By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor

To help U.S. hog farmers fight foreign animal disease (FAD) faster than ever before, the National Pork Board recently launched AgView, a web-based tool where participating farms can share FAD status updates and pig movement data with state animal health officials in real-time.

The opt-in service, which is funded by the pork checkoff, will allow for contact-tracing of infected animals to quickly contain FAD outbreaks.

“When pork producers adopt AgView, they are not only helping protect their farms, but also the entire industry,” Pork Board CEO Bill Even said. “COVID taught us the best way to quickly contain and recover from a significant supply chain disruption, which an FAD outbreak would be, is through real-time information, collaboration and a common data set to inform decision making.”

AgView was designed with to help the U.S. pork industry coordinate a rapid, unified response to FADs across the nation, according to Pork Board Chief Veterinarian Dave Pyburn.

“While local and state reporting protocols already are in place, there is no nationwide repository for this data and no mechanism for real-time sharing,” Pyburn said. “Time is money in an FAD response, which is why we’re excited to have AgView to help fill that gap and facilitate a quicker return to business for producers, especially in our export markets.”

A potential FAD outbreak, such as African swine fever (ASF), could significantly financially impact producers across the nation. An ASF outbreak in the United States could cost the pork industry $50 billion over 10 years, according to a 2020 study from Iowa State University. But if ASF were controlled in just two years, the losses shrink to $15 billion.

As a standalone software platform, AgView lets users quickly and easily see relevant pig movement data and diagnostic test results to create transparency, accountability and trust during an outbreak. But AgView can also integrate with several existing record-keeping systems for easy synchronization, and for those who practice manual record-keeping, AgView accepts Excel template imports.

For more information on the no-fee software, visit https://www.pork.org/agview/.