By Diane DeWitte, UMN Extension swine educator
Originally printed in The LAND - as the July 20, 2026, Swine & U column
A high-octane friend, many years ago, first exposed me to one of his favorite phrases: “Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine”! The first time I heard it hit home hard; since then, I’ve tried to stay ahead of a deadline, as do all producers growing livestock and crops.
Most of my work this summer has revolved around some special projects and a large conference focused on the livestock industry being ready for a disease that we do not want. Of course, in the pig business, the foreign animal disease (FAD) we prepare against is African swine Fever (ASF), but a close second which can affect every hooved animal is Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). In all FAD outbreak preparedness, the planned response is to stop livestock movement and stamp it out.
Two projects in which I was recently involved focused on specific steps within the disease outbreak response. In a disease outbreak, federal and state animal health officials will work together in a prepared strategy to provide guidance, materials and assistance to stop the spread of the disease. Both exercises were thoroughly strategized with training and logistical guidance from our state Incident Command personnel and federal animal health leadership. Minnesota has a robust collaboration between the Board of Animal Health (BAH) and the MN Department of Agriculture (MDA). A local USDA veterinary presence in our state also works closely with the Minnesota agencies.
Recently, a live three-state exercise was conducted to assess both the effectiveness and gaps within a vaccination plan for a foot and mouth disease outbreak in cattle and pigs. FMD was eradicated in the US in 1929, but it does exist and flair up internationally at times. Officials are currently battling a FMD outbreaks in Botswana near South Africa, in Israel for the first time in 60 years, and in China & Mongolia in East Asia. All of these are an SAT1 serotype to which the livestock in these areas lack natural immunity.
The purpose of a “practice” live exercise is to determine unanswered questions and identify gaps in a prepared response plan. The sophisticated vaccine exercise was a terrific walk-though of the plan; federal, state, and local agencies, industry and producers were able to see what and where adjustments could be made.
I also participated in a second exercise preparation workshop wherein the step of sample collection and delivery to a laboratory will be “practiced”. The USDA APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) has a network of 66 federal, state and university-affiliated diagnostic labs across the country. These are known as the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) labs, and in Minnesota the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at the University of Minnesota is one. Our state has a significant concentration of pigs near Iowa and South Dakota, and each of those states has a NAHNL lab, too, in Ames and Brookings.
My colleague Sarah Schieck Boelke, in 2024, conducted a series of Certified Swine Sample Collector (CSSC) training workshops, funded by a grant from the National Pork Board and in collaboration with David Weinand at the MDA and veterinarians across the state. Trained CSSCs are backup sample collectors in the event of a FAD outbreak, and they would assist veterinarians by properly collecting samples from suspected infected pigs and shipping them to a designated NAHLN lab. At the time of Sarah’s workshops, MN had 36 CSSCs on the books. Her workshops added 65 MN certified sample collectors to the rolls; last week I learned that CSSC training has significantly increased and Minnesota currently has 428 CSSCs available to assist veterinarians in the event of a FAD disease outbreak.
The 8th International Symposium on Animal Mortality Management (ISAMM) was hosted in Stevens Point, Wisconsin at the end of June when hundreds of participants gathered to share research and discover new technologies for appropriate disposal of livestock & poultry who perish in disease outbreaks or natural disasters.
Minnesota’s pig industry has addressed this issue since 2018 when the Emergency Disease Management Committee (EDMC) for Swine was put together by the BAH, MDA and pork producers. Through the COVID disruptions of swine harvest plants in 2020, Minnesota pork producers worked to develop strategies for carcass disposal. Each university in the Upper Midwest has research a wide variety of disposal methods for both small and large animal mortality catastrophes.
The ISAMM conference was a terrific opportunity to hear latest research results, view research posters and visit with the investigators who did the work, and to network with involved personnel from federal and state agencies, the mortality disposal industry, educators and producers. State laws differ across the pig landscape, and geography provides challenges and opportunities for a wide variety of carcass disposal methods. Minnesota is a leader in exploring methods which work for pig farmers while protecting our water and soil.
All of this exposure to the “what ifs” of pig disease has prompted me to address the preparedness issue again with some materials that Extension, Minnesota and the USDA have available.
Premises housing livestock should have a federal Premises Identification Number (PIN) which is assigned to the site by each state. In MN, the BAH assigns the PIN, and producers who sell to commercial packers already have the PIN. In addition, 4-H exhibitors have a PIN identifying the place where their animals are raised. The PIN is associated with the location of the livestock, not the farmer or exhibitor, so if the premises is sold, the PIN remains the same. Anyone raising livestock or poultry, no matter the herd or flock size, should get a PIN. PINs can be obtained or managed here:
Pork Checkoff continues to expand the Secure Pork Supply website. Any size pig farm can develop a Secure Pork Supply (SPS) plan to have ready in the event of a disease outbreak in the neighborhood. The SPS is an enhanced biosecurity plan with a map to have details in place for a perimeter buffer area, a line of separation, a plan for mortality disposal and specific entry and exit of pig caretakers and feed deliveries. Full details of the newly updated SPS website can be found here: securepork.org
Livestock diseases, both endemic and foreign, circulate regularly. Fortunately we have not experienced a foreign animal disease within our U.S. borders, and proactively preparing against such outbreak will keep our North American pig herd healthy and productive.
Diane DeWitte is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator focused on swine, based in Mankato, MN. She can be reached at stouf002@umn.edu
Originally printed in The LAND - as the July 20, 2026, Swine & U column
A high-octane friend, many years ago, first exposed me to one of his favorite phrases: “Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine”! The first time I heard it hit home hard; since then, I’ve tried to stay ahead of a deadline, as do all producers growing livestock and crops.
