“In a situation where there is a foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak, you have to assume everyone beyond your farm is potentially carrying the infection,” said Dr. Danelle Bicket-Weddle with the Iowa State University (ISU) Center for Food Security and Public Health during a foreign animal disease workshop last week in Ottumwa.

The dire warning served as a reminder that it is up to each farmer to do everything he or she can to protect their own herds or flocks.

With news of the spreading African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Asia, participants came out to hear the latest on Iowa’s policies, rule-making and prevention practices. The...