The More Things Change . . .The More They Change Faster

An National Pork Board UpdateChris Novak, CEO

Pork Management Conference

Here’s What’s Coming . . .

• PED—A Passing Threat or The Canary in the Mineshaft?

• Telling Stories—A conversation about food, farming, and families

• What You Want to Talk About?

PED– What Do We Know?

• PED is not a human health or food safety issue.

• The disease is impacting farms of a variety of sizes and production types and needs to be prevented through a variety of biosecurity procedures.

• There are multiple methods of PED transmission including environmental, transportation, feed systems and other vectors.

Current Status of PEDV

Current Status

The Good News & The Bad News

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Initial PED Research Priorities

Development and validation of diagnostic testing for antigen and antibody detection for PEDv:

•Viral propagation techniques

•Standardized reference samples for VDLs

•Validation of the current PCR diagnostic tests

•Antibody-based diagnostic tests

•Oral fluid surveillance

Study of the basic pathogenesis and characterization of the virus:

• Tissue studies with interest in lung or other tissue involvement

• Duration of shedding

• Carrier state

• Determine how quickly immunity develops, how it impacts viral shedding and if

it can be enhanced to quicken recovery

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Initial PED Research Priorities

Environmental stability of the virus on various surfaces

and substrates and effectiveness of sanitation efforts:• Time/temperature necessary to kill PEDv in live-haul trailers

• Environmental conditions affecting virus survival on or in various substrates:

• Drinking water (with identification of water additives that would render the virus

noninfective)

• Recirculated water (with identification of water additives that would render the

virus noninfective)

• Lagoon water; manure/slurry

Epidemiology:• Identify risk factors for interherd or interpopulation spread.

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Pork Checkoff PED Research

• June 2013 – PED basic research

• October 2013 – Sow immunity and assessment

• 2013 total >$1M for PEDv research

• February 2014 – Diagnostics, surveillance, PCR

• March – Feed with feed industry collaboration

• April – PDCoV basic research, survivability, diagnostics

• Total $3M Checkoff research within 12 months

PEDv—The Canary in the Mineshaft?

2014 Pork Forum• A listing of non-reportable swine diseases not in the

United States

• Responsibilities of the government, industry organizations, producers, and the pork chain in surveillance and response

• Coordinated strategies to respond to and contain or manage disease

• Strategies for the efficient sharing of information deemed necessary containment / control

• Strategies to strengthen the defense of the US pork industry

Our Request to USDA• Investigate the pathway or pathways and harden

our borders to prevent others from coming in.

• Enhance the ability of the veterinary diagnostic labs to communicate and connect electronically.

• Support for diagnostic testing needed for control.

• Significantly add to USDA PED-related research.

• Develop an agreed upon comprehensive response plan for diseases like PED so state-federal-industry are prepared and know what to expect of each other.

Building a New Framework for Disease Management

• Analyze external disease threat to identify and prioritize swine pathogens.

• Facilitate the identification of existing and potential pathways for introduction of swine pathogens.

• Facilitate analysis of the effectiveness of the diagnostic and animal health products available to address each of the pathogens in the Swine Pathogen Matrix

• Coordinate international research to address preparedness gaps identified within the Swine Pathogen Matrix

• Solicit sustainable resources to fulfill the mission and strategies

Telling StoriesA Conversation About Food, Farming, & Families

Author! Author!

What You Need and WantAn IdeaLetters/Syllables/WordsUnderstandableBuyerAudienceEnjoyable & Believable

What’s Our Story?

Your Thoughts?• Continuous

Improvement

• Family

• Commitment

• Wholesome Food

• Hero & Villian

• Great product!

Things I Hear

• Efficiency• Productivity• Protein & Nutrition• We Care• Birth & Death• Bad Actors• Painful• Emotional• Personal

What Letters & Words Do We Use

• PQA • PEDv• TQA • P/S/Y• PRRS

• Gilt• Farrowing• Gestation• Ractopamine• Euthanasia

Is Our Story Understandable?

Who is Listening to Our Story?Customers? Consumers?

Nice Story, But . . . ???

Telling a Better Story

• A Stronger PQA Plus

• A Revised TQA

• Barn Worker Kits

• New Safe Handling Tools

• A New Barn Culture Initiative

• A Higher Commitment to Professionalism

• A Common Industry Audit Platform

Q. How likely would you be to actively seek out and buy pork products that come from farms utilizing the Pork Quality Assurance Plus program vs. those that don’t?

pre-ballot post-ballot

The Potential of PQA+• The mere fact of PQA+ can influence opinions and

purchase decisions when it comes to pork products

Using Words that Work: Antibiotics

Once you have them interested in what you have to say, explaining HOW antibiotics work can both surprise them and make them want to learn more.

Always bring the conversation back to what they care about most: their health.

Ensure that this isn’t a black-and-white issue by opening up the discussion.

Set up a broader conversation with language that indicates there’s more to the story.

Show them that engaging with consumers is a priority.

We know consumers today want more information about where their food comes from. It’s especially important to answer questions about why antibiotics are used

on the farm, and to talk about what else farmers are doing to raise healthy animals.

Antibiotic use on the farm is a complex issue. There are many different types of antibiotics, and they’re used in different ways to treat, control and prevent illness.

Bacteria that cause illnesses and infections need to be kept under control in order to preserve human and animal health. So farmers use antibiotics to help lessen the

risk. They work to remove or inhibit the growth of bacteria that could potentially harm the animal and pose a food safety risk. They also promote good bacteria, the kind

that helps the animals digest their food more efficiently.

There are many other things that are equally important, and sometimes even more important than using antibiotics, like maintaining high standards when it comes to

nutrition, so that animals get the right diet to keep their immune systems strong.

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Reaching the Right Audience: Customers

• A New Team

• A New Approach

• A New Level of Engagement

• New Materials, Information, Resources

• A New Awareness

• A New Partnership

Reaching the Right Audience: Consumers

• U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA)

• Food Dialogues (Integrity in Marketing)

• Social Media

• Media Outreach

• Food Chain Engagement

• Farmland. A Documentary About Farmers

The Challenges Ahead

• Understanding the drivers & decision-makers

• Finding ways to align interests across the food chain

• Not breaking into jail

• Finding the right message and the right mediums to be effective.

• Allocating resources efficiently & effectively to make a difference

Other Things We Could Have Talked About

• Making a Plan with 2020 Foresight

• New Common Industry Audit Program

• Looking Past Today’s PED Markets

• Measuring Sustainability

• Strength of Pork. Be Inspired Campaign

• Working to Re-Define Pork Quality

• Reaching Multicultural Consumers

Questions?CNovak@Pork.org