Traceability of 4-H exhibition animals: Issues and analysis for animal agriculture in West Central Indiana
Abstract
Cattle and swine are comingled across the nation on numerous occasions when they are exhibited by seedstock producers and junior (4-H and FFA) exhibitors at state and national shows, as well as at county fairs. Livestock exhibitions provide an opportunity for animal diseases to spread by convening large numbers of animals from geographically disperse areas, comingling these animals at the exhibition site, and subsequently dispersing them to potentially be comingled with commercial animals making livestock exhibitions a crucial part of livestock traceability. The purpose of this research is to identify the potential for disease spread originating at livestock exhibitions and to identify the economic value of alternative measures to prevent or control a disease outbreak. Specifically, this research addresses the issues in the context of potential spread of foot-and-mouth disease and pseudorabies originating from the Indiana State Fair. The North American Animal Disease Spread Model is utilized to simulate hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease and pseudorabies outbreaks affecting the cattle and swine industries in a three county region in West Central Indiana under alternative policies aimed at containing the disease events. Results indicated that exhibition animals that have been exposed to PRV or FMD at the state fair and return to the home farm would devastate commercial animal agriculture in that region. Resulting disease outbreaks would result in the destruction of the majority of the animals in the three county area. Additionally, results indicated that changes within a range of traceability levels for small cattle and swine farms resulted in less than a 2% change in the number of animal destroyed in this region. This is primarily due to the small sample sized used in this research. However, these results suggest that policies which prevent or control the disease outbreak along with improving animal traceability should be implemented. The expected economic benefits of policies analyzed in this research are determined based on a range of probabilities of a disease outbreak occurring. A conservative probability of an outbreak is used to determine the expected economic benefits based on the destruction cost determined when using the North American Animal Disease Spread Model.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Balagtas, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Animal sciences|Animal sciences|Agricultural economics
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