For our January Member Spotlight, we’re featuring DARO, a Nebraska company revolutionizing farm resiliency with cutting-edge pathogen surveillance systems.
Tell us about your company.
DARO stops swine disease outbreaks before they happen. Using population-level surveillance, we notify producers at the first introduction of a disease so they can move quickly to contain and eliminate the threat. By merging whole-herd sampling with highly sensitive genomic assays, we provide the earliest and most accurate picture of circulating pathogens, safeguarding animal health and saving producers millions of dollars per avoided outbreak.
Why is Nebraska an important location for your company?
Nebraska sits at the intersection of two critical ecosystems: the heartland of global pork production and a world-class hub for biosecurity and infectious disease research. Being headquartered in Lincoln allows us to collaborate with industry leaders and researchers alike. Nebraska is the premier location for a company pioneering the next generation of global food security.
Beyond Nebraska, how large is the company’s footprint?
In the few months since our market debut, DARO has expanded rapidly. We currently provide routine surveillance for producers across the Midwest—including Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, and Iowa. While we are scaling across the U.S., our vision is global; we are currently in strategic dialogues to deploy our systems across Europe and Latin America.
How many employees do you have in Nebraska? Company-wide?
Our mission is powered by a lean, multidisciplinary team of five full-time employees at our Lincoln laboratory, supported by a network of seven expert contractors across the U.S., Europe, and Africa. We believe an agile, cross-disciplinary workforce is the most effective way to solve global livestock challenges.
How does your company support the bioscience industry?
DARO is a team of evolutionary biologists, epidemiologists, and bioinformaticians. We don’t just use molecular tools; we apply them in novel ways to create surveillance systems capable of making livestock pandemics obsolete. As a mission-driven team, we aim to inspire the next generation of bioscientists to apply their skills toward a more secure and resilient society.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing your industry today, and how does your company play a role in overcoming them?
The greatest threat to global food security is the invisible spread of disease. Last year, the U.S. swine industry lost 35% of its product, primarily to PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome). An even larger threat, African Swine Fever (ASF), is estimated to cause a potential $80 billion loss if it reaches the U.S. and isn’t contained quickly. DARO is dedicated to eliminating these threats by providing the early warning system the industry has been missing.
What’s on the horizon for 2026?
While 2025 defined DARO as a powerful tool for swine disease detection, 2026 will be the year of enterprise-wide implementation across the United States. Simultaneously, we will begin our international expansion. Rapidly deploying DARO surveillance across the global swine herd acts as the front line—not just for a producer’s operations, but for the global food supply.