Aug. 15, 2018 the Honorable Pat Roberts the Honorable Mike
Aug. 15, 2018 The Honorable Pat Roberts The Honorable Mike Conaway Chairman Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Agriculture Nutrition & Forestry The Honorable Debbie Stabenow The Honorable Collin Peterson Ranking Member Ranking Member Senate Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Agriculture Nutrition & Forestry Dear Chairman Roberts, Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Stabenow, Ranking Member Peterson and Members of the Conference Committee: The National Pork Producers Council, an association of 42 state pork organizations that represents the interests in Washington, D.C., of America’s 60,000 pork producers, writes to express its strong support for the conference committee’s work on a 2018 Farm Bill and, in particular, two provisions in it that will be considered during the panel’s deliberations. Those provisions, one setting up and funding a robust Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine bank and the other protecting interstate commerce and prohibiting one state from regulating agricultural practices in other states, are vital to the viability of America’s farmers and ranchers and to their ability to produce safe, affordable food. As you know, FMD is an infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hooved animals, including cattle, pigs and sheep; it is not a food safety or human health threat. Although the disease hasn’t been in the United States since 1929, it is endemic in many parts of the world, and our country is ill-prepared to deal with an outbreak should FMD reach our shores. Without the ability to control the disease through vaccination, U.S. meat and dairy export markets – which would close immediately on confirmation of an outbreak – would remain shuttered indefinitely.
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