Moms know a lot about germs or, at least, how they get
shared. In mid-winter, we take our kids to the library, grocery store, or museum
and usually a few days later said kids have runny noses – or worse. The battle
rages on and we keep fighting, armed with our sanitation gear. “Wash your
hands,” we dictate, before school, after school, after playing, before eating, after going to
the bathroom – wash, wash, wash – “with soap and warm water, please!” Along
with the tissues and wet wipes, we carry around two or three mini-bottles of
hand-sanitizer in our bags. We use disinfectant wipes on all those nasty
surfaces – you know the ones. Our mantra becomes “Cover your mouth when you
cough,” “Sneeze into your elbow,” “We don’t share toothbrushes, drinks, or
silverware!” We take our shoes off at the door. We keep sick kids home. And, oh, putting everything in
their mouth before they turn two – yuck! We can’t see all the germs, but we sure do know they are there. Do some of us go to extremes? We can’t seem to do enough to stave them off, no matter how much "ammunition" we
employ.
Farmers do even more than moms to prevent the spread of disease. I was surprised to
learn that hog farmers (and other livestock producers, as well) go to extreme measures (by our "mom" standards) in their battle against pathogens. They refer to the germs by more scientific and specific terms like pathogens, micro-organisms, bacteria, or viruses. Their program is far more formal
than ours, of course, and theirs has a name. It is called “biosecurity.”
Defined, “biosecurity” is a strict isolation and sanitation
program practiced throughout farms to prevent the spread of disease between
herds. The livestock farmers we have been talking to take this very, very
seriously. In fact, when asked what the ideal hog (livestock) farm would look
like, Eldon Gould said, as isolated and remote as possible. All in the name of disease prevention.
I had no idea that pigs, especially young pigs (and all market pigs are young) were so
susceptible to diseases, just like our own children. As an example, this past
year, and especially this winter, there has been a virus called PEDV
(porcine epidemic diarrhea virus) that has proven very difficult to control and
has spread rapidly across borders, killing several million piglets. It’s
not a new virus, but it is the first time it has been seen in the U.S. You may
have seen in the news, there is a possibility that we may see the economic
effect of this virus at the supermarket this summer in the form of higher
prices for pork. It is just one of many diseases that a young pig can easily
contract.
Some farmers in harder hit (by PEDV) locations, like Iowa,
have stepped up their strict biosecurity protocols, even going so far as to ask
farm-hands to not go into town to avoid contact with other farms (think shoes and tires); and they will avoid parking in
parking lots that could fit a large farm truck trailer. It affects everyone’s
daily life, on and off the farm.
The two Farm Moms who joined our group for the tour have hog
farms of their own. As part of standard biosecurity protocol, they could not
set foot in their barns for 72 hours prior to the trip to the Gould Farm. They
actually extended it an additional day out of respect for the Goulds. They, in
turn, had to wait 72 hours to set foot back in their own barns. They also
brought a change of clothes with them to change into after being in the barn,
in addition to wearing the protective gear we wore.
(photo by IFF)
Here’s a standard biosecurity protocol that surprised a lot
of us Field Moms. At the Gould Farm and Hagenbuch Family Farm (one of our Farm
Moms), everyone who goes into the barn must shower in and shower out. You read
that right. Hagenbuch’s have two barns and our Farm Mom is in and out of them
twice a day – add that up, eight showers in the barn, every day. Yes, it is
true! We couldn’t believe it. For our Gould farm tour, we were given a free
pass on the showers, but we did have to wear Tyvek® coveralls, hair nets, and giant
plastic bag boots over our boots. They went in the dumpster after we came out
of the barn. Visitors to the farm are not the norm and biosecurity is the
reason why.
Physically, the barns are separated from other parts of the
operation like the farm house, field operations, and other barns. Part of a stepped up protocol
may also include a series of steps to physically isolate delivery trucks (feed,
supplies, fuel, etc.) from the hog housing. The Farm Moms explained a scenario I
would not have considered. A truck that has been to an infected farm can pick
up the disease on its tires. Then, the snow plow can spread the disease on the
roads, taking the pathogens toward the next farms. A dog, or wild animal, walking on the
road and back to the farm can bring along those pathogens.
The hog buildings are secure to keep out undesirable
animals, both wild and domestic. Cats, dogs, birds, bats, and rodents of all
kinds can carry the pathogens on their bodies.
Raccoons and deer used to spread trichinosis when the
animals were housed outside. Trichinosis is extremely rare, now, and all but
non-existent in supermarket meat. Moving the pigs inside has helped manage
those types of risks.
The isolation barn is part of the biosecurity program to
protect the herd health. The new-to-the-farm gilts live in the isolation barn,
separate from the rest of the herd. Their health is closely monitored for at
least two weeks. When deemed healthy, they are moved into the main barn with
the rest of the herd. Some farms may also have a hospital barn to treat sick
animals and isolate them.
the Janssen Farm (photo by Pam Janssen, Farm Mom)
Washing and sanitizing crates after pigs are moved
out is standard procedure.
Keeping the animal living quarters clean and sanitary is
part of the standard protocol.
Biosecurity focuses on herd health. It’s good for the pigs, good
for the farmer, and ultimately, good for us (the consumer) as well. The farmers
would much rather keep the pigs healthy than treat sickness.
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