Although it has been looking a lot like winter in the area recently, technically, it is still fall and chicken and turkey producers throughout the state still have concerns about the possibility of another outbreak of avian flu as birds migrate south. Senator Chuck Grassley said the USDA is now better prepared for the flu risk, but producers have stepped up in their preventative measures as well.
Grassley said that type of ethic is going to do more good than anything the USDA has learned.
The conclusion they have arrived at, Grassley said, is that they should be euthanized within 24 hours of flu confirmation. A study commissioned by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation reported a $1.2 billion economic hit, including the loss of over 8,400 jobs, for the state of Iowa from the avian flu. The spring outbreak resulted in more than 30 million hens and 1.5 million turkeys being euthanized.
