Holdings Sustainability Report 2022 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 14
PIGS
Animal Care
Biosecurity
Biosecurity practices help ensure we keep diseases out of our barns and keep animals from getting sick.
At PIPESTONE, several biosecurity practices have been put in place at each of our managed barns to
ensure the highest security protections for our animals and clients. Some of these practices include but
are not limited to:
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All employees and visitors must shower in and out of the farm.
Only visitors from a farm of high health status can shower into our barns to protect the pigs inside
from disease transfer.
Waiting periods have been established to minimize transfer of illness from barn to barn.
All transport trucks and trailers must abide by biosecurity protocols.
D&D rooms are used to disinfect any equipment or medical/health supplies coming into the farm.
Strict adherence to these guidelines and the vigilance of our drivers, staff, and veterinarians help to
keep our swine population as healthy as possible.
Wean-to-Market Biosecurity Standards - What Are They
What do we mean when we refer to a standard? “Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with
expertise in their subject matter and who know the needs of the organization they represent. They are the
formula that describes the best way of doing something.” (International Organization for Standardization,
2022)
PIPESTONE has been a leader in research, innovation, and adaptation of biosecurity practices for more than
30 years, which has helped define a standard for sow farm biosecurity. This standard continues to evolve
and provides a distinct advantage to farmers by reducing the incidence of disease. Over this same course
of time, the swine industry has failed to adapt standards in wean-to-market biosecurity. Farmers leave
themselves, and the US industry, at risk of disease introduction and dissemination. We believe it is time that
the swine industry recognizes standards for wean-to-market biosecurity and commits to change.
Pork producers today have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being proactive and improving the
standards by which we hold ourselves to. The United States is at more risk than ever for a foreign animal
disease introduction with increasing globalization and African Swine Fever virus now present in Haiti and the
Dominican Republic. In addition, the disease pressure from PRRSv, Influenza, and bacterial challenges prove
more challenging than ever.
At the PIPESTONE Summit this past year, when surveyed, 92% of the producers responded that they believe
there would be a positive return on investment for improving wean-to-market biosecurity. If the resounding
opinion is there is value in doing so, why aren’t we making this investment?
To help address this, PIPESTONE developed a Wean-to-Market Biosecurity Standard and Wean-toMarket Biosecurity Assessment to evaluate a farmer’s practices relative to the standard. The results are
summarized to provide a benchmark, and serve as a roadmap for farmers to make progress in improving
their biosecurity. With a common set of standards and a commitment to measure and improve, we believe
the industry can change. Contact your PIPESTONE veterinarian to review and benchmark your biosecurity
practices.
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Pipestone Management