4 Ways to Boost Biosecurity in Your Swine Herd
Are you tired of recurring health issues in your herd? If you want to improve pig health in your herd, it may mean you need to change biosecurity protocols.
Making a plan and getting everyone on board is the first step to success. Once everyone on the team understands why the changes are being made, they can buy in to ensure the changes are done correctly.
“Biosecurity is more than locks on doors, UV chambers and downtime tables – it’s a cultural mindset," says Nicholas Lauterbach, DVM, technical services veterinarian for Pharmgate Animal Health. "Protocols help train new employees on processes and ensure they’re executed correctly to protect herd health.”
Here are four ways you can adjust your biosecurity to improve your herd’s health.
1. Write it down.
If you are serious about making change, you’ve got to write it down and make sure it’s realistic.
“Changing protocols is difficult because we immediately want to make protocols more sophisticated and add more layers,” Lauterbach says. “The reality is the best biosecurity plans are clearly defined and repeatable.”
Don’t be afraid to ask yourself these questions in the process:
• How easy will it be to train individuals on the new processes?
• How are you going to verify that everyone is doing them correctly?
Changing your protocol will only be effective if the people on the operation can do the new processes correctly.
"A big part of biosecurity protocol success is whether the written protocol is based on insight and experience of the true process,” adds Jerome Geiger, DVM, health assurance veterinarian with Pig Improvement Company (PIC).
Geiger helps farms understand what’s being implemented through system audits. He digs into every layer of the process at the different levels of management and labor, including upper management, production management and employees, to see where breakdowns occur.
For example, one person writes a protocol for washing a room or a truck to reduce contamination, but others are responsible for doing the washing. If those employees have never washed a room or truck before, the plan won’t happen correctly. The plan must be written realistically and should include training.
2. Own the process.
Biosecurity processes add time to almost everything. Asking people to shower and change clothes before entering farms adds difficulty and makes them less efficient, even before adhering to in-barn biosecurity practices.
“These steps can be a strain on labor. But if you explain why they are important and how they can help to keep your herd free of disease, they will be more receptive,” Lauterbach says.
Not knowing expectations is the biggest area Geiger sees people struggle, which can lead to inconsistency in execution. Lack of understanding or time pressures can also create communication challenges. Help every team member understand the protocols.
“You need people who are accountable and say, ‘This is my job and I’m going to do it right from beginning to end,’” Geiger says.
3. Execute protocols.
Just because it’s written down on paper doesn’t mean it’s always performed day-to-day.
“On one farm I audited, the written protocols said every truck leaving the system should be disinfected,” Geiger says. “But as I worked through each layer of the operation, we uncovered the wash system wasn’t taking up disinfectant and no one knew it. So, what was happening didn’t match the written protocol.”
Once you’ve identified shortcomings like this one, you can develop a solution that works for everyone on the farm.
Education and protocol execution go hand in hand, Lauterbach adds. He suggests asking yourself this question:
• Is my team doing this the way I expect them to?
Despite having the most detailed and robust biosecurity protocols in the industry, if employees cannot execute what you ask them to do, they will not be effective.
4. Track it.
Documentation is key to carrying out a successful health protocol. How can you prove that you do X, Y or Z daily? Tracking what you do is helpful when determining where breakdowns occur.
“Documentation doesn’t have to be specific to the protocols,” Geiger points out. “It might simply be reviewing a log of materials delivered to the facility and confirming the number of vaccine doses delivered matches the number of pigs vaccinated.”
Always evaluate and re-evaluate your biosecurity protocols. Consider how preparation, execution and maintenance can make a difference before deciding if changing them is right for your operation.
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