The development of the producer-driven National Swine Health Strategy is guided by both the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council, with the assistance of an advisory group. Aiming to be approved in March 2026, the goal is to bring coordination, clarity, and a long-term vision to the industry’s disease preparedness and health management efforts. Dusty Oedekoven, DVM, chief veterinarian for the National Pork Board, says the process started with feedback loops..
“That has led to the development of a survey that we conducted over the summer months. So, from June to August, we gathered survey responses from producers and other stakeholders in the industry. We also conducted over 47 listening sessions, really trying to get an understanding from producers, just a couple of things: what is their major swine health challenge that they see, and how can we address those challenges in the coming years?”
After compiling all the survey data, the advisory group identified two key goals that will be shared throughout the winter.
“And so, between now and then, we have several opportunities to meet with our state pork associations, and many of those state associations have meetings throughout the winter months. We’re also going to take an opportunity to share what we’ve learned with the executive directors of the state pork associations and gather their feedback, and just make sure that they understand what we’ve heard from producers and from this advisory group.”
One goal centers on preventing the introduction of diseases not currently present in the U.S., as their detection would have serious trade-limiting consequences.
“We’re typically talking about three diseases, one that we’re familiar with because we’ve been talking about it for years, and that’s African swine fever virus. Another is classical swine fever virus, really two different viruses, and then Foot and Mouth Disease. So, we’ll continue our efforts to prevent the introduction of those pathogens and to help our producers be prepared if we are to get an incursion of those. The second priority under that first goal is to keep an eye out for emerging diseases, and emerging diseases are those that may not necessarily bring along the trade-limiting impact, which may be concerning for the industry.”
Another important goal of the National Swine Health Strategy identified by producers centered on managing endemic diseases.
“We’ve got diseases like PRRS, PED virus, and others, which have a major economic impact every day on the farms here in the United States. And so, it’s not surprising you know that one of the biggest responses when we asked producers, what’s your number one health concern, is PRRS, you know, and that was overwhelmingly the big response that we got to the second goal of helping limit the losses and help address these endemic diseases that we have. The priorities were bold. One priority is to identify and limit the spread of endemic diseases among the US. swine herd.”
The National Swine Health Strategy aims to align the industry, ultimately creating a healthier U.S. herd that supports better pig welfare, improved producer profitability, and a stronger, more resilient pork industry. Visit porkcheckoff.org/strategy for more information.