Iowa farms devastated, impacts unknown as bird flu spreads

By Erin Murphy

DES MOINES | Iowa produces more eggs than any state in the country, and is ninth nationally in turkey production.
But both industries are being rocked by a relentless virus that is forcing farmers to destroy entire flocks. A highly pathogenic avian influenza — or bird flu — believed to be introduced by wild waterfowl such as ducks and geese has infected dozens of Iowa farms, causing the death and disposal of more than 20 million birds.
While some farmers cope with devastating losses, others are taking every precaution possible to prevent the disease’s spread, knowing full well it could all be in vain.
Through Friday there have been 44 cases, most of them in Northwest Iowa. More are discovered almost daily, and a federal official said he thinks another round will hit in the fall when migratory birds return to the region.
Local, state and federal government agencies are working to address the outbreak.
“This is unique,” said Bill Northey, the state’s secretary of agriculture. "We’ve never had anything just like this in Iowa."
Experts said the last similar outbreak occurred in the early 1980s, and the worst of that occurred in Pennsylvania.
'LIFE TURNS UPSIDE DOWN'
The virus devastates. Once a bird is infected, the entire flock must be destroyed. The farm area is quarantined, and the barn must be scrubbed clean and disinfected before it can be repopulated with birds.
Northey said that process can take up to months, during which operations are halted.
“Life just completely turns upside down,” Northey said.
The poultry and turkey farming communities in Iowa are close-knit. Many operations have been in the same family for multiple generations. So the impact of the virus is being felt even by those who have been fortunate thus far to avoid its sting.
“The stress level is very high among all my farmers at this point, whether you have the virus and have to deal with the emotional grief of losing your flock of turkeys, or if you don’t have the virus and you’re worrying about those who do and what happens next,” said Gretta Irwin, executive director of the Iowa Turkey Federation.
She said the roughly 130 turkey farmers in Iowa know each other well through organizational meetings and social events.
The virus is frustrating producers.
They knew the virus had hit neighboring states such as Minnesota and Missouri. They knew how it was introduced in those areas. They stepped up biosecurity on their operations.
And yet the virus made its way to Iowa anyway.
“The farmers have been on high alert and high biosecurity for probably the last two months as we saw outbreaks in other states,” Irwin said. “Farmers are used to not being able to control Mother Nature, but this is something we’re still scratching our heads on.”
Northey said biosecurity still is very important and can, at the very least, reduce the odds of a flock getting infected. He conceded, however, that no level of biosecurity has proved to be foolproof.
“It’s no guarantee you won’t get it,” he said.
WIDE-RANGING IMPACTS
Despite the massive impact on Iowa’s turkey and poultry populations, prices at the grocery store are unlikely to change drastically, according to an economist at Iowa State University who specializes in agriculture.
Lee Schulz, an economics professor at Iowa State, said grocery-store prices tend to be “sticky” so as to not erode customer loyalty. So consumers should not have to worry about sudden price spikes on eggs or turkey.
“Looking in the short-term, those prices don’t change very much,” Schulz said.
But the bird losses are sure to have some kind of effects eventually, Schulz said. To what degree, he said, is difficult to ascertain while new cases are being discovered almost daily.
Schulz said the losses could affect the supply of turkeys and eggs for exports; it could affect the demand for those products if trade partners ban them while the virus is present; it could affect the state’s economy as farm operations and tangential businesses may have to lay off workers; and general uncertainty could have negative effects on the market.
“It’s too early to put a quantitative number to it. I haven’t seen any studies yet that have projected that cost,” Schulz said. “It’s all speculation because this is still evolving.”
Similarly, it is difficult to put a price on the fiscal impact farmers will face.
There is a federal program that provides financial assistance to farmers who have to put down birds to prevent the disease’s spread.
The program provides assistance only for birds that are proactively and properly destroyed; it does not compensate farmers for birds that already have died from the virus.
Randy Olson, executive director of the Iowa Poultry Association, said that because farmers have been so proactive since first hearing of the virus’ spread in other states, most have identified it before suffering large losses.
“These farmers have very extensive testing protocols, and these farmers are in their barns every day. So they see signs on the early end of this timeline. I’ve understood that these farmers have generally noticed signs (of infection) before massive death loss,” Olson said. “It’s really important that they catch this early.”
The impact will not be felt only on poultry and turkey farms, Olson said. He said there will be tangential effects. For example, with roughly a third of the state’s egg-laying hens wiped out by the virus, there are fewer birds eating corn and soybean meal.
“So this disease, which has a devastating impact to the individual egg farmers, also has detrimental effects on grain and oil seed demand,” Olson said.
In Minnesota, Jennie-O Turkey Store said this week it will lay off 233 employees at a processing plant because of bird flu outbreaks that have cut its turkey supply.
BOUNCING BACK
Northey said the state is doing everything it can to help farmers minimize their losses. He praised the cooperative efforts of not only the different levels of government, but the varied departments within those levels. For example, the state departments of agriculture, homeland security, public health, natural resources, human services, transportation and public safety all have worked in some fashion on the outbreak.
Northey and other officials also stressed that there is no threat to the public health — the virus cannot spread to humans — nor is there a threat to food safety. The Iowa-grown eggs and turkey meat in the grocery store are perfectly safe, experts say.
Olson said he expects farmers will rebound. In the meantime, he suggested Iowans can show their support at the breakfast table.
“Everyone should add an additional egg for breakfast to join in a sign of solidarity with the egg farmers that are going through a very tough time,” he said.

Avian influenza by the numbers

16.5 billion
Eggs produced annually in Iowa, the most in the nation
59.5 million
Egg-laying chickens raised in Iowa
11 million
Turkeys raised annually in Iowa, ninth-most in the nation
20 million-plus
Total number of birds affected by the recent bird flu outbreak
5.7 million
Largest number of birds affected on a single farm
44
Iowa farms with confirmed or suspected cases
12
Most number of cases in one county, Buena Vista County