The Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association recently signed onto a coalition letter advocating for a more robust Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank in the 2018 Farm Bill. In addition to this letter, MSCA has been actively advocating for this 2018 Farm Bill priority with all of Minnesota's elected officials in Washington D.C.
To view the official letter, click HERE
July 18, 2017
Dear Chairman Roberts, Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Stabenow, and Ranking Member
Peterson:
The undersigned organizations very much appreciate the thoughtfulness and diligence you and your committee members bring to the work of passing a new bipartisan five-year Farm Bill. Given the breadth and complexity of this undertaking, we want to draw your attention to a proposed provision that is of the utmost importance to our memberships: the establishment and full funding of a robust U.S. Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank. An outbreak of FMD will have a devastating effect on all of agriculture—not just livestock producers—and will have long-lasting ramifications for the viability of U.S. agriculture, the maintenance of food security and affordability in this great nation and overall national security.
The ability to rapidly vaccinate susceptible livestock in the face of an FMD outbreak is critical. Current FMD vaccine stocks maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) are woefully inadequate to handle anything more than a very small, localized outbreak. This stock will not allow APHIS to implement its FMD response plan as intended, thereby placing the entire U.S. livestock industry in grave jeopardy. This situation is untenable given the recent global spread of FMD to new countries—some of which are hostile to the U.S.—and the ever-increasing movement of people and goods from around the world to the U.S. Introduction of FMD, be it accidental or an act of bioterrorism, is a growing and very real threat to our nation’s food supply.
We understand that the cost of this request—$150 million per year—is significant. However, this cost must be considered against the projected economic consequences of an FMD outbreak in the U.S. An outbreak of FMD would immediately close all export markets. The cumulative impact of an outbreak on the beef and pork sectors over a 10-year period would be more than $128 billion, according to Iowa State University economists. The annual jobs impact of such a reduction in industry revenue is more than 58,000 in direct employment and nearly 154,000 in total employment. The impact would also be felt across the agriculture sector. Corn and soybean farmers would lose $44 billion and nearly $25 billion, respectively, making the impact on these four industries alone almost $200 billion. And that is just the monetary impact. It must also be considered that many livestock producers may not be able to recover from these losses, to the severe detriment of rural communities across this country.
These costs can only be mitigated if the U.S. can mount a swift and thorough response once FMD is detected within our borders. Such a response is entirely reliant on having an adequate vaccine bank; there is no other option to prevent these catastrophic losses. Critically, it must be understood that the U.S. needs to make this investment now. Waiting to buy vaccine when we need it is not an option—current world production is committed to other countries, and vaccine simply won’t be available to us unless we start building this capacity now.
Our organizations are eager to work with you to pass a 2018 Farm Bill that addresses this critical gap in our national security. We appreciate your support of our, and associated, industries.
Sincerely,
AgriLabs
Alabama Cattlemen’s Association
American Association of Bovine Practitioners
American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians
American Feed Industry Association
American Horse Council
American National Cattlewomen
American Sheep Industry Association
American Veterinary Medical Association
Animal Health Institute
Arizona Cattle Feeders’ Association
Arizona Cattlemen’s Association
Arizona Pork Council
Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association
Arkansas Pork Producers Association
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
Association of Veterinary Biologics Companies
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
California Cattlemen’s Association
California Pork Producers Association
California Wool Growers Association
Cargill
Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
Colorado Livestock Association
Colorado Pork Producers Association
Elanco Animal Health
Florida Cattlemen’s Association
Georgia Agribusiness Council
Georgia Cattlemen’s Association
Georgia Milk Producers
Hawaii Cattlemen’s Association
Hormel Foods
Idaho Cattlemen’s Association
Illinois Beef Association
Illinois Pork Producers Association
Indiana Beef Cattle Association
Indiana Pork Advocacy Coalition
Iowa Cattlemen’s Association
Iowa Pork Producers Association
JBS USA
Kansas Livestock Association
Kansas Pork Association
Kentucky Pork Producers Association
Louisiana Cattlemen’s Association
Louisiana Pork Producers Association
Merck Animal Health
Michigan Agri-Business Association
Michigan Cattlemen’s Association
Michigan Pork Producers Association
Minnesota Pork Producers Association
Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association
Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association
Mississippi Pork Producers Association
Missouri Cattlemen’s Association
Missouri Pork Association
Montana Pork Producers Council
National Agri-Marketing Association
National Association for the Advancement of Animal Science
National Association of Federal Veterinarians
National Cattlemen's Beef Association
National Corn Growers Association
National Grain and Feed Association
National Milk Producers Federation
National Pork Producers Council
National Renderers Association
Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association
Nebraska Pork Producers Association
Nevada Cattlemen’s Association
New York Pork Producers
North American Meat Institute
North Carolina Cattlemen’s Association
North Carolina Pork Council
North Dakota Pork Council
North Dakota Stockmen’s Association
Ohio Cattlemen’s Association
Ohio Pork Council
Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association
Oklahoma Pork Council
Oregon Cattlemen’s Association
Pennsylvania Center for Beef Excellence
Public Lands Council
Seaboard Corporation
Smithfield Foods
South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association
South Carolina Pork Board
South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association
South Dakota Pork Producers Council
Tennessee Pork Producers
Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association
Texas Cattle Feeders Association
Texas Pork Producers Association
Texas Southwest Cattle Raisers Association
Tyson Foods, Inc.
United States Animal Health Association
Utah Cattlemen’s Association
Utah Pork Producers Association
Virginia Cattlemen’s Association
Virginia Pork Council
Washington Cattle Feeders Association
Wisconsin Pork Association
Wyoming Pork Producers Council
Wyoming Stock Growers Association
Zoetis
Posted: July 18, 2017