Representatives of the National Pork Producers Council, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Corn Growers Association and Iowa State University are urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to move quickly to establish a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank.
At a press conference Tuesday, the groups recognized steps USDA has already taken to establish the bank, but called for “expedient use of mandatory funding included in the 2018 Farm Bill to purchase the volume of vaccines required to effectively contain and eradicate an FMD outbreak.”
Taking part in the press conference were:
NPPC Chief Veterinarian Liz Wagstrom
Dr. James Roth, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine
Sarah McKay, director of Market Development at the National Corn Growers Association
Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., vice president for Sustainability & Scientific Affairs at the National Milk Producers Federation
Audio file:
Ag groups call for Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine bank