Conference Looks at Economic Impact of Animal Disease in U.S.

The potential economic impacts of animal disease on the United States – and ways to improve the effectiveness of future information about disease impacts – will be examined by national experts during a conference on July 11. The daylong event, sponsored by Colorado State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the two agencies’ joint Economic Research Service and the Farm Foundation, begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Denver.

The conference will include discussion of the latest research and policy by academic, government and industry professionals.

Paul Clayton, vice president of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, will discuss how trade would be affected by a disease outbreak.

Among 16 additional featured speakers are Chuck Lambert, deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Marketing and Regulatory Programs; Craig Henry, National Food Processors Association; and Skip Seward of the American Meat Institute.

Additional topics for the day include economic incentives for controlling animal disease and the influence of policy for controlling disease outbreaks, which will be discussed by Chris Wolf, Michigan State University professor, and the broader marketing sector effects from an outbreak, which will be presented by James Pritchett and Dawn Thilmany, professors, and Kamina Rosenstiel, graduate research assistant, at Colorado State’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Addressing consumer concerns, the influence of demand and animal disease on allied markets and a case study of the economic impact of disease outbreak through foot-and-mouth disease also will be discussed.

Registration, which includes lunch, is $100. Registration should be made through the Western Economics Association International Web site at http://weainternational.org/reg_fees_form.htm.

For more information, contact Dawn Thilmany at (970) 491-7220 or Kamina Rosenstiel at kamina@lamar.colostate.edu.