Herd Health

5 Livestock Diseases That Could Impact U.S. Food Security and Economic Stability

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:45:00 GMT

Production animal disease outbreaks are not only animal health events but threats to economic stability and food security. A new report from The Farm Journal Foundation , The Mean Sixteen: Biosecurity Threats Facing U.S. Agriculture, estimates the collective annual costs to U.S. agriculture due to outbreaks of the top five livestock diseases could top $300 billion without proper preparation.

“It is absolutely crucial that the U.S. should support mechanisms to protect farmers from risks and make sure that our food supply chain can remain resilient even when challenges occur,” wrote Stephanie Mercier, senior policy adviser at Farm Journal Foundation.

Mercier identifies five diseases with the potential to disrupt U.S. livestock production, trade and response infrastructure at scale. These include foreign animal diseases as well as ongoing threats:

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
African swine fever (ASF)
New World screwworm (NWS)
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS)

Foot-and-Mouth Disease: Trade-Stopping Risk to U.S. Livestock

Foot-and-mouth disease, an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease affecting a range of ungulates, remains one of the highest-impact foreign animal disease threats to U.S. agriculture. While the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are classified as FMD-free, outbreaks in Taiwan (1997), the United Kingdom (2001), and this year in Germany and Hungary, represent how relevant this disease remains as both an animal health and economic threat.

Modern production systems characterized by high animal density and frequent interstate movement would complicate containment efforts in case of an outbreak. In 2015, a report from Kansas State University found an FMD outbreak beginning in a U.S. state with high populations of vulnerable livestock could cost nearly $200 billion to the U.S. economy if no emergency vaccine program was implemented.

A 2018 provision to the farm bill mandated the establishment of an animal vaccine bank; FMD was chosen as the first disease for vaccine stockpile. While FMD vaccines reduce an animal’s chance of being infected, they are generally not administerd in FMD-free regions as it is difficult to distinguish between vaccinated and FMD-infected animals in a clinical setting. Further, World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) protocols allow for trade bans to be imposed on countries using these vaccines.

African Swine Fever: Persistent Threat to U.S. Pork Production

African swine fever has expanded globally over the past decade and remains one of the most significant threats to the U.S. swine industry causing hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates. In 2018, a massive ASF outbreak in China resulted in the loss of half of the country’s swine herd, approximately 225 million animals, and cost the country’s economy around $111 billion. Since then, ASF cases have been reported in countries across much of Asia and Europe .

(Farm Journal Foundation)

It has been estimated an ASF outbreak in the U.S. would cost the economy nearly $80 billion, due to loss of exports and reduced industry revenue, but could also affect the crop sector due to decreased feed demand. The extensive feral hog population across much of the country would further complicate containment efforts.

There is no globally available ASF vaccine; however, in May 2025, the WOAH adopted their first international standard for ASF vaccines . This was followed by the release of field evaluation and post-vaccination monitoring standards in July.

New World Screwworm: Reintroduction Risk and Surveillance Dependence

The NWS fly lays eggs in an animal’s skin, often at wound sites, and the hatched larvae burrow into the animal, consuming the flesh. Prior to 2025, NWS had been largely absent in the Western Hemisphere north of Panama; however, since the beginning of the year, outbreaks have been creeping northward, with most recent detection being just 120 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The USDA estimates that if NWS were to cross the border into Texas, it could cost the state’s economy at least $1.8 billion while putting the rest of the U.S. beef sector at risk. In an effort to tackle this threat, the USDA announced a five-pronged plan to combat the pest including sterile fly production, closing of the U.S.-Mexico border to cattle trade and increased communication with state animal health officials.

The same sterile male fly technique that eradicated the pest in the U.S in 1966 is being applied for the current outbreak, with sterile fly production facilities open in Tampico, Mexico and opening in Edinburg, Texas .

While no NWS cases have been detected in the U.S. yet, the fly is still having an impact on the economy. With the U.S.-Mexico border closed to cattle imports , the already reduced U.S. cattle herd could shrink even further. With strong demand supporting U.S. beef prices, Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe predicts ground beef prices could reach $10 per pound by the third quarter of 2026.

