| Update on Removal of PRRS and PEDv Testing Requirements in Swine The DATCP Board of Directors also approved another action on ATCP 10 and 12 in their January 29, 2026 meeting. This action would repeal the 2018 rule requiring swine being sold to be tested for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), with the exception of swine going directly to slaughter. Equity has been working with the Wisconsin Pork Producers Association and DATCP on a proposal to repeal this testing requirement. When enacted, this rule required that Equity Livestock markets to operate separate slaughter hogs sales from feeder pig sales on separate days and all pigs at the market on a feeder pig day are required to be tested and have results with them, while any hogs or pigs not tested are required to be marketed on a slaughter day and must be marketed directly to slaughter, regardless of age or size. In 2018 PRRS and PEDv were major concerns in the swine industry and several neighboring states were considering similar rules. Since 2018, the swine industry has development vaccines and improved testing protocols for PRRS and PEDv to help better manage these diseases and reduce the need for this rule. It is important to note that none of our neighbor states implemented their proposed rules on this, and we believe this requirement puts Wisconsin swine producers at a competitive disadvantage to their peers in neighboring states with this requirement to test their animals prior to sale. DATCP’s current traceability potential in swine is a fraction of what it could and should be with the limited access to private sales transactions DATCP currently has in comparison to what DATCP would have if these transactions were on the records of livestock markets being audited by DATCP. Before this rule was implemented, Equity would market nearly 60,000 hogs per year, but in recent years we have not been able to market 20,000 hogs per year. We still see hogs and pigs marketed regularly online and through social media. In our experience, most of these hogs and pigs are not tested and sale transactions not properly documented or audited. Repealing this rule will allow producers to resume marketing hogs and pigs through Equity Livestock’s auctions establishing price discovery and ensure prices are competitive for both buyer and sellers. This will allow Equity to record and document these sales and provide DATCP a much larger number of Wisconsin hogs and pigs to audit and document, improving traceability and disease control. Click here to view Executuve Summary of the rule changes from DATCP |
