SHIC 2023 PLAN OF WORK BUILDS ON PROGRESS AND ADDS NEW EMPHASES

Feb 20, 2023

The Swine Health Information Center’s 2023 Plan of Work was approved by the SHIC Board of Directors during their January 27, 2023, meeting. SHIC’s mission remains to protect and enhance the health of the United States swine herd; this annual review of projects and priorities directs actions for the upcoming year. The POW is divided into four sections addressing SHIC’s priorities – 1) Monitor and Mitigate Risks to Swine Health, 2) Respond to Emerging Disease, 3) Surveillance and Discovery of Emerging Disease, 4) Improve Swine Health Information – with significant activities planned in each category, including the Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Program added to the Plan of Work in mid-2022 and extending into 2023. Following are some of the highlights of each section. Click here to access the complete 2023 Plan of Work.

1) Monitor and Mitigate Risks to Swine Health

SHIC, along with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, joined together to fund and launch a two-year Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program in the late fall of 2022. Program goals are to investigate cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, or ideas to enhance biosecurity during the wean-to-harvest phases of swine production. Submitted research proposals have been reviewed by industry-wide task forces focused on transport and site biosecurity. The work will continue into 2023, with solicitation for targeted proposals and projects seeking creative, new ways to enhance biosecurity and demonstrate return on investment.

SHIC will investigate the ability of common production inputs to act as mechanical vectors for disease introduction onto farms in 2023, to supplement the work of the Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program. Projects could include decreasing the potential for pathogen transmission via feed and investigation of common non-feed inputs as vectors, all designed to inform and strengthen farm biosecurity.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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