AgriTalk: Final Days of 2020 Provide Hope for Pork Producers

(Jennifer Shike)

2020 was filled with a lot of bumps in the road for the U.S. pork industry, but announcements made during the final days of the year offer great hope to pork producers as they look at what’s ahead.

A Step Forward for Gene Editing 
Nick Giordano, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) vice president and council for global government affairs, told AgriTalk host Chip Flory that USDA’s proposal to move oversight of gene editing in livestock from FDA to USDA is huge for the future of the pork industry. 

“For a lot of folks in the industry, it's not a ‘today’ issue. But we've got to today establish a regulatory framework that’s science-based and going to work. We don't have one today, whereas our competitors, as you heard Under Secretary Ibach say, are out in front of us. It's a serious matter,” Giordano said.

USDA has the needed expertise to help the U.S. move forward on this issue that’s been on the front burner for at least three years. 

“Nobody wants to see innovation and U.S. jobs shipped out of the country. And ultimately, that's what's at stake,” Giordano said. “FDA is behaving like they are the practitioners of the precautionary principle. This isn't the European Union and USDA has got the experience they need to be in the driver's seat. We're hopeful that Secretary Vilsack will support what Secretary Perdue is doing.”

This is an advanced notice of public rulemaking, Giordano explained. They still need to develop a preliminary rule and a final rule after everyone has the opportunity to comment. 

“NPPC is always going to support consumer choice and the producer’s choice to determine how they want to produce their animals and the products they want to use in the production process. All we're trying to do is make sure the United States stays in the game and that we have a science-based, reasonable regulatory framework,” he said.

From a producer’s point of view, Illinois hog farmer Chad Leman said this is welcome news.

“Give us the products and let us make the decisions about what works best on each of our farms,” Leman said. 

USDA oversight of gene editing in livestock will equip breeders with opportunity, Flory added. 

“I think you're going to be looking at all sorts of things that span the environment, animal health, welfare, less antibiotic use – this is very promising,” Giordano said. “Consumers need to keep in mind these are changes that can be made through conventional breeding. This is just a much quicker and more cost-effective thing to do, that we believe a lot of producers will be interested in and a lot of consumers will be interested in. But ultimately, it's their decision.”

NPPC Cheers Stimulus Package 
Giordano shared NPPC’s excitement about the COVID relief package that not only will get some compensation to producers who had to put animals down earlier this year, but also $635 million to help secure U.S. borders and fully fund inspectors to keep African swine fever and other foreign animal diseases out of the country.

“With travel being down because of COVID, we had a five-alarm fire potentially brewing here. And with the number one priority of our trade association, and obviously most producers across the country, to keep African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease out. This move impacts not only us, not only livestock, but the plant side as well,” Giordano said. 

The stimulus package also provides $20 million in funding for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.

“I don't think people understand the urgency in keeping African swine fever (ASF) out,” Leman told Flory. “If we get a case of ASF here, that's the final straw for a number of producers coming off of COVID and all the issues of 2020. If we can't keep ASF out, that spells doom and gloom. We’ve got to do everything we can to keep it out.”
 

More from Farm Journal's PORK:

USDA Oversight of Gene-Edited Livestock: A Seismic Shift for Agriculture

Farmer Forum: Pork Producer Weighs in on Feed Costs and Profitability

Covid Aid Bill Provides Ag Funding for Sectors Left Out of CFAP

 

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