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Pork industry looks to next Farm Bill as FMD concerns continue

Brownfield reporter Mark Dorenkamp interviewing Minnesota Pork director David Preisler

Pork producers are zeroing in on the next Farm Bill as concerns about Foot and Mouth Disease continue.

Terry Wolters, a National Pork Producers Council board director from Minnesota, says a request of $150 million dollars annually through a five year period will be made to authors of the next Farm Bill to support an FMD vaccine bank.

“In conjunction with our other commodity groups (like) dairy, beef, etc., to enhance that bank so we can defend (or) regionalize an outbreak in the event we have one.”

Minnesota Pork executive director David Preisler says it’s going to take a huge investment to stockpile vaccines for the more than 20 strains of Foot and Mouth.

“If we look at the effect of an FMD outbreak here in the U.S., we’re exporting 28 percent of all the pork we’re producing right now.  If we have Foot and Mouth Disease, that’s over.  It would crash our market, we would have literally tens of thousands of people out of a job.  So we need to look at balancing those economics, and that’s why we’re making that ask.”

He says pork producers are also seeking general FMD research funding be included in the next Farm Bill as well.

Brownfield spoke to Preisler and Wolters at Minnesota Pork Congress in Minneapolis Tuesday.

Terry Wolters interview:

David Preisler interview:

 

 

 

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