Outsmarting the PRRS Virus

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Aptimmune, Audio

The 2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium focused on the success of the Barricade vaccine for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), which was introduced in 2017.

“PRRS is a daunting challenge and a difficult vaccine to not only develop but also manage in the production world,” said Dr. Bob Nordgren, chairman of the board for Aptimmune. “For 20 years, we’ve come up with relatively few breakthroughs in the area of PRRS vaccination. And designing a vaccine rationally and how you want the vaccine to work in the piglet has been the target of Aptimmune and is the result of the process we’ve established today.”

Nordgren said part of the challenge has been that the PRRS virus can sustain itself in the individual animal as well as in the environment when presented as a modified live virus. However, an inactive vaccine inserted as an oil emulsion into the muscle is also not right for this situation. Aptimmune’s Barricade virus presents as a “live-like” virus to the tissue that is responsible for letting the PRRS virus in. The company shared results of field trials over the past year during this year’s event.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Dr. Nordgren here: Interview with Dr. Bob Nordgren, Aptimmune

2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium Photo Album

Aptimmune Vaccines Gaining Popularity

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Aptimmune, Audio, Swine

Aptimmune is looking to grow its presence in the swine vaccine market with the success of Barricade for porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

“It’s kind of an exciting time because we launched the product over a year ago and we’ve got customers that are using the product, evaluating it in a number of trials,” said Steve Berger, director of development for Aptimmune. “We’re excited about this next phase. As the vaccine is taken up in the market, the demand is increasing and putting more pressure on the manufacturing operations, which are good problems to have. We’re looking forward to the next growth phase of Aptimmune.”

Berger said the company has just added an influenza vaccine to the portfolio and is working on a combination PRRS/flu product. Aptimmune is also working toward federal licensing, which would allow the sale of product formulations across the country instead of state by state.

2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium Photo Album

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Steve here: Interview with Steve Berger, Aptimmune

Aptimmune Shares Barricade Vaccine Field Data

carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Aptimmune, Audio, Swine

In the year since Aptimmune launched the Barricade vaccine to fight porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome (PRRS), the company has been gathering field data from 30 different veterinarians in 12 different states.

“We’ve been able to see a 50 percent reduction in mortality across the board, so it’s been very rewarding,” said Dr. Jessica Seate, professional service veterinarian for Aptimmune. “In addition, we’ve also seen we can improve the number of pigs that are culled or rejected. We’ve also got improvements in antibiotic treatment programs.”

Seate said the data also looked at average daily gain and there are improvements there, as well. The company shared those results at the 2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium in San Diego.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Dr. Jessica Seate here: Interview with Dr. Jessica Seate, Aptimmune 

Animal Ag Bites 3/12

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  • U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced the appointment of 11 members and 10 alternates to serve on the American Egg Board. More information about the board is available on the American Egg Board website.
  • Under an export certificate recently negotiated between the two countries, the United States now can ship pork to Paraguay. While the South American country is a modest consumer of pork, there is potential for U.S. pork export growth to its nearly 6.9 million people, who have a per capita income greater than, for example, the Philippines and Vietnam, two large pork-consuming nations.
  • The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association will present a webinar entitled: The 4’s of Crossbreeding: Simple, Structured, Successful, and Sustainable on Thursday, March 22, 2018 at 7 p.m. CT. Click here to register.
  • The World Dairy Expo Board of Directors, Commercial Exhibitor Committee and Dairy Cattle Exhibitor Committee conducted annual meetings on March 5 and 6 at the Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wis. These groups of business professionals, dairy producers and Expo exhibitors set new initiatives for the 2018 World Dairy Expo, October 2 through 6, in addition to welcoming new members during their respective meetings.
  • The American Quarter Horse Association elected a new Executive Committee at the 2018 AQHA Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Read more convention coverage at www.aqha.com/convention.
  • The Angus Journal is seeking a new editor as it restructures its current editorial team. The editor will take on the day-to-day management of the print and digital components of the Angus Journal, as well as provide editorial support for other publications of Angus Media as time allows. The new editor will report to the president of Angus Media and have direct management of the editorial team, including a main role in selecting several new team members. For more information or to apply for this new position, visit the careers section of angus.org, or email careers@angus.org.
  • World Dairy Expo is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2018 Expo Recognition Awards to be formally presented at the 52nd annual event in October. The 2018 honorees are as follows: Dairy Woman of the Year – Jeanette Sheehan, Sheeknoll Farms, Rochester, Minnesota; Dairyman of the Year – Pete Kappelman, Meadow Brook Dairy Farms, LLC, Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Industry Person of the Year – Dr. Dan Hornickel and Dr. Chris Keim, Sunshine Genetics, Inc., Whitewater, Wisconsin; and International Person of the Year – Alastair Pearson, World Wide Sires China Co. Ltd, Beijing, China.

    • USFRA Launches engAGe App to Help Advocate Online

    jamie johansenAg Group, AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Apps, Audio, Commodity Classic, USFRA

    In in a proactive effort to bring farmers and ranchers into the mainstream conversation about food and ag-related issues, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance® (USFRA) has launched engAGe – a new app to give farmers, ranchers and advocates a turnkey tool in sharing their story on social media.

    This platform allows users to easily stay abreast of current news in agriculture and broadens relevant content to their social media channels with a simple click. It’s easy to download and integrates with social media accounts to strengthen agriculturalists’ voices and share a united message.

    “Agriculture has an opportunity to come together and proactively elevate the voices of farmers, ranchers and agriculturalists on social media,” says Brad Greenway, USFRA Chairman and South Dakota diversified crop and animal farmer. “We know through USFRA research that consumers are interested in how their food is grown and raised. It’s our responsibility to take 5-10 minutes a day to join the dialogue on social media and share our story while we’re in the fields and in our barns.”

    The news feed within the app allows users to publish stories and posts to their own social media networks. engAGe also encourages farmers, ranchers and advocates to network with others, so if someone has a video, photo, link or story they want to share, it can be posted and distributed to the entire engAGe community.

    How to download engAGe:
    – To join, search “Dynamic Signal” in either iTunes or Google Play and download the free app.
    – Once you download and open the app, the app will prompt you to enter the engAGe community code: ENGAGE (not case sensitive).
    – Once you type in the community code, you will be able to create an engAGe account.
    – For further instructions, or to download a manual, visit fooddialogues.com/engAGe

    Listen to the audio tutorial here: engAGe App Tutorial

    2018 Commodity Classic Photo Album

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    Aptimmune Shares Vaccine Success

    carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Audio

    Aptimune Biologics is fighting swine disease with vaccines formulated especially for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus and influenza. In 2017, the company introduced the BARRICADE formulation technology. A recent symposium in San Diego gave veterinarians who have been conducting field trials with that mucosal vaccine to share how the product is performing.

    “The reality is that we’ve got to know more about our product than anybody, and it doesn’t always work so it’s important for us to distinguish when it’s appropriate to use and when it doesn’t work as well so we can educate people when they’re making product choices,” said Aaron Gilbertie, Aptimune CEO.

    Gilbertie reported about an 85 percent success rate for the BARRICADE vaccine, with more trials in progress.

    Listen to Chuck’s interview with Aaron here: Interview with Aaron Gilbertie, Aptimmune

    2018 Aptimmune Scientific Symposium Photo Album

    Northey Takes Oath of USDA Office

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    It was a long time coming, but finally Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue administered the oath of office to Bill Northey to serve as the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service (FFAS) at USDA. Northey has served as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, and is a former president of the National Corn Growers Association.

    “After months of waiting, I’m thrilled to finally have Bill on board at USDA,” Secretary Perdue said. “The patience he displayed throughout this process is an indicator of what kind of steady leader he will be on our team, and we are eager for him to get to work. Bill comes to us at an important time, as farm incomes are down and expected to fall further. Additionally, with work on the 2018 Farm Bill already underway, Bill will play an integral role in the advice we offer to Congress.”

