By Paul Ayers, animal care manager at The Maschhoffs
In today’s rapidly evolving agricultural landscape, proactive foreign animal disease (FAD) preparedness is more critical than ever. At The Maschhoffs, we have adopted innovative solutions to meet the increasing demands for robust traceability and effective disease response measures. A key element of our preparedness strategy has been the integration of RABapp and AgView — two leading platforms that have transformed how we document premises locations and track animal movements. This integration better equips us to safeguard our herds and ensure a swift response in the event of an FAD outbreak.
Which Platform Should I Use?
RABapp and AgView are both recognized as essential repositories for managing premise locations and animal movements. However, each producer has unique needs, so it’s important to evaluate both platforms to determine which best integrates with your production system. It’s also crucial to engage with your respective state animal health officials to understand which platform they prefer for accessing producer data during an FAD event. Regardless of the platform selected, the most important step is to start participating to ensure you’re prepared when the need arises.
For our production system, RABapp has been a natural fit, supporting our efforts to digitize Secure Pork Supply (SPS) plans and perform bulk uploads of movement and premise data. RABapp has enabled us to standardize all SPS plans across our sites in a digital format, ensuring they can be easily updated. Recent advancements, such as SPS mapping directly within the application, further enhance its functionality. Additionally, RABapp has been critical in helping us meet the traceability standards required by the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Program (US-SHIP). This platform provides a reliable way to manage and update premises and movement data in real-time, ensuring that information is readily accessible in the event of an outbreak.
Integration with AgView
In addition to our use of RABapp, we have established an integration to make sure our data is also available within AgView. This integration ensures all premise IDs and the movement of pigs and semen data is readily available across both platforms, making it easier for us to meet regulatory requirements and facilitating access for state animal health officials when needed. AgView further strengthens our preparedness by offering additional integrations with diagnostic labs, feed delivery systems and semen software — resources that could prove invaluable during an outbreak.
Additional Preparedness Measures
Beyond utilizing RABapp and AgView, we’ve also participated in the US-SHIP traceability pilot project. This initiative has been instrumental in identifying gaps or errors in our movement data submissions and verifying that our data aligns with the information submitted to state animal health officials through swine production health plans. To further enhance our preparedness, we have also trained several farm managers and field staff through the Certified Swine Sample Collectors program, ensuring they are equipped to collect and submit samples required for movement permits during an FAD event.
Looking Ahead
As we look to the future, our focus remains on strengthening our FAD preparedness through continuous improvement and innovation. Both RABapp and AgView have exciting enhancements planned that will provide even greater value to producers and state animal health officials. By embracing these platforms, we are not only protecting our own operation but also contributing to the broader effort to safeguard the U.S. swine industry. In the event of a disease emergency, time is of the essence. Having immediate access to accurate, up-to-date information on premises locations and animal movements is critical for effective disease containment and management. We encourage all producers to prepare their operations by engaging in these important industry programs.
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