Groups of Swine Veterinarians have been meeting with Congress in hopes of convincing them to approve farm bill funding for a vaccine bank. The concern is to be able to handle an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Iowa Veterinarian Dr. Howard Hill, past President of NPPC says the USDA is woefully prepared should an FMD outbreak happen.

He says there needs to be a lot of vaccine on hand to protect the total number of livestock currently in the United States.

Hill says spending $ 150 million over five years is just a drop in the bucket compared to what an outbreak of FMD would cost.

The possible cost of a foot and mouth disease outbreak was documented in a recent study issued by Iowa State University and shared by swine vets with Congress this week.