The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), established as an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization on July 4, 2015, will be integrated into the National Pork Board (NPB) per an agreement recently signed by both boards of directors. Details of the integration are being finalized with the expectation SHIC will cease independent operations by the end of 2026.
“Our purpose is not to close the chapter on SHIC’s work. It is to entrust that work to NPB and position it to serve producers for the long term,” said Joseph Dykhuis, president, SHIC Board of Directors. “For more than a decade, SHIC has set the standard for producer-led animal health monitoring, research and analysis efforts. Its singular focus on emerging disease, small and highly engaged board, expert working groups and task forces, experienced staff, trusted scientific network, and disciplined research process produced a combination of speed, credibility, and practical value that is rare in the industry. Those capabilities helped producers and veterinarians see threats earlier, fund answers faster, and put useful information to work.”
The vision for this integration includes extraordinary opportunity for the U.S. pork industry, in Dykhuis’s opinion.
“For producers, the integration creates an opportunity for SHIC to become a single, trusted destination for swine health information. Whether a disease threat is emerging, endemic, or foreign, producers and veterinarians should have a clear place to go for trusted monitoring, research, information, and practical tools,” he said.
SHIC’s unwavering mission
Since the beginning, SHIC held a singular focus on swine health, separate from the missions of other pork industry organizations in the United States. SHIC’s mission is to protect and enhance the health of the U.S. swine herd by minimizing the impact of emerging disease threats through preparedness, coordinated communications, global disease monitoring, analysis of swine health data, and targeted research investments. With nimbleness as a key objective, the organization’s mission has been steadfast and evolving as SHIC responded to industry needs.
The SHIC Board recognizes the early leadership and contributions of Dr. Gene Erickson and Jim Niewold as well as founding board members Dr. Matt Anderson, Mark Greenwood, Dr. Howard Hill, Dr. Brett Kaysen, Bill Luckey, Dr. Daryl Olsen, Mark Schwartz, Dr. Mike Terrill, and Dr. Matthew Turner. Original Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg, then Drs. Megan Niederwerder and Lisa Becton, Rhea Schirm, Barb Determan and her Heartland Marketing Group team played key roles. SHIC’s Board members, the many producers, veterinarians, researchers, diagnostic laboratories, working-group members, task force members, and partner organizations all made SHIC effective.
“Their work created an organization, a body of knowledge, and a standard of performance that must carry forward,” Dykhuis said.
After the integration, SHIC will be led by NPB staff. After serving as SHIC’s executive director and providing dedicated leadership to the organization and its mission, Niederwerder has elected to conclude her service with SHIC effective September 18. Becton will assume executive director duties until completion of the integration, which is expected by the end of 2026.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have served SHIC and the U.S. pork industry, and I appreciate the board’s support and the trust they placed in me to lead the organization,” Niederwerder said. “It has been a privilege to work alongside such talented colleagues, producers, researchers, veterinarians and industry partners who share a commitment to protecting and advancing swine health. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished together and of the lasting impact SHIC will continue to have on the industry. I am also grateful to Lisa for stepping into the executive director role and am committed to supporting her and helping ensure a smooth transition.”
The SHIC Board extends its sincere gratitude to Niederwerder for her leadership, service and significant contributions to furthering SHIC’s emerging disease mission; her work has strengthened the organization and its impact on behalf of U.S. pork producers. The board also extends its sincere appreciation to Becton for her steadfast leadership and meaningful contributions to advancing SHIC’s mission.
Using a flat and results-driven structure has allowed SHIC to deliver extraordinary results to the industry it serves. Primarily funded by Pork Checkoff investment, the team at SHIC made leveraging those dollars a key priority to fund disease monitoring and research relevant to emerging diseases. SHIC’s goal is to provide producers with the knowledge and tools to be better prepared to prevent the devastating impact of diseases, such as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in 2013, when too little was known about the threat this emerging disease posed.
Integration mission and charge to NPB
Bringing SHIC’s emerging-disease capabilities together with NPB’s broader swine health resources can create useful synergy, per Dykhuis.
“SHIC’s emerging-disease preparedness can benefit from endemic-disease knowledge and infrastructure, while endemic-disease programs can benefit from SHIC’s vigilance, rapid-response culture and research discipline,” he said.
Dykhuis pointed to the National Swine Health Strategy as a producer-led platform for alignment.
“The SHIC Board’s expectation is straightforward: SHIC has established a high standard for producer-led animal health, and the National Swine Health Strategy should meet and build upon that standard. Integration should widen access to expertise and resources without diluting SHIC’s focus, slowing its response, or weakening the producer and veterinary voices that shaped its success,” he said.
Delivering an impactful return on producers’ investment in SHIC can be measured in countless ways. The organization has delivered enhanced disease monitoring systems and insights, improved industry preparedness with valuable tools, developed strong collaboration among producers, veterinarians, industry organizations, universities, veterinary diagnostic labs, and government agencies, and delivered high-quality outcomes.
Dykhuis shared an outline of what SHIC’s expectations are moving forward with the integration:
- Mission and leadership. Emerging disease remains a visible, enduring priority with dedicated technical leadership, staff capacity and budget consideration.
- Speed and scientific rigor. Disease signals, urgent communications, research priorities, proposal review, contracting and funding decisions remain timely, expert-driven and responsive to changing risk.
- Producer and veterinary engagement. The expertise of current SHIC Board members, working-group and task-force members, American Association of Swine Veterinarians, National Pork Producers Council, researchers, diagnostic laboratories and other partners should continue to inform priorities and emerging-disease work.
- Continuity and stewardship. Active contracts, monitoring reports, research funds, communications, relationships, archives, the SHIC brand and institutional knowledge transfer without interruption or loss of value.
- Accountability. NPB reports clearly on priorities, investments, outcomes, stakeholder participation and producer value.
“The SHIC board will remain engaged in helping ensure continuity and producer value throughout the transition,” Dykhuis said. “We ask NPB to treat SHIC’s record not simply as a collection of assets and programs, but as proven capabilities and principles. SHIC’s speed, judgment, scientific rigor, responsiveness and focus on producers are worth preserving.
“We are grateful for what SHIC has accomplished and confident that its mission can grow within NPB if both organizations approach the transition with transparency, discipline, and respect for the people and practices that built SHIC. This is a warm handoff of a producer-created responsibility: protect the U.S. swine herd by identifying emerging threats, generating trusted answers, and moving useful information quickly to the people who need it.”
Additional former SHIC Board members include Gene Noem, along with Drs. Russ Nugent and Jeremy Pittman. Current SHIC Board members, in addition to Dykhuis, are Kent Bang, Trish Cook, Alayne Johnson, Dr. Seth Krantz, Dr. Jay Miller, Sarah Pillen, JD, Dr. Paul Ruen and Dr. Pete Thomas.