(Farm Journal Foundation)

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza: An Ongoing Multispecies Challenge

Highly pathogenic avian influenza remains an evolving threat to U.S. animal agriculture. Twice in the past decade, major outbreaks in the U.S. have devastated poultry operations with losses of over 50 million commercial birds from 2014 to 2015. The latest HPAI outbreak began in 2022 and has since been detected in flocks in all 50 states resulting in an estimated loss of 169 million birds as of April 2025.

(Farm Journal Foundation)

HPAI is a zoonotic disease with reported infections in humans, hogs, cats and dogs. In March 2024, HPAI was detected in dairy herds in Texas and Kansas. Since then, HPAI outbreaks have been confirmed in over 300 dairy herds across the U.S. in 14 different states.

The 2014 to 2015 HPAI outbreak is estimated to have cost U.S. agriculture over $1 billion when accounting for losses to both the poultry and animal feed sectors, as well as losses in land value. Both this outbreak and the subsequent 2024-25 outbreak caused significant spikes in egg prices, with March 2025 prices rising to 350% of those of the previous year. U.S. milk prices have not yet been affected by the outbreak.

(Farm Journal Foundation)

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome: Endemic Disease, National Cost

The infection of hogs by PRRS has had a significant impact on the U.S. pork industry. First detected in the U.S. in 1987, PRRS infection causes pregnancy loss in sows and respiratory problems in pigs of all ages leading to poor performance. Unlike other animal diseases, PRRS infection can go undetected until issues with pregnant sows occur.

Analysis from Iowa State University shows PRRS caused an estimated $1.2 billion per year in lost production in the U.S. swine industry from 2016 to 2020. This marks an 80% increase over numbers reported a decade earlier.

With no cure at present, disease impact is minimized through biosecurity practices, vaccinations and management of infection with antibiotics. In April 2025, FDA granted PIC approval for the gene edit used in its PRRS-resistant pig. This technology could have a large impact on animal welfare, production costs and pork prices if adopted, though any impact is likely many years out.

Policy and Preparedness Implications for U.S. Animal Health

Across these diseases, the report identifies recurring gaps in U.S. animal health preparedness that extend beyond individual pathogens and suggests some key policy and infrastructure needs to help mitigate these threat risks:

Improved national biosecurity coordination including culling guidelines
Training for veterinarians for outbreak identification and reporting
Support for vaccine stockpiling programs and prioritized regulatory approvals for prevention and treatment products
Increased research support for both international collaboration and domestic work on biological control techniques of pests and pathogens, and disease-resistant genetic traits

“Investing in agricultural research, development and the long-term viability of our food supply chain is critical for protecting our national security and economy, and we are hopeful that our nation’s leaders will rise to meet this challenge before it’s too late,” Mercier writes.

The Farm Journal Foundation is a farmer-centered, non-profit, nonpartisan organization, created by Farm Journal in 2010, working to advance agriculture innovation, food and nutrition security, conservation and rural economic development.

Playing the Long Game: What Works at G Bar C Ranch

Fri, 24 May 2024 15:30:55 GMT

By mid-morning you can already feel the sun’s heat on your skin, a reminder that the searing Texas sun looms large at G Bar C Ranch north of Dallas, even in early May. On this unassuming Thursday, several dozen ranchers, conservationists and ag retailers have gathered in the shade amidst the verdant green pasture and limestone outcroppings to learn from G Bar C’s second-generation rancher, Meredith Ellis, at the kickoff of Trust In Beef’s Sustainable Ranchers Tour.

The tour is moving across the U.S. this summer, spotlighting regenerative ranches and hosting field days where producers can meet and learn from each other.

“We’re showing what can be done at G Bar C Ranch today, what resources are available and the steps that they have taken to get to this point,” said Jimmy Emmons, Oklahoma rancher and SVP of Climate-Smart Programs at Farm Journal.

According to Emmons, in- person field days like the Sustainable Ranchers Tour are crucial to helping ranchers improve their livestock, land and profitability.

“It’s all about the journey—it’s not a quarter-mile race, it’s a marathon,” Emmons said. “We improve one step at a time, one practice at a time.”

