12 Broadcaster Press August 12, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com Combatting PED: 1870 Manure applicators shifting practices to control new pig disease By Rita Brhel be fenced off at the perimeter with a locked gate at the entrance and signs warning people of the farm’s biosecurity policy. The farm office is advised to be located near the gate, to have its own kitchen so farm workers aren’t leaving the grounds during the work day for meals. Employees should not live at another hog farm or have contact with pigs outside of their workplace. Visitors should be kept at a minimum and not allowed to have pig contact at least 24 hours before arriving that the hog farm. A sign-in visitor book helps with traceability. All doors should be locked and a buzzer available for visitors. No pets allowed. Also, all farm workers and visitors are required to have a shower before entering the facilities, with farm clothes provided to prevent contamination from the clothes and jewelry. A clothes washer and dryer on the premises prevent farm clothes from being contaminated by being removed from the farm to be cleaned. There should be separate farm workers for the main herd and for the pigs kept in isolation, and farm chores should be done in a certain order from highest health status to lowest. All rooms are recommended to be cleaned with a power washer and then disinfected with certain products. Facilities need to be rodent-proof; any pest problems should be eliminated by a professional exterminator. Vehicles should not be allowed on the hog farm without cleaning and disinfecting. Pigs should be moved as a group in an “all in-all out” manner during each production stage. As is evident, P&D Correspondent EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a twopart series looking at the impact of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) virus. Producers, veterinarians and industry officials across the United States have been scrambling for the past year to keep a rapidly spreading, and very costly, pig disease — Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) virus — from decimating the pork industry. One of the mainstays in controlling PED infection in swine herds has been the industry’s typically high level of biosecurity, focusing primarily on preventing crosscontamination from infected manure. Biosecurity is a complicated matter for hog producers, said John Carney, executive director of the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative (MLMMI) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. “The thing is, all those judgments cost money,” he said. The list of biosecurity measures possible is long and includes such practices as spacing individual swine herds a minimum of 1 1/2 miles from each other, with attention given to wind direction, land typography and presence of natural trees or shelterbelts. Producers are told to keep in mind the proximity to wildlife and other farm animals, even hogs part of the same herd but kept in different buildings. Facilities should be located away from public roads, even farther if there is swine traffic on a particular road. The operation could Ag Equipment Want to buy: JD & IH mounted field cultivator. Small square baler. JD 8300 or IH 510 grain drill. JD 7000 planter. Manure spreader. (605)661-6335. 1875 “There are all kinds of changes that manure applicators have or are making in response to PED. Cleaning, disinfecting and drying was by far and away the hardest for them to implement. Closely related, sanitation and down time has proven difficult.” Livestock - Poultry Horses and tack for sale. 1 mare and 2 geldings. Lots of tack. Moving, all must go. (605)660-0689. 2000 JOHN CARNEY OF MANITOBA LIVESTOCK MANURE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE biosecurity at hog farms can be as thorough as possible. But, Carney said, producers need to be able to discern what protocols work best and when in order to keep production costs down. This is particularly true when deciding what biosecurity measures to add to hog farm to help control a new disease like PED. “I like the phrase, ‘Start right, end right,’” Carney added. To help pinpoint costeffective protocols specific to PED, the MLMMI in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin in Madison conducted a survey in July 2104 of commercial manure applicators — one of the few non-farm trucks allowed onto the grounds of most high-level biosecurity hog farms — of what measures they’re taking to prevent the spread of PED and what swine producers can do to help them to better ensure success. The survey collected anonymous information from an online survey as well as a paper survey distributed at the 2014 North American Manure Expo in Springfield, Missouri. There were 47 respondents from 15 states and provinces in the United States and Canada. Of the respondents, 96 percent have or are making changes to their procedures as a result of PED, as the majority of producers they work with express concern about the spread of PED. “There is no question in my mind that this has changed the way manure application is done, and its significance,” Carney said. According to the survey respondents, the most difficult part of prepumping procedures is planning an entrance and exit with no to minimal crossover lines of separation, noting that the lines of separation are often not readily marked and that many hog farms do not have lanes for outside vehicles separate from on-farm vehicles. “We want to separate manure application activities from anybody who comes in contact with the pigs,” Carney said. The best way to design additional vehicle lanes is to map out proposed lanes on a Google Earth image of the farm, to be able to assess relevant site features like the barns and public roads. Clearly identifying lines of separation, such as with yellow hazard tape, can better help direct off-farm vehicles as well. The most challenging part post-challenging procedures is having enough time to clean the equipment properly before going to the next site. In addition, there is expense incurred by the applicators to dispose of outerwear and then to clean truck and tractor cabs between sites. “There are all kinds of changes that manure applicators have or are making in response to PED,” Carney said. “Cleaning, disinfecting and drying was by far and away the hardest for them to implement. Closely related, sanitation and down time has proven difficult.” Overall, downtime for cleaning to keep up with PED-specific biosecurity protocols have added more than 10 percent time to many applicators’ schedules, according to survey respondents. And downtime costs money, by reducing the number of sites they can service in a day, and therefore their bottom line. Some hog producers are going a step further and purchasing their own pumps, hoses and couplings to avoid using manure applicator’s pumps. Additionally, some applicators are purchasing their own power-washing units to avoid using the producers’ equipment. So there has been innovative give-andtake from both sides, Carney said. Lisa Becton, veterinarian and Director of Swine Health Information and Research at the National Pork Board in Des Moines, Iowa, suggested other tips for manure applicators, including changing footwear and putting on clean overalls between sites; avoiding high-traffic roads; and not parking next to other vehicles on the farm or next to any vehicles off the farm that are known to be in contact with hogs, such as livestock trailers. “Clearly, by any way you look at it, this virus has been a game changer for manure applicators,” Carney said. Notices Is food a problem for you? Does weight affect the way you live? 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