News from the National Pork Board

National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production

The National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production is a self-named commission that is funded by a $2.6 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts and managed and staffed by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future. The commission is tasked with identifying, defining, and developing plans to mitigate adverse social, economic, environmental, public health, and animal health and well-being issues associated with concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs).

The commission is conducting a 2-year study of intensive food-animal production and its impact on the aforementioned issues. The commission will produce interim reports to help the public and the organization’s commissioners come up with a final comprehensive report of its findings. The final report, due March 2008, will have recommendations that will be made available to policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the general public.

Members of the commission come from a variety of backgrounds. Some of the commissioners include Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch; Brother David Andrews of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference; Bernard Rollin, professor of philosophy at Colorado State University; Thomas Hayes, president, Cargill Meat Solutions; and Dan Glickman, former US Secretary of Agriculture. Some of these commissioners are well-known advocates against CAFOs.

Commissioners use public meetings as part of their investigations. At these meetings, stakeholders are invited to participate by sending in written statements and by appearing in person to present oral statements of their views. Seven public meetings have taken place between March 2006 and June 2007. A meeting is scheduled for September 10 to 12 in Madison, Wisconsin, and one for November 12 to 14 in Kansas City, Missouri.

As part of its issues management activities, the Pork Checkoff has been following the activities of the commission. Dr Liz Wagstrom attended the public hearing that took place in Durham, North Carolina, on April 10 to 12.

Lynn Harrison, pork producer from Elk Mound, Wisconsin, and National Pork Board vice president, attended and spoke at the meeting. His statement focused on his operation and on the industry’s pride in and stewardship of the environment. Dale Norton, a producer from Michigan, and chair of the Pork Checkoff’s Animal Welfare Committee, also attended and spoke at the meeting. Gene Nemechek, AASV and National Pork Board member, also attended and spoke about the industry’s commitment to producing a safe and quality product and about the industry’s new Pork Quality Assurance Plus program, a continuous improvement system developed to assure the industry’s customers of our commitment to food safety and animal well-being. Other speakers making positive statements for farm-animal production included poultry, turkey, and dairy producers from the state of North Carolina.

More information about the National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production can be obtained from Dr Liz Wagstrom at LWagstrom@pork.org or by visiting the Commission’s Web site at http://www.ncifap.org/index.html.

Addressing needles in market animals

The Pork Checkoff’s Pork Safety Committee has approved the distribution of material aimed at increasing producer awareness of the issue of broken needles in market sows. The campaign is aimed at focusing producers’ attention on preventing needles in sows through all aspects of needle management, from choosing the right needle to having a needle inventory-management system and a system to dispose of needles adequately.

Because of the time they remain as part of the herd and the number of treatments that sows receive, (eg, vaccinations, farrowing induction), the number of times a sow is in contact with a needle is high. Hence, the potential for a broken needle is higher than in market hogs. Packers report some needles in sows are found in the tissue around the jowl and inside the mouth or in the tongue.

To address the issue of needles in market hogs, the Pork Safety Committee suggested revamping the “One is Too Many” campaign. The committee would like the industry to move toward using needles with higher detectability and less tendency to break.

On the side of research, more funding will be applied toward projects researching needle-free technology.

Finally, the committee suggested producer education should focus on helping producers develop needle inventory-control systems.

As with a sow needle-prevention program, prevention is considered to be the most effective program to reduce the incidence of needles found at the packer level. However, it is hard to negotiate agreement between packers and producers as to how producers should identify animals suspected of carrying needles or foreign objects, how packers should be notified, and whether those animals will be paid for.

Packers anecdotally report an increase in the number of needles when vaccination or treatments occur. Packers also anecdotally report a significant reduction in the number of needles as a result of the “One is Too Many” producer-awareness campaign headed by the Pork Checkoff.

All stakeholders agree that the consequences of needles being found in exported product or of a broken needle contaminating a pork product can significantly hurt the industry.

If you would like more information on the Pork Checkoff’s available materials to create producer awareness on preventing needles in market sows and market hogs, contact Steve Larsen at SLarsen@pork.org.

Research projects funded by the Pork Checkoff from the 2007 swine health general call for research proposals

The research priorities for the general call for proposals include all animal-health issues except for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD). PRRS and PCVAD have been addressed individually, in separate research calls. The projects funded for 2007 from the general call include those listed in the following table.

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All stakeholders agree that the consequences of needles being found in exported product or of a broken needle contaminating a pork product can significantly hurt the industry.

If you would like more information on the Pork Checkoff’s available materials to create producer awareness on preventing needles in market sows and market hogs, contact Steve Larsen at SLarsen@pork.org.

Research projects funded by the Pork Checkoff from the 2007 swine health general call for research proposals

The research priorities for the general call for proposals include all animal-health issues except for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD). PRRS and PCVAD have been addressed individually, in separate research calls. The projects funded for 2007 from the general call include those listed in the following table.