As reports of African swine fever (ASF) make headlines around the globe, the U.S. pork industry continues to work together to keep this deadly virus of pigs out of the country’s swine herd. But the question remains, is it enough?
“We can always do better,” says Barb Determan, former president of both the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the U.S. Animal Health Association. In January 2018, she traveled to Germany, Poland and Denmark. During that visit, she had candid conversations with pork producers about ASF.
“The producers themselves admitted that the way it was being transferred as far as they were concerned, was because of people,” she says. “So that brings us back to our borders, are we checking things close enough as people come and go from those places? I think we can always strengthen our borders, strengthen those checks.”
Protecting the U.S. swine herd from ASF may seem like someone else’s problem, but Determan says that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Here are three ways you can make a difference now to keep this disease out.
1. Tighten up biosecurity on your farm.
As producers, don’t lose sight of your biosecurity measures at home, Determan says. It starts by adhering to your biosecurity plan every day with every decision you make.
“I don’t mean just have the protocols written out, but actually verify that you’re following those protocols,” she adds. “It’s our job to protect our farm. It’s not everybody else’s job to protect our farm. It’s really important that we as producers take that responsibility – that we take it on personally and take it on daily.”
2. Get to know your state vet.
Liz Wagstrom, NPPC’s chief veterinarian, says every producer should develop a close relationship with their state veterinarian and the state veterinarian of every state that they move pigs to and that they move pigs through.
“Having that relationship, knowing who to talk to and having your paperwork ready to show them that you can have enhanced biosecurity, is how you’re going to be able to stay in business,” Wagstrom says.
3. Talk to your lawmakers.
Pork producers need to advocate for more support from Congress, says Bobby Acord, former USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) administrator. Advocate for increased funding for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network and for APHIS to increase efforts in regard to depopulation.
“I think we’ve been lulled into a false sense of security here in the past,” Acord says. “APHIS has demonstrated they can depopulate a large number of chickens and turkeys. And they’ve demonstrated that they can’t depopulate large numbers of pigs or cattle. We have to improve their ability to do that and that’s going to take money to do it.”
Producers have more leverage than anybody else in terms of making that point with their member of Congress, Acord adds.
Read more about the impact of ASF in Germany.
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Not Letting Our Guard Down on African Swine Fever
Forecasting Outbreaks Could Be a Game-Changer for Pork Industry