Learn more about the Trust In Beef’s Sustainable Ranchers Tour

This morning, as the crowd of producers gather and sip their coffee, ready to glean insights to take back home, most eyes are watching the sky, observing gathering storm clouds on the horizon. Even if rain would dampen an otherwise sunny day at G Bar C Ranch, in Texas—a state plagued with persistent drought—rain is always a welcome sight.

Ellis, a seasoned rancher in her early forties, gathers in front of the crowd, ready to share the ins and outs of her ranch operation. Unlike most days where she works in relative solitude, today she is flanked by soil scientists, researchers and technical experts, ready to share their perspective and insights in a day of boots-on- the-ground demonstration and learning – rain or shine.

Flipping the Script: No Longer About Pounds of Beef

“It looks like a pollinators paradise out here with all the wildflowers,” AgriTalk host, Chip Flory, told Ellis at the Sustainable Ranchers Tour. “The combination of the native grasses and the grazing grasses you’ve got…it’s part of the plan, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely, it’s part of the plan and we’ve documented over 660 species that call our ranch home. On top of that, about 110 species of birds that call our ranch home,” Ellis replied, eying the horizon. “Managing that landscape with ruminant animals as they’ve existed for millennia throughout our national grazing lands is something I’m very passionate about.”

Despite multiple degrees and years of experience under her belt, according to Ellis, she will always be the apprentice at G Bar C Ranch. Carrying on the life’s work of her father, GC Ellis, and ranch manager, Michael Knabe, Ellis takes to heart her family’s legacy of caring for the land and the cattle that call it home.

Historically, like many ranches across the U.S., G Bar C Ranch has focused on pounds of beef produced as a measure of profit and success. But, in recent years, Ellis has taken a hard look at what it costs “to get from point A to point B”, discovering that, in the long term, focusing on maternal genetics in her over 200 mother cows are key to both profitability and a healthy herd.

“What’s most important to me is that we keep and retain our own replacement females,” Ellis said. “We’re looking at making females that fit our program, that fit our landscape. Our interest right now is in efficiency and maternal aspects—having some happy mamas that are real happy be here [on our land].”

While Ellis currently participates in the conventional beef supply chain, selling her black Angus calves at the sale barn in El Reno, Oklahoma, managing her herd amounts to more than just raising meat for market.

Soil Health: At the Root of Everything

According to Ellis, she views her cows as just one of the many species that enjoy the rolling hills, grassy pasture and clear water on her 3,000-acre ranch.

“There’s no aspect of the ecological system that goes overlooked on this ranch,” said Ellis. “We try to adapt our management practices in order to take care of every aspect of ecology that we have.”

I consider our ranch to be a living laboratory, continued Ellis.

“That means that if there’s a researcher, a rancher, whoever it be, anytime that I speak with someone and get interested in what they’re doing, I walk away with a little gold in my pocket,” she said.

Collaborating, learning and improving is critical to adapting ranching practices in the face of extreme weather, natural disasters and drought in North Texas, according to Ellis. Finding new strategies to foster biodiversity and healthy soils through thoughtful, prescribed grazing practices has been a north star guiding ranch management at G Bar C Ranch.

To Ellis, not only do prescribed grazing practices support a heathy, profitable herd, but they also promote soil health – the foundation of a thriving, well-managed, resilient landscape.

Read about G Bar C Ranch’s NCBA’s Environmental Stewardship Award Program recognition

Texas based NRCS soil scientist, John Sackett, takes soil health’s benefits even one step further.

“Soil health, in a sense, drought- proofs our ranches,” said Sackett. “If the soil is healthy, it can take in more water, so we have a higher effective rainfall, and we have healthier plants that are better able to withstand the drought.”

Keeping Working Lands Working

Big picture, it’s not enough to manage a healthy herd and promote thriving ranch lands. The reality for many is that stewardship includes safeguarding ranchland against development and urban sprawl for future generations. For many Texas ranches today, this is not a given.

“In this day, successional planning is one of the biggest hurdles in keeping working lands working,” said Ellis.

