Swine operations in 38 states will be contacted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) starting in June 2021 and asked to participate in a national level study. This study focuses on the health, health practices and biosecurity employed by swine producers in this country. These confidential national studies have been occurring every 5-8 years for 30 years. National estimates of this type have found use in trade negotiations and providing objective information to the swine industry, policymakers and researchers of all types.
Originally this effort was to go forward in 2020. Because of production and market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this study has been moved to 2021. More information is available here.
Since 1990 the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) has published national (population) estimates of the Nation’s livestock, poultry, and farmed aquatic animals in cooperation with commodity industry representatives and producers. The term "population estimates" means that when NAHMS publishes a percent, an average or a ratio the estimates apply directly to the target population under study. In research, a population estimate used for a sample size calculation is very difficult to get.
The NAHMS Swine 2021 study will give the swine industry 30 years of national snapshots. There are two components to the study, a large and a small.
The large component will start with NASS starting the initial data collection in July 2021 with VS representatives going out after harvest in the Fall of 2021. The target population is U.S. swine operations with 1,000 or more pigs and approximately 2,500 operations will be selected from 13 of the Nation’s top swine-producing States (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Dakota). Free Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Enterococcus fecal cultures (from grower/finisher pigs) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing will be offered free to participating producers. In addition, oral (from grower/finisher pigs) fluid test results regarding the prevalence Senecavirus A (SVA) will be offered.
The small component will occur from June to the end of July 2021. The target population is U.S. swine operations with fewer than 1,000 pigs. NAHMS hopes to provide new information regarding animal health and management practices used on these operations, as well as the alternative marketing strategies that some farms implement (e.g., show pigs, organic). Approximately 5,800 swine operations from 38 States will be asked to participate in the study. These states account for about 95 percent of U.S. swine operations with fewer than 1,000 pigs. This component will be a mail out with telephone follow-up handled entirely by NASS.
The 2021 study components will provide the swine industry with:
- Information about the US swine industry that is useful for trade negotiations.
- Information about sourcing of pigs and feed for swine farms as well as destination types for swine leaving the farm. This is useful for foreign animal disease transmission modeling and resource planning for such an event.
- Factual information about modern swine management and medication usage to help rebut claims by those that oppose livestock raising.
- Objective measurements that show swine producers’ livelihoods (e.g., production parameters) were affected in 2020.
For more information contact Charles Haley at (970)-225-1377 or charles.a.haley@usda.gov.