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AgView database to help with swine disease response

The pork industry is funding a new database platform to help with response during foreign animal disease outbreaks.

“If we got ASF (African Swine Fever) tomorrow, it would be there to help us.”

Patrick Webb with the National Pork Board says producers will put their data into AgView and share it with state animal health officials, giving them a visual picture to make movement decisions.

“Being able to see the information in a graphic versus having to go through a bunch of tables and look at it through a spreadsheet allows them to develop what we call a common operating picture, so they can get a feel for what their disease control area looks like.”

Webb says producers have complete control over who they choose to share data with and the database can be used for their benefit as well.

“The system is being built so it has day to day utility. A producer could use this for their own herd management, and we wanted it to occur that way, so people are using the system. So, in an emergency there is not a brand new computer program producers have to learn how to use.”

Webb tells Brownfield the initial launch of AgView will be May 1^st.

Brownfield interviewed Webb at the 2019 Illinois Pork Expo in Springfield.