The National PRV Eradication Program has now passed the half way point of the ten year program. The message I have for you today is that this is the time to guard against apathy. The program is going well, however, the history of other disease eradication programs will show us that it is common at this stage for enthusiasm to be reduced and problems to occur. There are plenty of things to keep us humble. Break backs in areas that were already to have been cleaned up and, many other forms of area spread will be only some of the reasons that setbacks can be expected. We all need to behave as if this program is at risk in order to maintain the intensity needed to stay on the ten year schedule.

It looks like we are going to bring the Brucellosis eradication program to a rapid conclusion. It is especially encouraging to see an eradication program near completion when we are in the middle of another one. On March 17, USDA issued an interim rule that provides for whole herd buyout of infected herds. This allows these herds to be depopulated rather than just indemnity payments for the breeding swine. Significant progress has already been made with Texas decreasing from 12 to 5 herds. Florida has the most infected herd at 18 and is getting ready to depopulate these.

The program can be sold and is driven by economic benefits. Interstate commerce is becoming increasing important to the pork industry. We became very aware of the benefits of off site production as a means of improving the status of herd health in the early stages of the PRV eradication program. Now producers are moving across state lines while using the off site production as a means to finish pigs in areas where grain is more abundant and markets have excess capacity. The producers and the state veterinarians must work together in every way possible to assure the safety of this movement while not restricting the movement of pigs whenever possible. The program standards will continue to be revised as a guideline of coordination. The need to revise these standards is a sign of progress. However, the standards can not resolve every situation. Every bit of consideration and fairness we can mustard without compromising the integrity of the program is essential.

Iowa has applied for Stage II status. The whole state is now in the program. Every producer in the entire state will have an opportunity to test their herds by the end of 1995. All feeder pigs are required to be monitored before they can change ownership. Iowa is evaluating a surveillance method to quickly identify any herds that become re-infected after cleanup. Over half of the national program is managed by a relatively few people in the state of Iowa.

A uniform national effective surveillance needs to be developed. The slaughter surveillance must have an uniform identification system with good retention to make the slaughter surveillance work. Producers have said they would install the tags providing the type of tags currently used for production records would be adapted to work in the market place. The technology now available for electronic identification is not being fully utilized by the industry. The National Pork Producers Council is committed to work with the available and emerging technology to be able to identify all our production back to the farm of origin.

The consistency of reporting back to states when slaughter sows and boars have been moved interstate needs improvement. It will take a cooperative effort to include all segments of the industry to get us where we need to be on surveillance. The Center for Epidemiology and Animal Epidemiology has much potential to help us with this cause.

Federal funding is entirely dependent on the ability of producers to influence the U. S. Congress. We need at least level funding for the next several years to maintain our current progress. An area that may require more funding than once thought is surveillance after herd and area cleanup. Producers must be prepared to bear more of the cost if state and federal funding is reduced. The cost-benefit study will prove there will be enough economic benefit to be the incentive we need to keep rolling.

National Pork Producers Council will remain committed to the end. Please call us if there is anything you need. This is not the time to say good-bye to our old friends in the PR eradication program. Our goal remains the same: to complete the national eradication program in ten years. The PR eradication program is the finest example of government at its best with producers and state and federal personnel working together to accomplish our goals.