9 minute read
Swine & U
In every size and type of pig production system, health is the utmost concern. American pig farmers have learned the fine details of recognizing, treating, vaccinating against and avoiding familiar diseases in swine. What would happen in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak?
Across the country, plans are being put in place to establish emergency foreign animal disease preparedness in livestock. Currently, secure food supply plans have been developed for milk, poultry, beef and pork. The purpose of the secure supply plan is to provide livestock producers with a workable continuity of business plan should a foreign animal disease occur.
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In the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak, livestock movement would be restricted, and preparation for such a catastrophe is the best way to ensure producers could continue to move animals off of the farm and move products to market.
The secure supply plan also prepares producers for cooperating with animal health officials in the event of an outbreak, and provides consumers with confidence that their meat, milk and egg supply is safe.
State and federal officials, collaborating with the National Pork Board, industry and universities, are continuing to roll out secure pork supply information to swine producers. In Minnesota, Dr. John King has accepted the task of coordinating the secure food supply. Working in conjunction with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, Dr. King is available to meet with producers, veterinarians and producer groups to help them learn how to participate in the program — including all of the meat animal species raised in our state.
Three components of the secure pork supply have been identified and are being delivered to producers across the state.
Traceability and Movement Management — It’s been proven that restricting movement of animals reduces the spread of disease, but that benefit has to be balanced with the costs of interrupting business. In addition, there is a real threat to animal welfare when they are kept in close proximity to diseased animals.
A farm connected to a validated national Premises Identification Number (PIN) is a key component in helping officials determine disease control areas and potential movement of animals.
Enhanced Biosecurity — Four important concepts to tighten up a producer’s biosecurity effort are highlighted: Identify a biosecurity manager; draft a written, site-specific biosecurity plan and document the training; define and implement a perimeter buffer area; and define and implement a line of separation.
Foreign Animal Disease Training, Response and Surveillance — Swine farm personnel must become familiar with the three most common swine foreign
SWINE & U By Diane DeWitte
UniversityofMinnesota EXTENSION SWINE&U
animal diseases: Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD); Classical Swine Fever (CSF), formerly known in the U.S. as hog cholera; and African Swine Fever (ASF).
Please note: FMD, CSF, and ASF are not public health or food safety concerns. Meat will still be safe
to eat.
However, these diseases are very contagious in swine, and each team member on the pig farm should be able to recognize clinical signs. Currently, swine producers are asked to keep a daily observation record of their pigs. Doing so will help provide timely documentation in the event of a disease outbreak. If suspicious signs are observed, farm personnel will be asked to collect oral and nasal swab samples to submit for testing. Any suspicions about pig health should be reported to a veterinarian immediately.
(Dr. Jim Lowe and graduate student Ben Blair) learned cull sows often travel across the country for a week before they actually reach a harvest plant. Lowe and Blair found that sows often left the farm free of disease pathogens, but arrived at the harvest plant pathogen positive — and many times with disease pathogens from other species.
Premises ID Number (PIN)
The national premises ID number is a unique seven-character identifier assigned to a premises where pigs are produced, kept, or moved through. Each state’s Board of Animal Health manages the identification program and assigns the PIN for producers. National PINs are not specific only to swine; premises where any food animal is raised can have a PIN.
Today more than 95 percent of swine premises use the national PIN. The pork industry is striving to reach 100 percent adoption of PINs. Not only will accurate PINs on every pig farm provide pinpoint accuracy to reduce disease spread, but PIN use demonstrates a superior traceability system to the United States’ international trade partners.
PINs are a key component of the Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) site assessment, and many packers require a PQA+ site assessment as a condition of sale. Since January 2015, all sows and boars sold into the food chain must have an ear tag containing the farm’s PIN. PINs are also required by many major swine shows and exhibitions.
To obtain a PIN, producers can contact the Minnesota Board of Animal Health at https://www. bah.state.mn.us/register-your-premises/ or call (651) 201-6816.
We know that market swine typically move directly from farm to harvest plant, but culled breeding stock takes a more indirect route.
In 2018, Dr. Jim Lowe and graduate student Ben Blair at the University of Illinois studied cull sow movement prior to harvest. They learned that cull sows often travel across the country for a week before they actually reach a harvest plant. Culls are mixed and re-sorted by size and leanness, and in Lowe’s study, crossed an average of three-and-a-half state lines. Lowe and Blair found that sows often left the farm free of disease pathogens, but arrived at the harvest plant pathogen positive — and many times with disease pathogens from other species. Cull sows account for 5 to 8 percent of the pork processed in the United States. The Illinois study showed how cull breeding stock moves across the country, and the effect its movement could have on disease spread during an foreign animal disease crisis.
