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Majority of swine producers have premises ID"Producers who participate in premises registration and swine ID plan will help strengthen the swine health infrastructure by making trace backs faster, more efficient and more accurate," said Patrick Webb, veterinarian for the National Pork Board. By Jennifer Bremer With the move forward toward a National Animal Identification System, the swine industry has continued to step forward to make the system work. National Pork Board veterinarian Patrick Webb said that the most recent numbers he has received from USDA show that an estimated 67,280 swine premises have been registered in the U.S. as of May 1. "That's about 60 percent of swine operations being registered and I anticipate that we will be above 60 percent at the next count," he said. The National Pork Producers Council and Pork Board have been pushing to have 100 percent of swine producers' premises registered under the NAIS by the end of 2007. "To help reach this goal the Pork Board received a $400,000 cooperative agreement from USDA and has hired three regional swine ID program coordinators to work with the states to promote premises registration," said Webb. The money has also been used to develop the educational materials that the program coordinators are using. "Simply stated, NAIS is about maintaining the national herd health and ensuring that we can quickly control and recover from disease outbreaks," said NPPC past president Joy Philippi, a producer from Bruning, Neb. "Getting each producer's premises registered and entering the premises number in each state's database is the only way to create an effective and functional NAIS." ID system not new to pork industry Since 1988, the pork industry has had an ID system, which was implemented as part of the successful pseudorabies eradication program. This species-specific approach is consistent with the USDA's current ID systems. In March, NPPC delegates approved a resolution calling on packers to require premises ID numbers as a condition of sale and on breed registries to require premises ID numbers as part of the registration process. "Making premises registration part of the marketing and breed registry processes will help ensure that we meet our goal of having this important animal health tool functional by the end of 2008," said NPPC president Jill Appell, a pork producer from Altona, Ill. Food security is the main goal of NAIS, according to Webb. "It is in the public's interest and the interest of pork producers to prevent a disease outbreak," he said. Task force formed A task force--the Swine Identification Implementation Task Force--was formed to deal with ID issues and is made up of pork producers, swine health officials, packer/processors and representatives from other segments of the industry. The task force has made the following accomplishments so far: * Adopted swine ID program standards set forth by the U.S. Pork Industry Identification Working Group. * Enhanced current swine ID system to effectively perform a systematic trace-back within 48 hours after discovery of an infected animal with a catastrophic swine disease. * Solved problem to identifying/tracing movement of swine in all areas and stages of production. This includes breeding stock, semen movement, off-market hogs (culls) and purebred/crossbred swine for show and/or sale. * Developing and distributing educational materials, through the National Pork Board, to inform producers about the swine ID system. * Developed a communication plan for swine ID system that will focus on all segments of the industry and public. Key components for success There are three key components to a successful animal ID system--premises ID registration, animal identification and animal tracing. Webb said premises ID registration is the critical component since the other two rely on having a premises ID. "Animal identification is the method pork producers will use to identify their animal by group/lot or individually," he explained. "Animal tracing includes two main components. The first is recording the movement information by pork producers and the second is reporting the movement information when required by current law or at the request of animal health authorities." The swine ID plan only applies to the identification and trace back of hogs up to when the carcass passes USDA inspection. The system is not designed or intended to rack fresh pork or pork products through the retail system. "Pork producers realize that this system will help them and provide a way to make their livelihood continue even if there is a disease outbreak," said Webb. "Producers who participate in premises registration and swine ID plan will help strengthen the swine health infrastructure by making trace backs faster, more efficient and more accurate." A strong animal health infrastructure will allow the swine industry to profit from export markets open to U.S. pork products due to the high health status of the U.S. swine herd. Webb said by participating in the program, producers are taking an active role in improving the nation's animal health infrastructure, starting at the local level. For more information regarding the swine ID plan go to http://pork.org/PorkScience/swineID/plan.aspx. Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 641-938-2342 or by e-mail at jbremermaj@hotmail.com. B 14 8/13/07 2 Star EK Date: 8/9/07
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