Livestock groups have been on high alert for years, but more so recently when an atypical case of BSE was discovered at a South Carolina slaughterhouse. The National Pork Board has warned of the potential fallout if African Swine Fever were to make its way into the United States—and they’re reminding producers of another program that could help if that fear becomes a reality.
“US SHIP would step in and have some specific requirements or standards for biosecurity, traceability, and surveillance so that we would have the competence of where the disease is not,” Dr. Tyler Holck with the Pork Board said. “In other words, determining and demonstrating the freedom of disease, outside of those control areas.”
So far there are 31 states participating in the program, accounting for about 55 percent of the nation’s sow herd. Dr. Holck says it’s important to get that number up.
“So, a producer that’s interested in participating would reach out to their state and do a very simple straightforward enrollment and fill out a biosecurity survey, and then they would be enrolled in US SHIP, and then it would be up to them in the state to then confer certification in the program,” Holck said.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a pork powerhouse or an individual 4-H show pig exhibition producer, we are welcoming and encouraging all to enroll as you think about being more discerning of what’s appropriate for those different types of producers,” Hol continued. “That’s how we’re monitoring or making our requirements—our standards towards those different classifications of producers.”
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