In 2014, I transitioned into poultry production after almost 20 years in pork, with the same business partners. Not long after my switch, the U.S. was hit with its most severe outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) up to then, causing the death of more than 50 million chickens and turkeys in six months.

Having dealt with my share of transboundary, or foreign animal, disease (FAD) — including last year’s HPAI outbreak — one of the lessons I can impart to pork producers is to be mindful of your operation’s biosecurity. FADs such as African swine fever (ASF) and classical swine fever (CSF) are always a concern, even if ASF hasn’t touched the U.S. and CSF was eradicated here in 1978. With HPAI, as with many outbreaks, the primary vector was fecal-to-oral transmission, much of the fecal matter being borne into poultry houses on clothing and footwear.

Simple biosecurity measures could help avoid outbreaks and loss in your pig barns. These might include building Danish entries onto older facilities; cutting down on inconveniences to workers so they are encouraged not to take shortcuts bypassing biosecure practices (such as making sure your shower is fed by plenty of hot water if you have many employees using it each day); and creating separate entrances on your property for vehicles that don’t need to be near the livestock housing or installing a truck wash. Start with the easiest tactics to shore up, or the “low-hanging fruit.”

When HPAI was first discovered in late 2014, the federal government’s response was not well-organized. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought in contract cleanup workers who knew nothing about agriculture or biosecurity. Neither did the agency have a good sense of how to manage depopulation, cleanup and disposal in high volume. To the USDA’s credit, it did recognize these mistakes and conducted many conversations with producers, experts and state and local officials after the epidemic to prepare better for future outbreaks.

Plans are Insurance

When it comes to preventing a FAD at your operation, remember you are not on your own. There are three levels that must work together to achieve success: local producers and officials, state government and the federal government. The USDA and partner federal agencies, for example, are in charge of programs to detect and prevent FADs from making it past our borders or minimize their entry as much as practicable.

In 1935, in response to Salmonella pullorum that was rampant in poultry flocks, the industry and federal and state governments created the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) to provide a program through which new diagnostic technology can be applied to the betterment of poultry and related products. NPIP has grown into an internationally recognized program that consistently tests for and demonstrates freedom from disease among facilities.

So when HPAI struck in 2014-15, NPIP and federal officials working with overseas trading partners were able to show how non-contaminated poultry products could be separated from infected birds and facilities. Although there is no evidence the meat and eggs of infected birds are harmful to humans, importing countries still balked briefly at accepting U.S. poultry products — however, it was not as bad as it could have been, thanks to NPIP.

The pig industry has been working on a similar effort, the Swine Health Improvement Plan, focusing on the potential of ASF and/or CSF to infect herds. It also includes regular testing, at which some producers might wonder, “Why do I need to spend money and time to test pigs for something that’s not even here?” If or when one of these viruses is found on a U.S. farm, having this plan in place may provide similar protections for swine as the NPIP did for poultry, and ensure our lucrative pork exports don’t come to a halt.

You also need to create a plan for your own facility in case of infection. Moreover, you should be able to answer basic questions from it before you need it. Are you truly prepared to stop moving your pigs because someone’s given a stop order? If you have to go through euthanasia and disposal and cleanup, have you thought about where you will purchase the materials you’ll need, where you will hire the manpower and how you will manage farm biosecurity around the cleanup? Where will you get composting material if you need it? Who will dig the holes for burying animals, if needed?

Create Relationships

Do you know farmers who host tours for local elected officials and first responders? Maybe you know one who has a barbecue or other social event at their property and invites firefighters and officeholders; maybe you are one of these producers.

These are not the only ways to develop relationships with important people you may need to rely upon someday, but they are good suggestions. What you do could be as simple as picking up the phone for a short introduction and conversation with the fire chief or your county commissioner, or sharing a copy of your written facility disaster plan with the local emergency management office. Don’t wait until an outbreak happens to develop these relationships, because then it’s too late. These people will probably still assist as they can, but the work will be harder.

Also, if something does happen and mistakes are made by the government, don’t be afraid to request a review and propose changes. After 2015, the USDA held meetings with producers in which officials admitted they could have handled things better — and then they tried to improve. As a result, the agency transitioned into a plan that empowers producers to take control of cleanup, with federal reimbursement. As a result of this and biosecurity planning, while more animals were depopulated in the 2022 HPAI outbreak than in 2015, initial contaminations were caused less by farm-to-farm vectors and more by wild bird-to-farm (wildlife is difficult to control).

We like to complain about the government until we need it, but the USDA is staffed with professionals who care about the work they do, and most will listen if you approach them productively. Have some faith; and remember that the attitude you put in is usually the response you will receive.