Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/22/19

Greg Ibach, USDA's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said Tuesday that pork producers shouldn't expect a vaccine for African swine fever to hit the market anytime soon, Pro Ag's John Lauingerreports.

"We may be as long as eight years from finding a vaccine that's effective," Ibach told the House Agriculture Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee.

The regulatory chief also said USDA is working on a "regionalization agreement with Canada," seemingly referring to a framework for using trade controls and other processes to contain the spread of an animal disease if there's an outbreak. "We want to be able to establish that with pork as soon as possible," he added.

Ibach said USDA is applying lessons from past prevention effortsin its preparation for African swine fever, which has decimated hog herds in China. He said the department has had "varying levels of success" trying to get information from China and Vietnam.