Most of my work this summer has revolved around some special projects and a large conference focused on the livestock industry being ready for a disease that we do not want. Of course, in the pig business, the foreign animal disease (FAD) we prepare against is African swine Fever (ASF), but a close second which can affect every hooved animal is Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). In all FAD outbreak preparedness, the planned response is to stop livestock movement and stamp it out.
Two projects in which I was recently involved focused on specific steps within the disease outbreak response. In a disease outbreak, federal and state animal health officials will work together in a prepared strategy to provide guidance, materials and assistance to stop the spread of the disease. Both exercises were thoroughly strategized with training and logistical guidance from our state Incident Command personnel and federal animal health leadership. Minnesota has a robust collaboration between the Board of Animal Health (BAH) and the MN Department of Agriculture (MDA). A local USDA veterinary presence in our state also works closely with the Minnesota agencies.
Recently, a live three-state exercise was conducted to assess both the effectiveness and gaps within a vaccination plan for a foot and mouth disease outbreak in cattle and pigs. FMD was eradicated in the US in 1929, but it does exist and flair up internationally at times. Officials are currently battling a FMD outbreaks in Botswana near South Africa, in Israel for the first time in 60 years, and in China & Mongolia in East Asia. All of these are an SAT1 serotype to which the livestock in these areas lack natural immunity.
The purpose of a “practice” live exercise is to determine unanswered questions and identify gaps in a prepared response plan. The sophisticated vaccine exercise was a terrific walk-though of the plan; federal, state, and local agencies, industry and producers were able to see what and where adjustments could be made.
I also participated in a second exercise preparation workshop wherein the step of sample collection and delivery to a laboratory will be “practiced”. The USDA APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) has a network of 66 federal, state and university-affiliated diagnostic labs across the country. These are known as the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) labs, and in Minnesota the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at the University of Minnesota is one. Our state has a significant concentration of pigs near Iowa and South Dakota, and each of those states has a NAHNL lab, too, in Ames and Brookings.
My colleague Sarah Schieck Boelke, in 2024, conducted a series of Certified Swine Sample Collector (CSSC) training workshops, funded by a grant from the National Pork Board and in collaboration with David Weinand at the MDA and veterinarians across the state. Trained CSSCs are backup sample collectors in the event of a FAD outbreak, and they would assist veterinarians by properly collecting samples from suspected infected pigs and shipping them to a designated NAHLN lab. At the time of Sarah’s workshops, MN had 36 CSSCs on the books. Her workshops added 65 MN certified sample collectors to the rolls; last week I learned that CSSC training has significantly increased and Minnesota currently has 428 CSSCs available to assist veterinarians in the event of a FAD disease outbreak.
The 8th International Symposium on Animal Mortality Management (ISAMM) was hosted in Stevens Point, Wisconsin at the end of June when hundreds of participants gathered to share research and discover new technologies for appropriate disposal of livestock & poultry who perish in disease outbreaks or natural disasters.
Minnesota’s pig industry has addressed this issue since 2018 when the Emergency Disease Management Committee (EDMC) for Swine was put together by the BAH, MDA and pork producers. Through the COVID disruptions of swine harvest plants in 2020, Minnesota pork producers worked to develop strategies for carcass disposal. Each university in the Upper Midwest has research a wide variety of disposal methods for both small and large animal mortality catastrophes.
The ISAMM conference was a terrific opportunity to hear latest research results, view research posters and visit with the investigators who did the work, and to network with involved personnel from federal and state agencies, the mortality disposal industry, educators and producers. State laws differ across the pig landscape, and geography provides challenges and opportunities for a wide variety of carcass disposal methods. Minnesota is a leader in exploring methods which work for pig farmers while protecting our water and soil.
All of this exposure to the “what ifs” of pig disease has prompted me to address the preparedness issue again with some materials that Extension, Minnesota and the USDA have available.
Premises housing livestock should have a federal Premises Identification Number (PIN) which is assigned to the site by each state. In MN, the BAH assigns the PIN, and producers who sell to commercial packers already have the PIN. In addition, 4-H exhibitors have a PIN identifying the place where their animals are raised. The PIN is associated with the location of the livestock, not the farmer or exhibitor, so if the premises is sold, the PIN remains the same. Anyone raising livestock or poultry, no matter the herd or flock size, should get a PIN. PINs can be obtained or managed here:
- Register a new property: Use the MN BAH Premises Registration online form to obtain a new number.
- Verify an existing PIN: Call the BAH directly at 651-296-2942
- Recover a lost PIN: Look up the number via the MN BAH PIN Lookup page:
Pork Checkoff continues to expand the Secure Pork Supply website. Any size pig farm can develop a Secure Pork Supply (SPS) plan to have ready in the event of a disease outbreak in the neighborhood. The SPS is an enhanced biosecurity plan with a map to have details in place for a perimeter buffer area, a line of separation, a plan for mortality disposal and specific entry and exit of pig caretakers and feed deliveries. Full details of the newly updated SPS website can be found here: securepork.org
Livestock diseases, both endemic and foreign, circulate regularly. Fortunately we have not experienced a foreign animal disease within our U.S. borders, and proactively preparing against such outbreak will keep our North American pig herd healthy and productive.
Diane DeWitte is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator focused on swine, based in Mankato, MN. She can be reached at stouf002@umn.edu
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