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Key takeaways from the Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program
Results provide opportunities for U.S. pork producers to immediately enhance their biosecurity protocols.
Swine Health Information Center
September 5, 2024
3 Min Read
National Pork Board
The Swine Health Information Center, along with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, joined together to fund and launch a $2.3M two-year Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program in the fall of 2022. The goal of the research program is to investigate cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols and ideas to enhance biosecurity implementation during the wean-to-harvest phases of swine production. Results received to date provide opportunities for U.S. pork producers to make changes to immediately enhance their biosecurity protocols.
The Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program was developed to investigate research priorities across three areas – bioexclusion (keeping disease off the farm), biocontainment (after a break, keeping disease on the farm to lessen risk to neighbors), and transportation biosecurity (live haul, culls, markets, deadstock and feed haul along with innovative ways to stop pathogens from moving from markets and concentration points back to the farm). To date, a total of 18 projects have received funding through this program for a comprehensive approach to advancing biosecurity of U.S. farms and protecting swine health. Proactively enhancing wean-to-harvest biosecurity will help control the next emerging disease in the U.S. pork industry.
Currently, six of the 18 funded projects have been completed, providing producers and veterinarians with knowledge and tools that can be applied on farms and in pork production today. This research program reflects SHIC’s responsiveness to an identified swine health vulnerability and collaborative efforts to leverage producer Checkoff funds to safeguard the health of the U.S. swine herd.
Transport biosecurity take homes
Transportation remains a concern for disease transmission within wean-to-harvest and other phases of production. Several key take-aways have been noted from projects completed to date:
An updated inventory for public truck washes in the main hog producing states is now available for producers and can be located here.
Tools are available for producers to automatically track trailers between the farm and the plant and record sanitation status of trailers based on truck wash visits through the use of GPS-based tracking and the CleanTrailer app.
Livestock trailer cleanliness can be objectively measured to determine sanitation status after a commercial truck wash using ATP swabs and ATP bioluminometers (more ATP = more potential microbial contamination).
Areas of a trailer that are least likely to be adequately cleaned after a commercial truck wash are the nose access door and the back door flush gate. These areas may be targeted for on-site testing or additional cleaning.
On farm biosecurity take homes
Investigation of factors influencing risks of disease introduction and transmission at the site level and evaluation of caretaker compliance for biosecurity have provided several key take-aways for biosecurity enhancement:
Animal caretaker motivation and compliance for biosecurity protocols can be positively influenced by rewarding personnel when biosecurity protocols are executed and providing supervisor support and performance feedback to employees on biosecurity practices.
Manure pumping and land application is a risk for the introduction of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus into farms, with a higher risk to nurseries compared to grow-finish sites.
Risk of PRRSV introduction through a manure pumping event increased if conducted on a site where pigs had been placed less than 16 weeks.
Robotic power washers can reduce manual labor hours required for washing but may increase overall water usage and room cleaning time due to manual power washing touch up required to achieve adequate sanitation of sites.
Cleaning feeders can be a limiting factor to the efficiency of robotic power washers and ensuring access to feeders is important in designing effective wash systems.
Nylon tear-resistant fan socks are effective exhaust fan coverings that can be used to reduce virus spread through large dust particle dispersion from the exhaust fan surface.
The Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program continues to invite research proposal submissions which address five targeted priority areas for funding consideration until program funds are expended. Ongoing priorities include:
Personnel biocontainment and bioexclusion
Mortality management
Truck wash efficiency
Alternatives to fixed truck wash
Packing plant biocontainment.
Real-time results of all projects will be shared as quickly as they become available for producers to implement knowledge gained on the farm.
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