“In 2020, we had great challenges within the industry,” recalls Sara Crawford, assistant vice president of sustainability at the National Pork Board. Crawford speaks to repsonse efforts designed to conbat the primary market disruptor – the coronavirus pandemic – at Iowa Pork Congress.
The National Pork Board (NPB) quickly shifted funding, to help pork producers weather the storm, known as the coronavirus pandemic, says Crawford.
“When COVID-19 hit, the National Pork Board’s Board of Directors determined to shift funding, so we could help support the COVID-19 pandemic, especially depopulation and disposal, and looking at research methods and how could we help our state associations,” Crawford says.
A redistribution of funding allowed for seven research, field trials and state association grants, according to Crawford.
“States could apply for funding through the National Pork Board to respond quickly, at a local level, to what they felt was needed in their state,” Crawford says. “That was the immediate funding that we were able to do when we saw this happening.”
The National Pork Board created the Euthansia and Depopulation Taskforce in January of 2020, in an effort to understand how to manage depopluation with African Swine Fever, says Crawford. Their focus shifted to managing depopulation with coronavirus.
“There were two projects funded in electrocution,” Crawford says. “One was with Dr. Beeny Mote. This was on a v-belt restrainer. Carthage Veterinary Service, with Dr. Clayton Johnson, did electrocution with weaned pigs, using an eletric prod.”
“There were two sodium nitrate projects. One was with Carthage Veterinary Service, with Dr. Aaron Lower. They were providing them in either feed or water, and they microencapsulated the sodium nitrite to get the pigs to eat it better. Dr. Brent Pepin, at Pipestone Veterinary Services, also tested sodium nitrate, but used a drench method,” Crawford says.
“Dr. Chad Stahl and Dr. Thomas Fangman did a gunshot project. There were some complications because at that time, ammo was hard to find,” Crawford says. “There were two carbon dioxide projects. One with Dr. Brent Pepin, at Pipestone Veterinary Services and one with PIC.”
More on these studies can be found at pork.org/research.
