Indiana Pork is expanding its disease prevention work through the organization's Swine Health Advisory Committee, with the director of producer education saying protecting the health of the U.S. swine herd remains a top priority for producers heading into 2027.

Stacy Herr, director of producer education for Indiana Pork, said the committee's expanded efforts reflect a recognition that effective biosecurity cannot rest on a single template for every operation. Disease prevention, she said, is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

"PEDV virus and PRRS virus have significant impacts on production," Herr said, naming the two viral diseases that continue to weigh on herd performance and producer economics.

What does the expanded committee work involve?

The announcement positions the Swine Health Advisory Committee as the vehicle for Indiana Pork's broadened disease prevention efforts. The committee structure gives producers a standing forum where herd-health threats can be assessed and prevention strategies coordinated, rather than handled operation by operation in isolation.

For Indiana producers, the stakes are direct. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRS) are the two pathogens Herr singled out as the ones with significant production impacts — a framing that puts mortality, farrowing performance and nursery throughput at the center of the group's 2027 priorities.

Herr's emphasis on a differentiated approach signals that the committee's expanded work will account for the reality that operations differ — in scale, in geography, and in the exposure pathways that disease pressure follows. That premise underlies the committee's move to widen its prevention efforts rather than push a uniform protocol.

Why does 2027 focus matter for producers?

Setting U.S. swine herd health as a top producer priority for 2027 gives Indiana Pork's members a clear planning horizon. The timeline matters for producers weighing investments in biosecurity infrastructure and health monitoring, since decisions made ahead of a production cycle determine how much protection an operation carries when disease pressure arrives.

Herr's comments also distinguish the committee's prevention focus from outbreak response. The expanded efforts are framed around stopping PEDV and PRRS before they move through herds, consistent with her statement that prevention — not reaction — is where producer attention needs to stay.

The production impacts she cited are the reason. When PEDV or PRRS moves through a herd, the losses show up in the metrics producers market against: pigs weaned, farrowing rates and overall throughput. Herr's decision to name those two viruses explicitly, rather than speak of herd health in general terms, indicates where the committee's expanded work will concentrate.

Indiana Pork's Swine Health Advisory Committee will carry that expanded disease prevention mandate into 2027, with Herr saying producers' top priority remains protecting the health of the U.S. swine herd.