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Prevention remains NPPC focus as African swine fever threat remains overseas
The president of the National Pork Producers Council points to prevention as a prevailing theme nearly three years after the African swine fever outbreak began in China.
Jen Sorenson, communications director for Iowa Select Farms, says ASF has rattled the industry.
“It got us all focused on prevention, prevention at our borders, looking at the risk of feed and live pig movement, and interfacing with APHIS and Customs and Border Patrol and all those things, turning over every rock to see how we can better protect U.S. pig farmers from African swine fever.”
ASF was first confirmed in China during the summer of 2018 and has now spread across Asia and Eastern Europe.
Speaking to Brownfield during World Pork Expo in early June, Sorenson says U.S. pork producers are planning for the worst.
“In the event that we do get it, how do we get back on our feet quickly and restore relationships with our trading partners?”
She says one of the top priorities at NPPC is ensuring that if an ASF outbreak occurs in the U.S., exports can get back to current levels as quickly as possible.
