information from her company’s clients in China, which include meat packers, companies that sell animal feed, and animal health experts.

African Swine Fever is not the same as “swine flu.” This disease is harmless to humans. It can spread through contaminated pork products or the clothes of people working with infected pigs. It does not travel through the air, but it’s long-lived and hard to get rid of — which Chinese farmers are learning the hard way.

“They’ve had a hard time repopulating herds,” McCracken says. “It’s hard to decontaminate a facility in a short amount of time. Generally, it takes at least six months, sometimes three years, to decontaminate a site.”

Up to now, Chinese consumers still are finding enough pork to buy. McCracken says that’s mainly because many farmers slaughtered their herds early, out of fear of infection. In the past month or so, however, supplies have started to run short, and pork prices are now rising sharply in China. 

In fact, people around the world are now starting to feel the effects.

With fewer pigs, China is importing less soy meal to feed them. That alone has been enough to push down global prices for soybeans, which means less money for farmers in Brazil and the U.S.

The effect on soybean prices may turn out to be modest. According to a preliminary analysis by Amani Elobeid, an economist at Iowa State University, and Miguel Carriquiry, at the University of the Republic in Uruguay, a 30% cut in China’s pork production could reduce the price of soy meal by 3 to 5%. In an email to NPR, however, they noted that the analysis “is VERY preliminary and should be used with caution.”

The growing Chinese pork shortage is good news, though, for pork producers in the rest of the world: China is now starting to import more pork, driving up prices.

McCracken says the epidemic is still going strong. “It’s really hard to see how this is going to end,” she says. “Though at some point there will just be better, more ‘biosecure’ facilities that have less of a chance of getting the virus.”

African Swine Fever is present in wild pigs in Europe. European pork producers have managed to protect their commercial herds from infection through careful precautions, preventing any potentially contaminated food or clothing from entering the facilities where pigs live.

Almost half the pigs in China, on the other hand, came from hundreds of thousands of small, backyard operations, which have been particularly hard-hit by the epidemic. If those farms can’t protect their animals from infection, they may not survive.