In fact, the Lone Star State gains 1,400 people moving to the state daily and the drumbeat of urban sprawl is only getting louder, shared Chad Ellis, CEO of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, echoing Meredith Ellis’ concerns.

Like drought, year after year of urban sprawl continue to threaten open spaces across Texas, with no reprieve on the horizon.

“We’re losing over 1,000 acres a day of working lands,” said Chad Ellis. “Lands [like we see at G Bar C Ranch] that are providing goods and services to the public.”

When Meredith Ellis looks to the future, she envisions leaving an economically and ecologically resilient G Bar C Ranch for the next generation of the Ellis family with ranch lands that boast clear water, rich soil and a healthy, thriving cow calf operation.

“That’s what it’s all about—my nine- year- old boy,” Ellis said.

Follow coverage of G Bar C Ranch and the Sustainable Ranchers Tour on AgDay and U.S. Farm Report:

G Bar C Ranch Takes Texas Ranchers Behind the Farm Gate

Fri, 03 May 2024 17:38:38 GMT

Texas ranchers are battling right now - and if it’s not entirely a battle for their lives, it’s at least a fight for their livelihoods.

From changing weather, natural disasters and encroaching land development, ranchers are facing mounting pressures and for Chad Ellis, CEO of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, it all adds up to a grim picture for the future of the state’s working lands.

“We have 1,400 people moving to our state every day – that’s half a million people a year,” he said. “We are losing over a section of working lands per day, which amounts to 300,000 acres a year that is lost.

“Right now, we are asking ourselves ‘how do we come together, how do we stay in business and how can we be economically sustainable so that we can hand our legacy and our heritage to the next generation.’”

At the nexus of those challenges, Ellis says, is G Bar C Ranch , a multi-generation ranch that began in 1982 under the stewardship of owner, GC Ellis.

Located in Rosston, Texas, G Bar C Ranch sits just outside of the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex, square in the sights of expansion.

With a future-led approach in mind, daughter Meredith Ellis is applying a next generation scope to management of G Bar C Ranch, rooted in her family’s love of the land.

“For the past 40 years, my dad has been taking care of this land and I feel like that’s the most important thing for us to continue doing now,” Meredith Ellis said.

This guiding principle was enough to garner the ranch the prestigious 2023 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Environmental Stewardship National Award.

In May, the Ellis family will open up award-winning G Bar C Ranch so that Trust In Beef can highlight their sustainability and bring practical on-ranch education to fellow Texas producers.

“GC, Meredith and the G Bar C Ranch team are on the leading edge of using regenerative practices, technology and top-tier animal health to accomplish the resilience they need to ensure their legacy into the next generation,” said Jimmy Emmons, Oklahoma rancher and SVP of Climate-Smart Programs, who oversees the value-chain collaborative program Trust In Beef.

“It was a natural fit for us to kick off the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour at G Bar C,” continued Jimmy, “Other ranchers who are facing the same challenges can see what solutions are working well at G Bar C Ranch, both for the environment and for the bottom line.”

For Trust In Beef, these tour stops will allow rancher-led knowledge sharing and networking while also providing innovation and resources from value chain leaders.

Among the Trust In Beef Partners joining the first stop of the 2024 Sustainable Rancher Tour is Merck Animal Health . For Merck, the values that G Bar C Ranch place on animal welfare on their ranch represent key pillars of sustainability.

“Healthy animals help to sustain our industry and the environment as healthy animals are more productive and use fewer resources,” said Kevin Mobley, Merck’s executive director of sales and marketing. “Merck Animal Health is committed to shaping the future of animal health by partnering with ranchers to assist them with their herd health needs and in their sustainability journey.”

To that end, the animal health company will be on-hand to provide ranchers with education on land management, animal management and animal welfare, including

technologies such as Vence, a virtual fencing tool that can help facilitate rotational grazing, according to Mobley.

While the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour begins in Texas this May, it’s making monthly stops across the U.S. throughout the summer and early fall, providing not only in-field learning and education, but also the chance to continue the conversation through a virtual peer network of likeminded producers, providing ranchers ongoing support in their conservation journey.

Registration is still open for this free tour. Learn more and make plans to join the Texas stop or another closer to you by visiting Trust In Beef .