USDA Inaction on New Swine Inspection System Fails U.S. Farmers and Pork Processors

Dec 04, 2023

USDA’s self-imposed November 30 deadline on the Time-Limited Trial for New Swine Inspection System plants is rapidly approaching and the department has yet to establish a permanent solution or issue an extension of the current Time-Limited Trial that allows certain pork processing plants to operate at increased line speeds to facilitate greater efficiency and output while protecting and improving worker safety and food safety.

There are six pork processing plants operating under the Time-Limited Trial in the U.S., and nearly 40% of the U.S. supply of hogs is within 100 miles of these six processing plants. Absent a permanent solution or an extension of the current Time-Limited Trial, these processors will have to reduce their operational capacity, which reduces demand for hogs, disrupts the supply chain for U.S. hog farmers and processors, and exacerbates already historically high inflation in the U.S. food supply.

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Video: What It Takes to Stop African Swine Fever - Dr. Jishu Shi

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Jishu Shi, Professor of Vaccine Immunology at Kansas State University, discusses African swine fever prevention and vaccine development. He explains why ASF differs from classical swine fever and swine influenza, how the disease threatens trade and pork production, why immunization safety remains a critical hurdle, and what producers can do now to reduce the risk of introduction. Listen now on all major platforms!

"Before a safe and efficacious vaccine for ASF can be commercialized, what we really have is prevention."

Meet the guest: Dr. Jishu Shi is Professor of Vaccine Immunology and the Dr. Wayne & Hilda Appleton Endowed Professor at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He directs the Center on Biologics Development and Evaluation and the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. A veterinarian and vaccine immunologist, Dr. Shi has focused on vaccines for pigs and has worked on African swine fever vaccine development, control, diagnostics, and international training since 2018. Learn more from Dr. Jishu Shi on The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, available on all major platforms.