Money for foreign animal disease prevention is vital for US agriculture

USA Today

06-02-2025

Money for foreign animal disease prevention is vital for US agriculture | Opinion The bird flu outbreak is just the latest warning that our food security depends on healthy flocks and herds nationwide.
American farmers and ranchers undertake incredible responsibilities to feed and fuel our country and the world. They work from sunup to sundown to ensure that our grocery stores and meat counters are fully stocked and that we can enjoy nutritious meals. Yet, American agriculture faces a multitude of threats to this core mission.
Regulations like Waters of the United States saddle our producers with regulatory uncertainty. High input costs caused by inflation squeeze margins. Low commodity prices hamstring farm income. The death tax threatens to end rural traditions and put family farms out of business permanently. Taken together, these challenges make farming and ranching — already demanding professions — even more difficult.
An additional, covert — yet extremely alarming — threat that requires our constant attention is the spread of foreign animal disease within our borders.
The most recent data from the federal government confirms that more than 147 million birds — mainly chickens and turkeys — have been affected by bird flu, and over 11,000 wild birds have tested positive for the virus. To contain further spread, tens of millions of birds have been depopulated, causing egg prices to skyrocket and leaving poultry and egg producers with major uncertainty about the path forward.
We must also remain vigilant about the threats lurking at our doorstep, such as African Swine Fever. According to research conducted at Iowa State University, African Swine Fever would cause nearly $80 billion in economic losses for the pork and beef industries, cut 60,000 American jobs, and lead to a reduction in pork and beef prices anywhere between 50% and 60%.
The bird flu outbreak is just the latest warning that our food security depends on healthy flocks and herds nationwide. It's the responsibility of lawmakers — particularly those of us on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture — to do more to support the surveillance, prevention, and mitigation of foreign animal disease outbreaks.
In August, the day before spending time at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, we had the unique opportunity to tour the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Iowa State University in Ames, which is one of only 11 fully accredited Tier 1 labs within the National Animal Healthy Laboratory Network. We met with veterinarians, diagnosticians and veterinary toxicologists to learn more about how they test animal samples to detect various illnesses and diseases. The lab also works closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on prevention, surveillance, and mitigation initiatives.
In the farm bill we passed out of the Agriculture Committee with bipartisan support last May, we acknowledged the importance of foreign animal disease prevention and response by fully funding the three-legged stool: the laboratory network, the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank. The three-legged stool of animal health supports on-farm biosecurity efforts, vaccine stockpiles, diagnostic test kits, emergency response, and farm education initiatives on foreign animal disease prevention and mitigation. Coordination among local, state and federal partners; farmers and ranchers; our university systems; and other pertinent stakeholders is vital to keeping animal diseases out of our country and responding to emergencies in an effective and efficient manner.
The Beagle Brigade Act, signed into law on Jan. 6, calls for the National Detector Dog Training Center to train dogs, including beagles, to inspect cargo, baggage, and vehicles at our borders and detect foreign diseases that pose a significant threat to agriculture. These detection measures at our border and other ports of entry protect American agriculture from a scourge of disease outbreaks, safeguard the health and well-being of livestock and poultry, and keep our farmers, ranches, and producers financially whole.
While our work to prevent and combat the spread of foreign animal disease never truly ends, investments like those in last year's committee-passed farm bill are crucial to responding to the current bird flu outbreak and keeping African Swine Flu and foot-and-mouth disease out of our hog confinements and cattle yards. Representing agricultural producers in Iowa and Pennsylvania, and advocating for American farmers in all 50 states, we recommit our efforts to passing the farm bill and ensuring that President Donald Trump can sign it into law as quickly as possible.
We cannot ignore the current crisis nor wait for the next to take decisive action for the good of American agriculture.
G.T. Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, chairs the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. Randy Feenstra, who represents Iowa's 4th Congressional District, is a member of the committee.