Category Archives: USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is furthering its overall African Swine Fever (ASF) preparedness efforts with the implementation of a surveillance plan. As part of this plan, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will work with the swine industry, the states, and veterinary diagnostic laboratories to test for ASF. (Source: USDA APHIS 16 May 2019)

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) launched an interactive website that provides livestock producers with important information. The site contains web links for obtaining premises identification numbers (PIN) and location identifiers (LID) within livestock producers’ respective States. Federal PINs or state specific LIDs are unique codes permanently assigned to a physical location. PIN and LID registrations, administered by the States, allow animal health officials to quickly identify and locate animals in the event of an animal health or food safety emergency. A PIN or LID is required to purchase official animal identification tags. [Source: USDA 2 May 2019]

NPPC Hogs on the Hill Blog was disappointed to read a Washington Post story this week on a new pork inspection system under USDA consideration. The new system, one that has been tested and scrutinized for years, is designed to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the federal inspection process and to provide more flexibility for adopting new food-safety technologies. [Source: NPPC 4 April 2019]

State and federal agencies should remain vigilant and report sightings of sick or dead feral swine to their local USDA Wildlife Services Biologist (1-866-4-USDA-WS). As a foreign animal disease (FAD), all field response to suspect cases of African swine fever (ASF) in the United States will be led by USDA. As an Affiliate Member of the USDA National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the USGS National Wildlife Health Center is approved to conduct testing for ASF in feral swine should our assistance with national surveillance for this FAD be requested. For more information please contact: Dr. David Blehert. [Source: USGS National Wildlife Health Center 29 March 2019]

The time of the joint APHIS-NRCS feral swine listening session has been changed and will now take place on Friday, April 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you previously registered for the original March 28th listening session date, you are automatically registered for the April 5th session and can use the phone number and unique conference code you already received via email. If you still need to register, you can do so by clicking on the link in the invitation.

The time of the joint APHIS-NRCS feral swine listening session has been changed and will now take place on Friday, April 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you previously registered for the original March 28th listening session date, you are automatically registered for the April 5th session and can use the phone number and unique conference code you already received via email. If you still need to register, you can do so by clicking on the link in the invitation.

The time of the joint APHIS-NRCS feral swine listening session has been changed and will now take place on Friday, April 5, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you previously registered for the original March 28th listening session date, you are automatically registered for the April 5th session and can use the phone number and unique conference code you already received via email. If you still need to register, you can do so by clicking on the link in the invitation.

Last week, USDA-trained detector dogs played a major role in the seizure of roughly 1 million pounds of pork smuggled from China where there is an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). The highly contagious and deadly disease affects both domestic and feral (wild) pigs and there is no treatment or vaccine available for it. [Source: USDA 19 March 2019]

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing some changes to the regulations for the accredited veterinarian program, in order to clarify program definitions. [Source: USDA APHIS 7 March 2019]

Please join APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea and NRCS Chief Matthew Lohr along with members of their leadership teams, including APHIS Associate Administrators Mike Gregoire and Mike Watson and NRCS Acting Associate Chief Kevin Norton on Thursday, March 28, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET for a Farm Bill Listening Session via teleconference. This listening session is an opportunity for interested State and Tribal partners as well as stakeholders to comment on the feral swine provision in the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 that will be jointly managed by APHIS and NRCS.