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Animal Agriculture Leaders Gather for Industry Preservation

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Kansas City, Mo. (April 14, 2025) – Last week, the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) hosted the 2025 Annual Conference – Securing Our Future: Don’t Just Talk…Act! in Kansas City, Missouri. More than 110 attendees focused on the future of animal agriculture and how to maintain trust throughout the value chain. Additionally, industry leaders were honored and new directors were elected to the NIAA board.

Animal agriculture benefits from those who consistently go above and beyond for the industry. NIAA recognizes those outstanding professionals each year at Annual Conference. The Chairman’s and President’s Awards recognize animal agriculture leaders who have been especially supportive, inspiring, and trusted by leaders within NIAA and have contributed significantly to its success. Animal Agriculture Advocates use their voice and platforms to push animal agriculture forward. The Meritorious Service Award is presented to animal agriculture leaders who have invested their career to advancing our sector and is the longest standing award – first presented in 1965. The 2024 honorees were:

  • Chairman’s Award:
    – Dr. Eric Moore, Director of Technical Services – Norbrook, Inc.
  • President’s Award
    – Dr. Kaitlyn Briggs, Dairy Welfare Lead – fairlife, LLC
  • Advocate for Animal Agriculture Award
    – U.S. Agriculture Partnership Fund
  • Meritorious Service Award
    – Polly Ruhland, Senior Managing Director – FTI Consulting.

NIAA confirmed the following new board members during the annual membership meeting:

  • Pierce Bennett, Michigan Farm Bureau
  • Dr. Nathan Voris, Zoetis
  • Dr. Mark Roozen, Kentucky Department of Agriculture
  • Dr. Steve Strubberg, Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Jared Wareham – Horizon Venture Management, Kelly Loganbill – Bader Rutter, and Paul Koffman – Merck Animal Health were reconfirmed for their second term to the NIAA board of directors.

NIAA’s Annual Conference program began on Monday, April 7 with capstone presentations from Cohort 3 of the Advanced Training for Animal Agriculture Leaders. The presentation topics included Data Collection for a Healthier World, Responsible Use of Technology, Globalization in Animal Agriculture, and The Future of Animal Agriculture. Following the capstone presentations, NIAA Councils and Working Groups met with members to discuss the coming year and hosted speakers. Council meeting speakers included:

  • Animal Disease Issues & Emergency Management
    − Dr. Kate Dion, Iowa State University
    Identifying biosecurity hazards through disease outbreak investigations
    − Dr. Julia Herman, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
    Enhanced biosecurity planning resources for foot-and-mouth disease preparedness for cattle veterinarians & producers
    − Dr. Megan Niederwerder, Swine Health Information Center
    SHIC Update on Japanese Encephalitis Virus Prevention and Preparedness for the US Swine Industry
    − Dr. Jason Lombard, Colorado State University
    WALK, RUN , CRAWL- H5N1, what we have learned in dairy cattle this past year
    − Dr. Jennifer Siembieda, USDA – APHIS
    Overview of HPAI in Dairy Cattle

  • Animal Identification & Information Systems

− Garrett Girk, Kansas Department of Agriculture
A State’s Perspective on EID
− Callahan Grund, U.S. CattleTrace
The Progression of ID and Technology: How we can accomplish an Animal Disease Traceability System for the US Beef Cattle Industry.

Andy Curliss, National Pork Producers Council opened the agenda on Tuesday, April 8 with a fascinating review of the ballot initiatives across the U.S. and the efforts from activist groups campaigning against animal agriculture.

Danette Amstein from Midan Marketing shared the latest consumer insights from the protein sector, including the different types of consumers and their unique buying habits.

Julie Broadway from the American Horse Council led a License to Operate panel that included experiences and expertise from

  • Rick Stott, Superior Farms
  • Dr. Jim Heird, Texas A&M University
  • Matt Durian, The American Royal
  • J.J. Jones, NIAA

NIAA Board Chair, Chelsea Good moderated the Ag Legislation panel featuring association executives. Topics included upcoming association policy priorities, trade, tariffs, and the farm bill. The speakers featured, were:

  • Michael Schumpp, The Meat Institute
  • Julie Broadway, American Horse Council
  • Andy Curlis, National Pork Producers Council
  • Zach Helder, Kansas City Agricultural Business Council
  • Justina Graff, U.S. House of Agriculture Committee.

