News from the National Pork Board (Nov 2018)

The National Pork Board, along with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the National Pork Producers Council, the Swine Health Information Center, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), continues to work on key strategies and tactics to keep US pig farms free of African swine fever (ASF).

The USDA Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service has a disease response strategy for African swine fever called FAD PReP. States and the pork industry use this information to do state-specific planning. They have also committed to work with the industry to develop and host an ASF-specific exercise in 2019 to test key response functions necessary for successful ASF management and containment. Exercise participants will include pork producers, swine veterinarians, packer and processors, and allied industry. Invitations to participate will be sent to Canada and Mexico.

For more information, contact Dave Pyburn at DPyburn@pork.org or 515-223-2634.

Illinois farmer becomes new America’s Pig Farmer of the Year

This year’s finalists vying for the National Pork Board’s America’s Pig Farmer of the Year program were Patrick Bane of Arrowsmith, Illinois; Bill Luckey of Columbus, Nebraska; Brad Lundell of Kiron, Iowa; and Kevin Rasmussen of Goldfield, Iowa. After an in-depth interview with a third-party national judging panel, Bane took the top honor and will be traveling over the next year to represent the nation’s pig farmers.

“The finalists in this competition demonstrate how pig farmers embrace the We Care ethical principles as their daily standard of care,” said National Pork Board President Steve Rommereim, a pig farmer from Alcester, South Dakota. “We congratulate Pat Bane. We know he will do a great job over the next year.”

For more information about the program or to nominate someone for the 2019 program, contact Mike King at MKing@pork.org or 515-223-3532.

Pork industry focuses on feed ingredients to combat African swine fever threat

With the ongoing outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China, the National Pork Board, along with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the National Pork Producers Council, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), and the US Department of Agriculture, are working closely to help keep the United States free of ASF and other foreign animal diseases (FAD). This includes focusing on the importation of feed ingredients, a key area of potential high risk of disease transport.

Thanks to Checkoff-funded research conducted after the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus outbreak, swine industry experts now have some peer-reviewed science to rely on when looking at ways to mitigate the current risk posed by ASF in China and other countries. This includes work done on imported feed ingredients.

Paul Sundberg, DVM, director of the Swine Health Information Center, cites SHIC-funded research that shows viruses do have the potential to travel long distances via feed ingredients, which proves the theoretical ability of a FAD pathogen to reach US shores. To help prevent this potential risk from becoming a reality, swine industry experts have compiled these seven critical points for pig farmers to raise with their feed and feed-ingredient suppliers with the objective of starting a dialog about feed ingredient safety. They are:

1.  Describe the facility’s biosecurity program to minimize the spread of pathogens from people, vehicles, and ingredients.

2.  Describe the facility’s employee training on feed safety.

3.  Describe the facility’s pest control program.

4.  Describe the facility’s traceability program.

5.  Describe the facility’s supplier approval program.

6.  Is the facility certified by a third-party certification body for food safety?

7.  Does the facility utilize ingredients that were manufactured or packaged outside of the United States?

For more information, go to www.securepork.org and www.pork.org/FAD.