Both the Senate and House farm bills contain a major provision sought by the pork industry, requiring funding for a Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank. Minnesota Pork Producers Association President Greg Boerboom says the inclusion of the bank is critical for the livestock industry.
He says his group lobbied lawmakers about the need for the vaccine bank as an FMD outbreak could devastate the entire U.S. livestock industry. Iowa State University data shows an outbreak would cost pork and beef producers $128 billion over 10 years.
Boerboom says once the FMD Vaccine Bank is up and operating it will benefit not only the U.S. but other countries.
Boerboom says their national group, NPPC, is urging lawmakers to provide funding of $150 million for the vaccine bank, $70 million in state block grants for disease prevention and $30 million for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network for each of the five years of the farm bill.
