Iowa Livestock Producers Concerned about Livestock Diseases, Uncertain about Level of Threat and Capacity to Manage

By Hanna Bates and J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr.

Livestock diseases have received substantial attention and global media coverage in recent years. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, has dominated the news as it has led to loss of millions of poultry, increased egg prices and viral spillovers to other livestock such as dairy cattle, and has recently been found to infect humans. However, there are many other diseases that impact Iowa’s livestock sector, the top U.S. producer of red meat and eggs, including porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS, and bovine respiratory syncytial virus, or bovine RSV, that cause billions of dollars in annual losses to farmers and increased consumer prices.

“Farmers are on the front lines of managing livestock disease threats, and their capacity to identify and treat diseases before they become major outbreaks is critical,” said Hanna Bates, a research administrator at Iowa State University’s Nanovaccine Institute and lead author of the study. “This research from the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll is helping us to better understand farmers' degree of concern about different diseases and their capacity to manage them.”

New to the ISU Extension store, the Livestock Producer Perspectives on Livestock Disease report draws on data from the 2024 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll survey, which surveyed 432 livestock producers in February and March of 2024. The survey included two sets of questions aimed at understanding livestock producers’ perspectives and attitudes relating to livestock disease management. The first part of the survey provided a list of eight major diseases and asked farmers to rate their levels of concern about each. A second set of questions examined attitudes regarding multiple dimensions of disease management.

The research found high levels of concern about many of the diseases, with bovine respiratory disease, hoof-and-mouth disease, and bovine RSV among the top concerns, with 77%, 74%, and 73% of respondents expressing worry, respectively, and more than half of producers indicated concern about the eight major diseases listed.

Because livestock diseases have differential impacts depending on species, the report also examines livestock producers’ concerns by type of livestock raised to measure concern among producers whose animals were most likely to be impacted. For example, nearly all swine producers were concerned about PRRS and swine influenza, and 81% of poultry producers were at least somewhat concerned with avian influenza.

While results again showed significant levels of concern, many farmers were not concerned. For example, 22% of cow-calf producers and 16% of fed cattle producers selected either “not concerned” or “don’t know” for bovine RSV, a major cattle disease prevalent in Iowa. Similarly, one-third of cow-calf producers and 29% of fed cattle producers selected either “not concerned” or “don’t know” for Johne’s disease.

The survey also posed questions about monitoring and management challenges. About 58% agreed that current monitoring and management strategies are effective at limiting disease outbreaks, and 53% agreed that they have sufficient access to monitoring and mitigation resources. That said, 33% and 39% selected the uncertain category for those two items, respectively, and 9% disagreed with both. This suggests that close to half of livestock producers lack confidence and capacity to effectively manage disease.

“On the whole, the results show that many producers feel that the systems in place are working and they have the resources they need to manage disease and limit the spread of outbreaks,” said J. Arbuckle, extension sociologist and report co-author. “However, the lack of concern about some major diseases and level of uncertainty about management capacity point to a need for ongoing education and support to help farmers effectively manage livestock disease.”

About the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll

The Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll is an annual survey conducted by Iowa State University Extension Sociology. Initiated in 1982, the poll is the longest-running survey of its kind and works to inform local, state and national decision-making and improve extension and outreach programs. All reports are available on the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll web page.