Lessons Learned from PED Improve Biosecurity Protocols

The Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork says the lessons learned from Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea have resulted in much more effective on-farm biosecurity protocols. Last week the first two cases for 2020 of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea were confirmed in Manitoba, a dramatic contrast to 2019 when 82 farms were infected.

 

Jenelle Hamblin, the Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, says it doesn't hurt to reiterate the importance of on-farm biosecurity.

 

 

What, who, when is going on and off your farm? What are your entry protocols not only for people but for supplies? As well, we've talked about the risk of manure and some of the efforts that producers can take thinking about manure agitation. Can you do subsurface agitation, prevent aerosolization as best you can.

 

Direct injection of manure is a nice option with the same benefits. Dust control was another one that was heavily adopted during and following 2019. Dry conditions, there's some strong correlation that that virus is moving in the air and putting dust control in the farmyard and on the road leading up to the driveway or lane certainly is something that can help to keep that dust down and hopefully prevent that virus from moving.

 

We've talked about transport C and D. I think we have done an excellent job of mitigating that risk but always being aware and asking those questions, ensuring that a transport trailer that's pulling up to your barn has been cleaned and disinfected in an effective way, really any of those touchpoints that are coming into your farm.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.