The executive committee of the AASV spent two days in Washington, DC meeting with regulators, legislators and researchers to discuss issues of interest to swine veterinarians. Drs. Randy Jones, Tara Donovan, Matt Anderson, Paul Ruen, Tom Burkgren and Harry Snelson, along with the leadership from the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, were hosted by the Governmental Relations Division of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
During the visit, participants had an opportunity to meet with officials from USDA (APHIS and FSIS) and FDA, to discuss such topics as:
- influenza surveillance,
- comprehensive and integrated swine surveillance plans,
- animal traceability,
- the USDA’s Vision 2015 report
- antimicrobial residues and condemnation issues at slaughter
- veterinary oversight
- Veterinary Feed Directives, and
- FDA Guidance 209.
In addition, the group also met with swine researchers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to discuss the priorities and direction for swine health and production research in the face of dwindling research funding.
We had an opportunity this year to meet with Dr. Deborah Sheely, Assistant Director of the Institute of Food Production and Sustainability at NIFA. The PRRS CAP projects are funded through Dr. Sheely’s institute. Funding for PRRS CAP will be discontinued in 2012, so we took the opportunity to describe to her the impact PRRS has had on the swine industry and the value of the research funded through the PRRS CAP program. We expressed our desire to see this funding continue beyond 2012 if possible.
The AASV leadership also had an opportunity to meet with their individual legislators on Capitol Hill to discuss legislation and funding concerns associated with swine health and production.
For additional information about our meetings in DC, please read the Advocacy in Action column in the September/October issue of the Journal of Swine Health and Production.