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Poultry industry months away from restocking from HPAI losses
A state poultry group executive director says the domino effects of highly pathogenic avian influenza will be ongoing over the next several months.
Dr. Nancy Barr with the Michigan Allied Poultry Industries tells Brownfield the loss of production and restocking process across the U.S. stresses several supply chains.
“Everything from feed that’s not being used for birds to the production and the processing of, say, turkeys, when those birds aren’t going into the processing plant, the processing plant has some downtime and has to put people on leave,” she shares.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 145 million poultry have been affected over the last year, with nearly 18 million depopulations in the last 30 days.
Michigan State University food economist David Ortega says the price swings consumers are experiencing reflect the time that’s needed to rebuild. For example, he says egg-laying hens can take up to four months to start producing once facilities are no longer quarantined.
“Compare that to boilers that take about one and a half to two months to reach market weight, and that’s one of many factors in why we’re seeing even higher price responses on eggs compared to, say, chicken meats,” he explains.
In December, the Consumer Price Index reported egg prices were up more than 36 percent for the month and USDA’s latest outlook is calling for a 20 percent increase in egg prices for 2025.
Barr says the producers she represents would like approval to vaccinate flocks as part of their biosecurity measures.
“I have spoken with USDA about weighing the domestic need and even human health issues against export markets that close because of vaccination,” she says.
Michigan lost 30 percent of its egg production last year from HPAI, with most of the outbreak occurring in April. Barr says it will take more than a year before growers are back to full production.
The nation’s largest egg producer, Iowa, lost 27 percent of its production in 2024, more than half of that total was lost in December.
AUDIO: Nancy Barr, Michigan Allied Poultry Industries
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