I grew up in north central Iowa. As far back as I can remember, we held regular drills at school to prepare for possible emergencies – notably tornadoes and fires. If you also grew up somewhere in tornado alley, you likely have memories of kneeling next to your friends in a hallway near the middle of the school with a textbook opened to cover your head and neck. Similarly, we regularly walked our fire escape routes and stood outside in nice, neat lines waiting to be allowed back in the school.

I was reminded recently about the discomfort of planning for contingencies that aren’t that pleasant. As a single mom who travels a whole lot for work, I woke up one day and realized that I didn’t have a current will or other documents in place to protect my family if something were to happen to me. It was not pleasant talking through estate planning with my lawyer, but it was necessary and the prudent thing for me to do. So I did it, spent a little money, and now I can sleep a little easier knowing that there is a plan in place should the worst happen.

Our industry faces a lot of potential perils. This spring we have seen how merciless Mother Nature can be with the floods in the Midwest and, in the past year, hurricanes and tornadoes caused major losses at both farms and plants. We have watched export markets come and go for various reasons, causing wild swings in economic conditions.

And then there are foreign animal diseases. No one wants to think about those, but if we’re being realistic, we have to think about them.

How many of us have solid plans in place in the event that a foreign animal disease is confirmed in the United States? And when I say solid, I don’t mean a “crouch down with your head covered” kind of plan. I’m talking about a “everyone march in an orderly line to your designated spot” plan that spells out exactly what everyone in your barns, in your plants, in your purchasing departments or in your warehouses knows exactly what to do, so we can get through the crisis as quickly as possible.

Much work has been done by several industry organizations to prepare for the event of foreign animal disease in the United States. Robust plans have been thoughtfully crafted, with input from a broad range of stakeholders. While I do not mean to be dismissive of those efforts, will it be enough? Can it ever be enough?

Planning for a tornado, a fire, an estate is much more straightforward than planning for an event like a foreign animal disease. The complexity of the livestock industry in the United States makes the contingencies nearly impossible to map out. Not to mention the number of stakeholders involved: farmers, transporters, packers, veterinarians, state government officials, federal government officials and consumers.

We know from the past that consumers WILL react negatively to news of any animal disease outbreak.

Education and information will be critical to making sure our consumers don’t stop buying products should African Swine Fever make its way to the United States.

So, we must prepare. Conduct message testing. Have packages of marketing and consumer education materials on the shelf that we hope to never use. Like those estate planning documents I just had prepared.

Do you know what your industry has done to prepare? Are you ready to get in line and support the plans that are in place, or will you be scrambling to find the nearest exit when the fire alarm goes off? I look forward to your comments and further dialogue.

Be prepared; A book over our heads won't cut it

Join for free* to continue reading.