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Biosecurity priority number 1 for Iowa turkey producer

A southeast Iowa turkey producer says he’s concerned about the rising number of highly pathogenic avian influenza cases across the state.

“My heart goes out to all those folks that have had to deal with it. It’s devastating,” said Tim Meyer of Henry County.

Meyer raises nearly 60,000 turkeys annually and says biosecurity is his biggest priority. “A lot of these feed trucks that are coming in, we’re spraying tires in and we’re spraying tires out. We’re very adamant about who’s in the sheds. We’re trying to be smart about it. On our farm from a very micro standpoint, we’re doing a decent job at it, but I think as an industry as a whole there’s a lot of places that are suffering.”

He tells Brownfield his area has avoided positive detections of H5N1. “Southeast Iowa has been very fortunate at this point. It seems like the migratory birds are not migrating over the areas that they typically do.”

Most cases within Iowa poultry flocks in 2024 have occurred in the western portion of the state.

INTERVIEW: Southeast Iowa farmer Tim Meyer