Next week, pork producers and government partners from across the nation will gather in Minnesota for the 2023 United States Swine Health Improvement Plan (U.S. SHIP) House of Delegates Meeting. Individuals involved with U.S. SHIP continue to work toward a "National Playbook" of technical standards centering on prevention and demonstration of freedom from disease outside control areas in support of animal health, commerce and trade related to threats like African Swine Fever (ASF) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF).

The Oklahoma Pork Council is excited for our state to be well represented at this critical meeting. We have diverse delegate representation from our pork production companies and industry segments, in addition to Oklahoma Pork's Kylee Deniz and Matti Carlile attending the event. Oklahoma will have 9 voting delegates participating in this worthwhile discussion.

Oklahoma's voting delegation headed to Minnesota next week includes:

Cristina Carmona - Prestage Farms,
Dr. Steven Clifton - Tyson Foods,
Dr. Suzanne Genova - Red Dirt Veterinary Services
Dr. Rod Hall - ODAFF
Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland - ODAFF
Noel Williams - Seaboard Foods
Dr. Jon Tangen - The HANOR Company
Travis Vaughan - Smithfield Foods
Joe Wolfe - JBS

If you have input that will help these delegates represent our industry in key decisions for Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) preparedness and traceability, let them know! Additionally, if you are interested in digging into the U.S. SHIP conference topics for discussion, click here to view the 71-page House of Delegates booklet with proposed updates and program standards.