Seeking More Funding for an FMD Vaccine Bank

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association seeks more funding for the Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine bank from the next Farm Bill. Allison Rivera, NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs, explains…

“This go around we are again asking for more of those dollars so that we can make sure that we have enough antigen and that our bank is robust.”

As outbreaks of FMD have occurred off the coast of Australia and Indonesia, Rivera said, FMD is around the globe, so it is important to be prepared in the U.S.

Rivera also talked about the USDA recently awarding funding through the 2018 Farm Bill’s National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program….

“Things like NADPRP have allowed for states to apply for grants to be better prepared in the case of a foreign animal disease outbreak. So, the Secure Beef Supply plan is another great show of those resources. of those government dollars that are going towards better preparing our states to work together in the case of a foreign animal disease outbreak.”

That’s Allison Rivera, NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs.