Leaders from the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) released the following statements in response to the Trump Administration’s updated response plan for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that is affecting our nation’s dairy herds.
NMPF President and CEO Gregg Doud said the following in a recent press release: “Dairy farmers and cooperatives appreciate USDA’s leadership in supporting American agriculture and safeguarding animal health as it deals with what soon will be a second year of H5N1 bird flu disruptions in dairy cattle. Dairy farmers and all of agriculture takes biosecurity seriously, and we thank USDA and the Trump Administration for actions that will further those efforts.
“We support the department’s initiatives to advance vaccine development and deployment that will help control, and ultimately eliminate, the virus in dairy cattle. And we also want to remind consumers that, even as dairy farmers are working with veterinarians and officials at all levels of government to eliminate this animal health threat, milk for consumers remains safe to drink because of the effectiveness of pasteurization.”
IDFA President and CEO Michael Dykes, D.V.M., said the following in a recent press release: “The International Dairy Foods Association is grateful to Agriculture Secretary Rollins for investing up to $100 million in new and ongoing research into animal vaccinations and therapeutic tools to manage highly pathogenic avian influenza in our nation’s dairy herds and commercial poultry flocks. We continue to urge USDA and its federal partners to act quickly to develop and approve the use of safe, effective bovine vaccines to guard against current and future strains of avian influenza affecting U.S. dairy. It is essential that the federal government work with our industry to ensure a vaccination strategy is feasible and cost-effective for farmers while working with international trading partners to assure the use of vaccines does not limit or disrupt U.S. agricultural exports.”
