Animal Disease Preparedness, a Must for the Next Farm Bill
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network
Animal disease preparedness is a ‘must’ for the next farm bill according to livestock industry leaders at a recent farm bill hearing. Recent history is proof that animal disease outbreaks like BSE and foot and mouth disease, avian influenza, and, overseas, African swine fever can devastate livestock industries.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association head Todd Wilkinson at a recent House farm bill hearing…
“The U.S. must be prepared to deal with disasters like a foot and mouth disease outbreak, as economic consequences would be in the tens of billions of dollars. We simply cannot afford to do nothing. In this case, an ounce of prevention is truly worth more than a pound of cure, and NCBA calls on Congress to robustly fund ‘the three-legged stool.’”
Made up of a national vaccine bank preparedness program, and an animal health lab network. National Pork Producers President Scott Hays…
“The three-legged stool of animal health that was laid out in the 2018 Farm Bill has set the course for what pork producers need in the upcoming farm bill.”
Hays says African swine fever, deadly to pigs and now as close as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is a growing threat, and U.S. producers need tools to prevent or respond to an outbreak, should one ever occur.
