USDA Announces $2.29 Million in Farm Bill Funding to Protect Animal Health
Contact:
APHISPress@usda.gov
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is awarding $2.29 million through the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) Farm Bill program to advance APHIS’ animal health preparedness. The 2018 Farm Bill provided funding for this program as part of an overall strategy to prevent animal pests and diseases from entering the United States and reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions.
“These Farm Bill funding awards will strengthen our ability to carry out our strategies for animal health emergency preparedness and better safeguard our agricultural industry,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs. “The more prepared we are to protect our agricultural commodities, the safer the food supply is for Americans and the rest of the world.”
This critical NAHLN funding supports projects focused on increasing capacity for disease testing through stockpiling efforts, enhancing data management through IT standardization, and increasing high-throughput testing with the addition of diagnostic testing instruments and technical expertise in laboratories.
The NAHLN is a nationally coordinated network and partnership of Federal, State, and university-associated animal health laboratories providing animal health diagnostic testing to detect both foreign and endemic high-consequence pathogens in the nation’s food animals, which is vital to protecting animal health, public health, and the nation's food supply. Should foreign animal disease strike, these laboratories are the first line of defense in swiftly diagnosing and detecting the extent of the outbreak to limit the impact on producers.
A full list of NAHLN-funded projects is available on the NAHLN website here: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/lab-info-services/nahln/.
The 2018 Farm Bill provided funding for these programs as part of an overall strategy to prevent animal pests and diseases from entering the United States and reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions through advance planning and preparedness.
More information about these programs is available.
#
APHIS protects the health of U.S. agriculture and natural resources against invasive pests and diseases, regulates genetically engineered crops, administers the Animal Welfare Act, and helps people and wildlife coexist. We also certify the health of U.S. agricultural exports and resolve phytosanitary and sanitary issues to open, expand, and maintain markets for U.S plant and animal products.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.