Dr. Kaitlyn Briggs, fairlife, moderated a conversation with board members from the U.S. Ag Partnership Fund:

  • Collin Peterson, Former Chairman of the US House Agriculture Committee
  • Randy Russell, President of the Russell Group and former USDA Chief of Staff
  • Lisa Van Doren, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Vice President and Chief of Staff.

Joel Leftwich from Kansas Farm Bureau and the U.S. Agriculture Partnership Fund closed the day’s program with a closing challenge to the audience on how to move forward and get ahead of activist initiatives.

Two additional sessions were held on April 9. The American Sheep Industry Association hosted What’s Next After Scrapie Eradication? to discuss the next steps once Scrapie is declared eradicated in the U.S. NIAA hosted a meeting for awardees and stakeholders of the USDA National Animal Disease Preparedness & Response Program (NADPRP). After discussing the survey results from their project, NIAA hosted a panel featuring Dr. Tiffany Lee, Clemens Food Group, Dr. Julia Herman, NCBA, and Dr. Cheryl Eia, Iowa State University reviewing their experiences with program successes and opportunities.

Learn more about the award honorees, board members, the Advanced Training for Animal Agriculture Leaders, and upcoming NIAA events at  www.animalagriculture.org/.

Speakers Announced for NIAA’s 13th Annual Antibiotics Symposium in Atlanta

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Farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, allied industry professionals, human health specialists and environmental experts will explore collaboration opportunities to derive One Health solutions for antimicrobial resistance and stewardship.

 

Kansas City, Mo. (October 5, 2023) — The National Institute for Animal Agriculture will host the 13th Annual Antibiotics Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia from November 7-9, 2023. This year’s theme for Symposium is Thriving in a Changing Landscape.

 

NIAA serves as a contractor to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Antibiotics Symposium is made possible in part by the Beef Checkoff. This year’s Symposium program comes on the heels of NIAA’s Kentucky Farm Tour collaboration with Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, Kentucky Pork Producers Association, Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that served to bridge the gap between animal agriculture, human, and environmental health. This program is also made possible by Beef Farmers and Ranchers.

 

Symposium topics will include an industry report on the current state of antibiotic stewardship from producer to processor to grocer, information on the latest antimicrobial stewardship and resistance research, the multi-dimensional aspects of antibiotic stewardship and AMR, regulatory updates, One Health collaborations, and more. Confirmed speakers include:

  • Ken Opengart – Tyson Foods,
  • Alex Rinkus – Health for Animals,
  • Chris Gambino – The Breakthrough Institute,
  • Terry Lehenbauer – University of California Davis,
  • Collette Kaster – Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization
  • Andy Bishop – Cattlemen’s Beef Board,
  • Chelsey Shivley – USDA APHIS,
  • Catherine Rockwell – USDA FSIS,
  • Susan Jennings – EPA,
  • Karen Smith – Association of State & Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO),
  • Cameron Bess, PhD – Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA),

and more. See the full list of speakers here.

 

In addition to the Symposium program, NIAA will be leading a tour on Tuesday, November 7 before the opening reception. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host a tour limited to 30 people. More details will be released at a later date.

 

To register for the 13th Annual Antibiotics Symposium and book your hotel stay in Atlanta, please visit www.AnimalAgriculture.org. Hotel room block and early bird rates for registration are active until October 15, 2022. For assistance, please contact Morgan Young, Director of Communications and Outreach for the National Institute for Animal Agriculture at morgan.young@animalagriculture.org.

 

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About NIAA
NIAA is the leading resource for the animal agriculture industry and provides value to all stakeholders involved in providing safe and healthy food for the world. NIAA is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing programs to work towards providing solutions for disease, while promoting a safe and wholesome food supply and the best practices of environmental stewardship, animal health and well-being.

 

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The Checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national Checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.

NIAA Provides mRNA Resources to the Animal Agriculture Industry

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The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) hosted a webinar on July 21 with industry professionals and stakeholders to provide resources communicating about the use of mRNA technology in animal agriculture.

