Monday the U.S. House approved legislation that authorizes funding for 740 new agricultural inspectors to prevent African Swine Fever and other foreign animal diseases from entering the United States. Minnesota Pork CEO Dave Preisler says the mostly likely path for a foreign animal disease to enter the country would be through the illegal transport of contaminated products, which the Ag Inspectors Bill addresses.

The legislation also authorizes 600 new agricultural technicians and 60 new agricultural canine teams. He says while USDA and the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection have done much to mitigate risk to animal disease this will help the industry be vigilant.

In October 2019, the Senate approved an identical version of the bill (S. 2017) so Preisler says it has had good reception in Congress.

Preisler says a FAD outbreak would immediately close U.S. pork export markets, causing significant damage to farmers and consumers.