The principles of PRRS control are practiced throughout high-volume swine areas. During Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.’s (BIVI) session at the recent North American PRRS Symposium, Area Regional Control (ARC) coordinators took the stage to share how they apply the tools and their approach to coordinated disease control.

Dr. Erin Lowe, BIVI, is no stranger to utilizing ARC and crunching the numbers to help make it viable to producers on the farm. She moderated the panel of coordinators, helped share key elements of the diverse programs and how coordinators have adapted their programs to fit the needs of the producers in their region.

“What do producers get our of participating? One thing is the knowledge. The knowledge about what is going on around them. What are their neighbors doing? What’s working well for their neighbors or what’s not working well. It also squelches the rumor mill. Some projects have identified where new viruses have come from and how they have moved within the project.”

The panel said communication is the largest hurdle they have to climb. Producers do sometimes struggle with getting the information back to the project coordinator in a useful or easy way.

Listen to my complete interview with Dr. Lowe to learn about ARC funding and where she sees the programs going in the future.Interview with Dr. Erin Lowe, BIVI

View and download photos from the event here: 2015 BIVI PRRS Seminar Photo Album