APHIS Allots Funds To Protect Animal Health

Apr 16, 2025

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is awarding more than $15.3 million to projects that will enhance prevention, preparedness, early detection and rapid response to the most damaging diseases that threaten U.S. livestock. USDA is awarding this funding through the 2018 Farm Bill’s National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP).

The 68 new projects will help address gaps in animal disease outbreak emergency response, increase producers’ use of gold-standard biosecurity measures, train producers and responders to carry out animal disease outbreak response activities, help states and tribes develop and exercise animal disease emergency response plans, and aid producers who are impacted by animal disease outbreaks recover quickly. Kansas State University and the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) both were awarded funds. K-State will focus on the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center’s Region 7 tabletop exercise and functional workbooks for extension professionals. KDA will use the funds to train state secure food supply coordinators and further evaluate livestock disposal options during a disease outbreak.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.