Pork producers are encouraged to attend a Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness Seminar scheduled next week in South Dakota. National Pork Board’s Director of Swine Health, Dr. Patrick Webb will be speaking about their Secure Pork Supply Plan. He says it’s designed to help producers guard against foreign animal diseases such as African Swine Fever, Foot and Mouth Disease and Classical Swine Fever.
He says if any of those disease surfaced in the U.S. it would stop trade immediately and have a devastating impact on the pork industry. Webb says while many pork producers have improved their biosecurity, it needs to be heightened. The Secure Pork Supply Plan can assist with that and if an outbreak occurs those certified will be able to market animals sooner than others.
Webb says their goal is to guard against all diseases and prevent ASF from ever getting into the United States.
The seminars are set for Monday in Huron and Tuesday in Sioux Falls. They are co-sponsored by the South Dakota Pork Producers Council, South Dakota Animal Industry Board and SDSU Extension.
