At this week's 2024 United States Swine Health Improvement Plan (U.S. SHIP) House of Delegates meeting in Minnesota, 10 voting representatives provided valuable perspective on behalf of our state's pork industry. As a reminder, U.S. SHIP exists to bring producers and government partners together to create a "National Playbook" of technical standards related to Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) preparedness for African Swine Fever (ASF) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF).

Throughout the multi-day meeting, a few Oklahomans played prominent roles leading discussion related to U.S. SHIP's key tenets of biosecurity, traceability and disease surveillance. Oklahoma's assistant state veterinarian (and a fantastic partner of the Oklahoma Pork Council) Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland shared her expertise during the Biosecurity Site Plans breakout session covering a unique Oklahoma pilot program where she worked one-on-one to create Secure Pork Supply (SPS) plans with members of the transitional swine segment. "Dr. G" - as she is affectionately known to many - also spoke about our state's collaborative "One Pork" approach bringing together commercial and show pig producers for disease prevention and preparedness. She applauded Oklahoma Pork leadership in this effort, including well deserved shout outs to board member Dr. Suzanne Genova and staff members Matti Carlile and Kylee Deniz.. Additionally, Seaboard Foods' Dr. Noel Williams spoke about his company's work leading the packer and processor segment of U.S. SHIP involvement.

In summary, our Oklahoma crew felt the meeting was a positive next step in U.S. SHIP becoming a USDA program. Thank you to each of Oklahoma's delegates for participating, including: Pati Law - Prestage Farms, Jay Johnston - Tyson Foods, Dr. Suzanne Genova - Red Dirt Veterinary Services, Dr. Rod Hall - ODAFF, Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland - ODAFF, Dr. Noel Williams - Seaboard Foods, Dr. Jon Tangen - The HANOR Company, Travis Vaughan - Smithfield Foods, and Joe Wolfe - JBS.