306 Economic perspectives on biosecurity decision-making

Abstract

Abstract African swine fever and many other livestock diseases present a host of challenges with a myriad of private and public good considerations. Chief among these challenges is identifying what drives livestock producer, self-protecting biosecurity efforts. Biosecurity adoption is an example of a private behavior that generates positive spillovers affecting the supply of a public good, that is, disease prevention. Encouraging producers to undertake specific biosecurity practices has proven useful in containing previous outbreaks of livestock disease in the United States, such as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. Motivating producers to change production and management practices when a disease is not currently present in the United States can be much more difficult because of the (perceived or actual) lower probability of risk. National surveys of livestock producers were conducted to gain insight into decisions regarding ongoing and prospective biosecurity investment. Findings suggest producer and operation characteristics and diverse views on expected frequency of disease outbreaks, anticipated disease duration, and possible financial impact on operations underlie current and likely future biosecurity adoption. Furthermore, results point to both policy (e.g., indemnity provisions and cost sharing strategies) and market signals (e.g. market access and/or premiums paid or discounts incurred) from upstream livestock buyers have potential to incentivize biosecurity efforts.