Producers are encouraged to use their PIN on every communication related to their swine operation. The National Pork Board provides instructions for converting the PIN to a bar code which can be printed onto labels and attached to paperwork and samples. All veterinary diagnostic labs recognize the bar codes.
To convert the farm PIN to a barcode, go to https://www.pork.org/food-safety/swine-id/ (found within the Food Safety section of the National Pork Board website, www.pork.org). At the Swine ID tab, a producer can enter the PIN. The program will generate an address response and ask if the address is correct for the PIN provided. A sheet of barcodes will be created which can then be printed onto labels, or saved in a pdf file.
Validate the correct PIN location
A team from University of Minnesota’s Department of Veterinary Population Medicine took a close look at PIN information and found two types of accuracy problems.
See SWINE & U, pg. 9
Wild parsnip is a noxious weed on the control list in Minnesota. It has continued to spread across the state over the past few years despite efforts to slow or stop the spread. Wild parsnip is enforced by the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law which mandates the weed must be controlled by preventing the maturation and spread of propagating parts. The sale, transportation and propagation of the plant is not allowed and is enforceable by counties or local municipalities.
Wild parsnip is native to Europe and Asia and was brought to North America and grown as a root vegetable. Wild parsnip has escaped from cultivation through the years and is now commonly seen in ditches and along railroad tracks. It may also be found along trails, pastures, waste areas, and in unmaintained gravel pits.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture describes wild parsnip as an aggressive, monocarpic perennial that grows four to six feet in height. The wild parsnip lifecycle starts with the plant germinating from seed, it spends the first year or more as a rosette. The plant then bolts into a mature plant in the second year or more, it flowers, sets seeds, and dies. The leaves alternate along the stem of the plant and consist of eggshaped leaflets with sawtoothed edges. Leaves get smaller closer to the top of the stem. You can find wild parsnip plants blooming from June to late August. The flowers are recognizable by their 2-6 inch wide flower clusters containing many small, five-petaled yellow flowers. The seeds are small, broad, oval, and slightly ribbed.
It is very important to use caution when near this plant. The chemical properties of wild parsnip cause phytophotodermatitis. This means when skin comes in contact with plant sap in the presence of sunlight it can cause severe rashes, blisters, and discoloration of the skin. Wear protective clothing — including gloves, long sleeves, and long pants when working around the plant. Direct contact with wild parsnip should be avoided. If sap comes in contact with skin, be sure to avoid exposure to the sun and immediately wash skin with soap and water, and seek medical attention.
Wild parsnip, as well as other noxious weeds, needs to be persistently managed over a span of up to five years to significantly decrease the population.
For more information on wild parsnip and how to control it, follow https://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadsides/vegetation/pdf/noxiousweeds.pdf and https://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/weedcontrol/noxiouslist/wildparsnip,
This article was submitted by Katherine Gathje, University of Minnesota Extension. v
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Secure plan a must to control disease
SWINE & U, from pg. 8
They found PINs linked to a site with incorrect address or longitude and latitude coordinates. The PIN must be connected to the actual physical address where the animals are located. For emergency response activities, the PIN must correspond to the animal location.
The team also discovered instances where there was one PIN for several geographically distinct sites. Producers with more than one farm or barns on several locations need to get a separate PIN for each site. In the case of a disease outbreak, if multiple barns/farms are connected to one PIN, all of the facilities would be designated as infected — even if only one actually was.
As Covid-19 issues begin to wane, swine producers will once again hear more about the secure pork supply plan throughout 2021. Details are in place to assist producers, veterinarians and harvest plants in putting together a plan and enrolling. The secure pork supply plan is voluntary. Countless hours and thought have gone into preparing the pig community for continuity of business in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak.
More details can be found at www.securepork.org. Producers wanting some personal help with their secure pork supply plan can contact Extension swine educators Diane DeWitte (stouf002@umn.edu) or Sarah Schieck Boelke (schi0466@umn.edu) for further assistance.
Diane DeWitte is an Extension Educator specializing in swine for the University of Minnesota Extension. Her e-mail address is stouf002@umn.edu. v
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