In this Feed & Grain Chat, David Fairfield, senior vice president, feed, for the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA), reflects on his 23-year career as he approaches retirement at the end of 2024.
Fairfield discusses the most significant challenges he faced, including the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis, implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD), while also sharing insights on industry-regulator relationships and emerging issues like feed biosecurity and sustainability.
Transcript of Feed & Grain Chat with David Fairfield, senior vice president, feed, National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA):
Elise Schafer, editor, Feed & Grain: Hi, everyone, and welcome to Feed & Grain Chat. I'm your host Elise Schafer, editor of Feed & Grain. This edition of Feed & Grain Chat is brought to you by WATT Global Media and FeedandGrain.com. FeedandGrain.com is your source for the latest news, product and equipment information for the grain handling and feed manufacturing industries.
Today, I'm joined by David Fairfield, senior vice president, feed, for the National Grain and Feed Association. After 23 years with NGFA, he's announced his retirement at the end of 2024. So he's here to share some of his most memorable and challenging moments serving the grain and feed industry. Hi, Dave, thanks for joining me today.
David Fairfield, senior vice president, feed, National Grain and Feed Association: Thank you so much for the opportunity, Elise.
Schafer: Well, happy to have you. Now, in your 23 years of advocating for the industry and helping implement feed safety regulations, can you highlight the most pivotal moments or biggest challenges you encountered?
Fairfield: I think there's been several feed safety challenges during my time with the NGFA, but I'll mention three. The first was the introduction of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE into the United Kingdom. Then a few cases later occurred in the United States and Canada in the early 2000s and I think that was a really pivotal moment for our industry. First, it really heightened the awareness of how the animal feed industry plays an important role for both animal and human health. I think it also highlighted the importance of taking a science and risk-based approach to policymaking that was used to respond to the incident so that the hazard there could be appropriately controlled.
A second moment in the industry certainly was the enactment of the Food Safety Modernization Act signed into law in 2011. That law has had a dramatic impact on all sectors of the feed industry. The act was multifaceted and established a variety of new requirements that feed facilities first needed to understand and then comply with. Probably the most significant of those has been the requirement to establish written food safety plans to identify hazards and control those hazards. That has been a challenging process for the industry and one that we're still dealing with as industry better understands FDA's compliance expectations based on the inspections that are occurring.
And then the last thing I'd mention was the Veterinary Feed Directive. For the medicated feed industry, the transition of medically important antimicrobial drugs used in feed and water for food producing animals to a veterinary feed marketing status was extremely significant and FDA revised those regulations in 2015 and then they were fully implemented in 2017. The VFD process represented a dramatic shift in how the medicated feed industry needed to do business — how medicated feeds were produced and distributed. And again, I think an outcome was how the feed industry has a major impact on both animal and human health.
Schafer: Reflecting on your work strengthening NGFA's relationship with the FDA, what had the biggest impact on building trust between regulators and the feed industry?
Fairfield: I think the feed industry and FDA both have the same mission, ensuring that animal feed is safe for both animals and to humans. And the industry understands there does need to be a regulatory framework in place, and I think, believes that that framework works best when regulatory requirements are meaningful, they do what they're intended to do, and they're enforced in a predictable and equitable manner. Sometimes there may be disagreements between industry and FDA on how to achieve that goal of safe feed. However, I think that trust can still be built between the feed industry and regulators when the industry constructively participates in regulatory forums such as rulemaking and in incidents where food animal food safety issues do occur.
I think an example of this type of positive interaction between industry and FDA has occurred with the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance, which was formed after FSMA was signed into law to develop educational and training material for industry to comply with FSMA rules. The Alliance provided the opportunity and still provides the opportunity for industry regulators and academia to collectively work together to build curricula and information materials for training compliance and I think it's been a tremendous success. I think it's those types of partnerships within the Alliance and other forums where trust can be built that benefits both the industry and regulators. Another forum that I mentioned for this type of interaction is the meetings conducted by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. I think these meetings that are held twice a year provide a great opportunity for our industry to interact with the regulatory community and build meaningful relationships and trust.
Schafer: Absolutely. Now, what are the leading feed safety and compliance issues that members have asked for training programs on? And have you seen any learning preferences or delivery methods change over the last two decades?
Fairfield: I think by far the most pressing compliance training need for the feed industry over the past decade has been related to the FSMA-related regulations that I mentioned earlier. Two FSMA rules that probably had the most impact on our industry relate to hazard analysis and preventative control requirements and then the sanitary transportation of food requirements. ah The Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance that I mentioned previously has developed a training curriculum for the hazard analysis and permanent controls rule. That's an intensive 20-hour course that is still being delivered. And the industry has really shown a great willingness to be engaged with and take the opportunity to learn from.
Regarding training preferences, I think obviously a lot of different formats currently exist. And information can be delivered in a meaningful way through all different types of delivery mechanisms. Obviously, technology has provided the opportunity for more information to be delivered online. Information can be delivered in a self-paced format or in an instructor-led format and delivering material online can be a really cost-effective way to present material effectively.
However, I think as the subject matter gets more complex, in-person training courses can still play a valuable role in delivering information. Those types of courses can facilitate interaction with instructors, other types of participants, and that can benefit the learning experience. And so, although we've come a long way with technology, I think that information still needs to be delivered in a variety of ways to best meet the industry's needs.
Schafer: I agree. What are the most critical issues you believe the feed industry will face in the coming years and what advice would you give to prepare for these challenges?
Fairfield: Yeah, I think I can mention maybe three emerging issues that I think the feed industry needs to pay attention to. One is the One Health initiatives that many global jurisdictions, including those within the United States, are using to kind of address public health needs. And the One Health concept really relates to the understanding of the interaction between animals, between humans and the environment, and how those interactions can really impact the health of each of those different spheres. And so, when I mentioned antimicrobial resistance or the BSE issues that the industry's previously faced, I think that those are examples of One Health initiatives. And I think that as we better understand this relationship between animals, humans, and the environment, there's going to be more issues arise that are going to need to be dealt with within the feed industry.
Currently, the PFAS industry is beginning to understand or become aware of some of these chemicals that that persist in the environment for a long time. One of those is PFAS or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. And so, I think those types of issues that may be in the environment and that can impact human and public health, animal health are going to play an issue moving forward.
Another topic is feed biosecurity. Obviously, there's a growing awareness of about the potential for viruses to survive in feed and be a potential vector for animal diseases. I think this issue kind of came to the forefront in 2014 with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, and then more recently, African swine fever and high path avian influenza have kind of shown a spotlight on how these viruses can potentially be transmitted through feed. And I think this is an area where there's going to be more research done and we'll gain a better understanding and that these outcomes from those understandings could impact the feed industry moving forward.
And then the last topic I would mention is sustainability, and sustainability has many different aspects —social, environmental, economic. Two of those that I think will influence the animal feed industry directly would be consumer preferences related to animal-based foods, and then also carbon footprints of the feed industry in animal agriculture industries. Clearly, there's been a focus on carbon, both within our government and through voluntary programs, and I think that focus is only going to increase. And so, I think the feed industry needs to take actions to understand those topics and how they may impact them moving forward.
Schafer: Well, Dave, thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights with us today, and congratulations on your upcoming retirement.
Fairfield: Thank you so much. Time moves quickly. It's been a great honor for me to be involved in the industry and interact with stakeholders but looking forward to the next chapter, too.
Schafer: That's all for today's Feed & Grain Chat! If you'd like to see more videos like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel, sign up for the Industry Watch Daily eNewsletter, or go to Feedandgrain.com and search for videos. Thank you again for watching and we hope to see you next time!