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Northey commends Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for addressing propane shortage

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has commended the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for taking historic steps to help address a shortage of propane supplies in the Midwest.

On Feb. 7, FERC utilized its emergency authority under the Interstate Commerce Act to order Enterprise TE Products Pipeline Company to prioritize propane shipments through its pipelines. The action had been requested by the National Propane Gas Association and its members.

“The Commission members, including Iowa native John Norris, clearly understood the importance of ensuring adequate propane supplies and this historic action is very good news for farmers and rural residents,” Northey said Tuesday. “I greatly appreciate the hard work of Iowa’s propane suppliers to meet customer’s needs during this challenging time and the leadership of Gov. Branstad as we have pursued every opportunity to increase propane supplies.”

According to FERC’s news release announcing the action, “this marks the first time that commission has used its emergency authority under the Interstate Commerce Act. Section 1(15) of the Act which states that whenever the commission is of the opinion that an emergency requiring immediate action exists in any section of the country, it has authority to give directions for preference or priority in transportation, embargoes or movement of traffic.”

The action will result in an additional 500,000 barrels (21 million gallons) of propane moving into the pipeline over the next two weeks. This will free up product for the Midwestern region and help build supply to help ensure access for Iowa residents and livestock producers.

Source:  Iowa Pork Producers Association


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Leman Swine Conference: Vaccination strategies to reduce PRRS virus recombination

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Dr. Jay Calvert, Research Director with Zoetis, recently spoke to The Pig Site’s Sarah Mikesell at the 2023 Leman Swine Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, about his conference presentation on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus recombination.

“The number one problem in PRRS these days from a vaccine point of view is the emergence of new strains of PRRS. Since the beginning, we have had new strains and a lot of diversity,” said Dr. Jay Calvert. “We thought we knew it was all about mutation changes in amino acids and the individual strains over time, but they take on new characteristics.”

With the onset of more common whole genome sequencing and recombination analysis, Dr. Calvert says there is another mechanism, and recombination seems to be a key factor.