Misinformation has been shared on social media claiming humans can become vaccinated against COVID-19 by consuming animal protein from livestock treated with mRNA vaccines. The emerging issue was presented at NIAA’s Annual Conference in April 2023 during the Animal Health Emergency Management Council meeting. To compound the misinformation, mRNA vaccines have recently been the target of some state legislative bills.

NIAA quickly assembled a working group of experts from across animal agriculture to develop communication support materials regarding the use of mRNA technology in animal agriculture. Working group leaders include:

  • American Association of Swine Veterinarians
  • American Farm Bureau Federation
  • American Veterinary Medical Association
  • Animal Agriculture Alliance
  • Livestock Marketing Association
  • Merck Animal Health
  • Missouri Farm Bureau
  • National Institute for Animal Agriculture
  • National Pork Board
  • National Pork Producers Council
  • North American Meat Institute
  • Zoetis

The webinar hosted nearly 100 interested stakeholders and presented an information brief and infographic that is now available for animal agriculture stakeholders to use.

“NIAA works to serve animal agriculture stakeholders by convening leaders across the supply chain and connecting them with resources,” said J.J. Jones, NIAA executive director. “With this latest emerging issue, it’s important to know the facts about a complex topic and then communicate it simply and clearly. Our leaders are hopeful our animal agriculture stakeholders find this resource valuable.”

To access the mRNA information brief and infographic, please visit the resources page at the NIAA website. To learn more about becoming more involved in NIAA through membership or partnership, contact NIAA’s executive director J.J. Jones.

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NIAA is the leading resource for the animal agriculture industry and provides value to all stakeholders involved in providing safe and healthy food for the world. NIAA is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing programs to work towards providing solutions for disease, while promoting a safe and wholesome food supply and the best practices of environmental stewardship, animal health and well-being.

NIAA Launches A New Sustainability Council

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The National Institute for Animal Agriculture Launches Sustainability Council     Manhattan, Kans. (March 24, 2022) – The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) has launched a new sustainability council to empower NIAA members, partners, and industry experts to explore, discuss, learn, and develop knowledge that ensures the viability and acceptance of animal agriculture in today’s […]

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11th Annual Antibiotic Symposium in Kansas City

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National Institute for Animal Agriculture to Host 11th Annual Antibiotic Symposium in Kansas City

Animal, human and environmental health leaders will explore opportunities for collaboration to derive One Health solutions for antimicrobial resistance and stewardship.
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture will host the 11th Annual Antibiotic Symposium in Kansas City, Missouri from November 2-4, 2021. This year’s theme for Symposium is One Health, One Voice: Leveraging Future Opportunities to Enhance Collaboration.  

The purpose of the first Symposium in 2011 was for animal health and human health experts to share science‐based information so an honest dialogue could ensue. Today, the dialogue is just as important. The 2021 Antibiotic Symposium, One Health, One Voice – Leveraging Future Opportunities for Collaboration, will continue the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s focus on a One Health approach to antimicrobial resistance and stewardship. This year’s Symposium will connect leaders from animal, human and environmental health organizations and provide an opportunity to collaborate on research, education and communication endeavors.  

The Symposium will provide updates on the latest research on antimicrobial stewardship, antimicrobial resistance and alternatives within human, animal and environmental health. From the utilization of new technology to on-farm stewardship efforts, the 11th Annual Antibiotic Symposium will engage leaders in a collective dialogue about the continuous improvement across their industries. This year’s planning committee features: 

  • Eric Moore, DVM, Norbrook, Inc. 
  • Leah Dorman, DVM, Phibro Animal Health Corporation 
  • Michael Costin, DVM, American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) 
  • Megin Nichols, DVM, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 
  • Rebecca Barnett, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) 
  • Susan Gerber, MD, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 
  • Justin Welsh, DVM, Merck Animal Health 
  • Courtney Meyers, Ph.D., Texas Tech University  

The Symposium will provide opportunities for attendees to participate in round table and panel discussions, interact with keynote speakers, attend small group sessions and network.  

To register for the 11th Annual Antibiotic Symposium and book your hotel stay at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, please visit www.AnimalAgriculture.org. Early bird rates are active until September 30. Media may contact Morgan Young, Director of Communications and Outreach for the National Institute for Animal Agriculture at morgan.young@animalagriculture.org. for a media pass to attend.  

 

Weekly Bulletin April 22: Defending meat on menus & Tyson invests in animal disease traceability

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