PRRS virus continues to create new variants, what a surprise… However, as unfortunate as it is, we need to tract the spread and transmission of these new variants to best keep our herds healthy. In this episode, Dr. Clayton Johnson talks with Dr. Mariana Kikuti about her work tracking a novel PRRSV 1C variant across many farms in the Midwest and what its presence could mean for many farms in the US.

Meet the guest: 

Dr. Mariana Kikuti is a veterinary doctor with a Masters of public hea...

Europe’s campaign against the African Swine Fever (ASF) has been extended for the third year. 

• The program is run in partnership with local authorities in eighteen European countries.

The executive director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Bernhard Url, says that ASF is spreading at an alarming rate, is a global issue, and needs to be tackled by everyone, together.

• Providing producers and stakeholders with information is vital to contain ASF. The EU must not “lower its guar...

The American Immigration Council released a report showing that immigrant workers in the U.S.’ meat and dairy industries play a vital role in producing the country’s food, providing a workforce, and stabilizing prices. It recommends expanding visa programs and implementing other long-term employment-based immigration reforms.

• Seasonal legalization of immigrants is not efficient, since it doesn’t take long-term effects into consideration and is not enough to solve the shortage of employees as ...

The Farm Bill will be updated in 2023. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) highlighted the perks of the 2018 Farm Bill – permanent, mandatory funding for animal disease prevention and preparedness. As for the 2023 Farm Bill, the NPPC supports the development of a foot and mouth disease vaccine bank.

• The purpose of the vaccine bank will be to enable the quick containment and eradication of an outbreak and prevent financial losses. 

A new report says that the U.S. farming and processi...

The USDA National Pork Producers Delegate Body is proposing to decrease the current Pork Checkoff assessment rate of 40 cents per $100 of the market value of all pigs sold in the U.S. to 35 cents. 

• The idea is to also decrease assessments on imported pork and pork products to make sure imported and domestic products receive equal treatment.

The proposition reflects the Delegate Body's desire to adjust the assessment for producers, which is annually established by a formula based on U.S. ma...

The image of a flying pig may be a little fanciful, but it makes sense when you see that the forecast is that pork production in China will be up 9.1%, while in the rest of the world it will be down 2%. The reason for the increase in imports in the U.S. is more pork from each of the major suppliers; the reason for the decline in exports is due to less U.S. pork being shipped to every major buyer.

• The USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service predicts that world pork production will be up 2.9% in 202...

No matter what part of the swine industry you are a part of, you are ultimately working towards the same goal as everyone else - to produce pork that the consumers want to buy. But what exactly do the consumers want to buy? In this episode with Dr. Marissa Hake, we work towards answering that question and learning how to build trust with the consumers so we can all work together to produce a product everyone wants.

What you will learn:

1. How consumers are changing

2. Building trust wi...