News from the
National Pork Board SWINE HEALTH INFORMATION CENTER BEGINS TACKLING DISEASE RISKS
A new center will soon give pork producers good information about disease risks. The new Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) is set to open in Iowa and will be run by Dr. Paul Sundberg, a former practicing veterinarian and the former senior vice president for science and technology at the National Pork Board. The center will be located in Perry, Iowa, in office space leased from the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV), one of many partners SHIC hopes to enlist to aid the effort, Sundberg said. Another partner, the National Pork Board, has provided $15 million in Pork Checkoff funding over five years. Sundberg said that SHIC is an independent organization but that it will work closely with veterinarians, pork producers, swine genetics companies, animal-health product providers and organizations including the Pork Board, AASV, the National Pork Producers Council, land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among others. “The center is in its infant stages, and we want make sure we aren’t creating unrealistic expectations for our work,” Sundberg said. “We are not going to prevent another disease such as PRRS, or circovirus, or porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). What we can do is develop better diagnostic capabilities for earlier detection of high-risk pathogens and to provide data analysis to help producers and their veterinarians improve the management of the health risks for the pigs on their farms.” Sundberg said another key role of the center will be to develop an international swine health information network to identify and prioritize high-risk pathogens worldwide. He said he will be meeting soon with veterinary schools that have contacts at universities in other countries to get ideas for forming the international network.
He said such a network could have been helpful in managing the swine industry’s most recent devastating virus, PED. He said that in March of 2013, AASV identified PED as an international threat. “Everybody said it’s a terrible thing and a good thing we didn’t have it here. Then it showed up here in May.
NEW INTERNATIONAL TRICHINAE GUIDANCE WILL HELP BOOST U.S. PORK EXPORTS
The United Nations’ food-safety standard-setting body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Saturday finalized global guidelines that provide a way for countries to define negligible risk for trichinae and establish methods for monitoring risk over time. NPPC and the National Pork Board provided scientific input on the international guidance, which will help increase U.S. pork exports by hundreds of millions of dollars annually. A number of countries require testing for trichinae as a precondition to accepting exports of fresh chilled U.S. pork despite the fact that the United States is at negligible risk for the parasite. Trichinae is nearly non-existent in the U.S. pork supply because of increased knowledge of risk factors, adoption of controlled management practices and thorough biosecurity protocols, but many U.S. trading partners still have concerns over trichinae because of its prevalence in their domestic swine herds, which can result in severe human health issues. Dr. Ray Gamble, past president of the International Commission on Trichinellosis, has estimated the prevalence of trichinae in the U.S. commercial swine herd at 1-in-300 million, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes the U.S. commercial herd as low risk.
NATIONAL PORK BOARD CREATES INNOVATION TEAM FOCUSED ON FOOD CHAIN OUTREACH
Consistent with the National Pork Board’s five-year strategic plan to build consumer trust and grow consumer demand, the organization
is updating its food chain outreach structure. These changes will allow the National Pork Board to be even more effective in collaborating with channel partners in a focused effort to stimulate pork demand. “Our strategic plan defines a blueprint for industry success by addressing the changing world facing U.S. pork producers,” said Derrick Sleezer, president of the National Pork Board and a producer from Cherokee, Iowa. “Our marketing effort taps into the emotional connections consumers have with their food and will fuel a fresh dialogue about modern pork production and continuous improvement for the benefit of people, pigs and the planet.” The National Pork Board plans to expand efforts this year in product innovation to grow consumer demand. This effort will be supported by consumer research, market data analysis and channel insights, product design, market testing, channel marketing and channel communications. “We’re very excited about this new direction in leadership within our organization,” said Sleezer. “These changes will allow us to have greater focus and efficiency as we work with our foodservice and retail partners to increase pork demand.”
JBS USA PORK PURCHASES CARGILL PORK BUSINESS
JBS USA Pork has entered into an agreement with Cargill to acquire the company’s US-based pork business for $1.45 billion. Completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory review and approval. “The announcement of our agreement to purchase the Cargill pork operations is a strategic investment in the long-term growth of our domestic and global pork business and demonstrates our continued commitment to the US livestock sector,” said Martin Dooley, president and COO of JBS USA Pork. “This transaction will strengthen our position as a producer and supplier of all major animal proteins around the world, and provide increased opportunities for our producer partners and key customers. The