When a foreign animal disease (FAD) crisis occurs, the last thing you want to do is figure out how to get all of your animal shipping papers in order, says Matt Ackerman, DVM, of Pork Veterinary Solutions.
Because of this, Ackerman is a strong supporter of AgView, a free opt-in technology solution that promotes business continuity in the face of a FAD. He is also one of the first veterinarians to try the new Account Management Partner (AMP) portal in AgView.
“It provides a unified platform for pig movement traceability to document animal movements that will be required if we hold a FAD event here in the US, much like Canada has PigTrace. That way, state and federal animal health officials can get the epidemiological data they need to track movements within 24 hours of an FAD concern, ”explains Ackerman.
He believes this data will also be incredibly helpful in maintaining business continuity by showing international trading partners that the country’s foreclosure and regionalization efforts are effective in allowing the US to maintain its exports.
How does the new feature work?
The AMP feature was recently added to AgView, says Patrick Webb, acting chief veterinarian for the National Pork Board. This feature enables veterinary clinics and administrative service companies that do not own pigs but manage them on behalf of pig producers to create an account and also give their customers who use AgView access to their accounts.
“The AMP portal enables our customers to give us direct access to their information,” says Ackerman. “I can log into my AMP account and see a list of all my customers’ accounts. This gives me the opportunity to manage, analyze or represent this information with and for our customers. ”
Ackerman says that not only will it allow veterinarians to manage this process, but it will also give producers better advice on how to prepare for a FAD event. This information can also be used for any other disease examination.
To protect producer confidentiality, Ackerman recommends providing your herd veterinarian with the email address used to create the account. The vet will “invite” you to your AMP portal. Then the manufacturer has to approve it.
Webb says the AMP expansion has seen more manufacturers affiliated with AgView and it expects further adoption when this new feature becomes known.
“We all know that people are currently scarce and have many priorities other than thinking about ARSP readiness,” says Webb. “But with AgView, it’s so easy to create an account. And when you work with some of the big software platforms, it’s a lot less hassle to work with them to get the job done, to save those locations and movements there and keep them up to date than you think. ”
A logical next step
Ackerman and his partner Dylan Lape, DVM, had encouraged their customers to fill out the Secure Pork Supply documents in 2019.
“For us, this was just the next step in the process,” says Lape. “For our interested customers, we then offered the services of uploading their premises in AgView, Secure Pork Supply documents and movements and analyzing their information.”
Customers can choose which of these services they want or perform themselves. However, they have been strongly encouraged to at least open an account, Lape adds.
“This will allow veterinarians in the future to manage their FAD diagnostic data from one place, regardless of which laboratory the samples went to, which will be crucial when the laboratory space is allocated based on resources,” says Lape.
How is AgView introduced?
As of December 6, 361 producers had created accounts in Ag View, Webb says.
“If you look at the pork powerhouse’s top 40, about 45% of those producers have organizational accounts in AgView, which is about 27% of the total US sow herd,” said Webb. “We have about 25 state animal health officers with organizational accounts, and we’re reaching out to our next tier of state animal health officers to get more on board.”
Nobody questions the value of AgView, says Webb, but like most things, it takes time. However, it is time well spent, adds Ackerman.
“First of all, it works as the NPB announced. Second, it’s free. Even if you never use it, everything is set up and ready to go should we be hosting a FAD event here in the US. You don’t want to try to find out this stuff in the middle of the chaos, we will all have a lot on our plates back then, ”says Ackerman. “Having an AgView account is one step closer to maintaining business continuity, which should put your mind at ease this holiday season.”
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Why the U.S. pork industry isn’t forgetting 2021