The USDA, along with four industry associations are working very closely together to help keep the US free of African Swine Fever and all other foreign animal diseases, said Pork Magazine, quoting a National Pork Board statement.
Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes said in the article that ASF in the US could cost the industry billions of dollars.
The US beef industry needs to take note and do something similar, an analyst said. And keeping the US cattle and beef herd free of foreign animal diseases could be a way to market more beef overseas.
Among the strategies being employed by the Pork Board, the National Pork Producers Council, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Swine Health Information Center is a focus on the importation of feed ingredients. Such ingredients were called a key area of potential high risk of disease transport.
At least seven cases of ASF have been reported in China over the last month, and Chinese health officials have indicated that imported, contaminated feed may have been the source of this deadly disease.
And Seeking Alpha quoted Tyson Foods’ CEO Tom Hays saying Wednesday that the company expects to see an increase in hog demand because of the ASF outbreak in China.
ASF is a particularly bad disease for domestic swine in that there is no vaccine, no cure, and the disease is nearly 100% fatal. Wild swine species apparently can harbor the disease without symptoms, and ticks have been shown to be vectors in its transmission.
PEDV RESEARCH HELPS
Checkoff-funded research conducted after the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus outbreak in the US has given the US swine industry peer-reviewed science to look at when trying to find ways to mitigate the risk from ASF and other diseases, the Pork Magazine article said. This includes work done on imported feed ingredients.
Swine Health Information Center-funded research shows viruses have the potential to travel long distances in feed ingredients, the article said. Theoretically, this could provide an opportunity for foreign animal diseases to reach the US.
A CHECKLIST
To give producers something concrete to work with while guarding their feed ingredients from potential threat, swine industry exports, along with the American Feed Industry Association, the National Grain and Feed Association, Kansas State University and the University of Minnesota compiled a list of points to raise with their feed and feed ingredient suppliers. The list would be good for all livestock feeders to implement, the industry analyst said.
- Describe the facility’s biosecurity program.
- Describe the facility’s employee training on feed safety.
- Describe the facility’s pest control program.
- Describe the facility’s traceability program.
- Describe the facility’s supplier approval program.
- Is the facility certified by a third-party certification body for food safety?
- Does the facility use ingredients that were manufactured or packaged outside of the US?
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
No fed cattle sold Wednesday on the Livestock Exchange Video Auction, compared with 280 that traded two weeks previous at $109.50 per cwt.
Cash cattle traded last week at mostly $107 to $108 per cwt on a live basis, down $1.50 to $2 from the previous week, and at $168 to $170 on a dressed basis, down $2 to $4.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was down $0.42 per cwt at $210.40, while select was off $1.30 at $200.91. The choice/select spread widened to $9.49 from $8.61 with 136 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Tuesday, was $150.60 per cwt, down $0.02. This compares with Wednesday’s Sep settlement of $151.72, unchanged.