    However, there is still a little work to do when it comes to that title, and it is a little confusing right now. Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), the position for which Northey is intended, is a new position created by the realignment of agencies to encompasses the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Risk Management Agency. The realignment was necessitated by the creation of Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, as directed by the 2014 Farm Bill. So USDA is working with Congress to formally change the name of Northey’s mission area to FPAC. One step at a time.

    Pork Industry Honors Tom Baas with Award

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    The National Pork Board last week awarded former Iowa State University animal science professor at Tom Baas the Distinguished Service Award during the National Pork Industry Forum in Kansas City. The award is presented each year to recognize an industry leader’s lifelong contribution to the pork industry.

    “Tom has provided extraordinary leadership to the pork industry,” said National Pork Board President Terry O’Neel, a pork producer from Friend, Nebraska. “Through the years, he worked tirelessly for the advancement of the pork industry and mentored numerous students at Iowa State University.”

    Baas grew up in Kossuth County, Iowa, graduating high school in West Bend. He earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science and later his master’s and Ph.D. all from Iowa State University. Baas worked in various aspects of the pork industry, including with the Duroc Swine Registry and on his own farm raising pigs, before he became a mainstay at Iowa State University as an animal science professor and advisor.

    Learn more about Tom in this interview from Pork Forum:
    Interview with NPB Distinguished Service Award winner Tom Baas

    2018 Pork Forum Photos

    (photo courtesy of National Pork Board)

    Animal Ag Bites 3/5

    carrie muehlingAgWired Animal, Animal Bites

    • Dairy checkoff partner Pizza Hut has increased the amount of cheese on its pan pizzas by 25 percent, a move that will require an additional 150 million pounds of milk annually to meet the change. The project was made possible thanks to dairy scientist Nitin Joshi, a Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) employee who works onsite at Pizza Hut’s headquarters in Plano, Texas. Pan pizza is the chain’s signature product offering and the new formulations are now available at more than 6,000 restaurants nationwide.
    • The Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) is now accepting applications for its annual scholarship program. The annual DCHA scholarship is awarded to a student currently enrolled in an agriculture-related program at an accredited college or university. Applicants must have completed at least one year of post-high school education. An individual may only receive the scholarship once. Download the application here. Applications are due March 30, 2018.
    • The 2018 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Legislative Conference is scheduled for April 10-12 in Washington, D.C. To register, click here.

    Meet the 2018 Pig Farmers of Tomorrow

    Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Pork, Pork Checkoff, Pork Forum

    LtoR – Leon Sheets, Christine Snowden, Adam Krause, Emma Lasco

    America’s Pig Farmer Leon Sheets had the pleasure of introducing the new Pig Farmers of Tomorrow at the National Pork Forum this week, appropriately on National Pig Day, March 1.

    Adam Krause from South Dakota and Emma Lasco and Christine Snowden, both from Iowa, have been named for the honor, which recognizes farm leaders, ages 18-29, who intend to make pig farming their life’s work and who are committed to raising pigs using the pork industry’s We CareSM ethical principles. The winners will speak at Pork Checkoff events and provide content on #RealPigFarming, which is the pork industry’s social media program.

    Krause is the fourth generation on his family farm near Clear Lake, South Dakota who owns a pig nursery barn and grows corn, soybean and wheat. Lasco is a territory manager for Smithfield Foods Midwest Production in Roland, Iowa and assists growers with implementing Smithfield’s industry-leading animal care standards on their farms. Snowden is an assistant farrowing manager for AMVC, located in Audubon, Iowa where she works with other employees to care for piglets from birth until they are weaned.

    Learn more about them in their remarks to Pork Forum attendees. 2018 Pig Farmers of Tomorrow

    2018 Pork Forum Photos