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Recovering from avian influenza outbreak

A turkey breeder from southwest Minnesota says going through the avian influenza outbreak last year made him question staying in the business.

Robert Orsten of Wilmar tells Brownfield the first of two of his farms tested positive for the highly pathogenic virus April twenty-fifth.

“We were sitting at Green Mill (restaurant) and I got the call at about 8 o’clock at night on a Friday.  (the caller) Said your (flock) is positive for HPAI…it was quite a shock honestly.”

Because it was a breeder farm, birds were being tested multiple times per week and the samples confirmed the presence of A-I before there were any symptoms.

He says the lethal virus quickly spread throughout the flock.

“We tested positive on Friday evening, Saturday the birds were a little quieter, but by Sunday they started dying.  There were 8,000 turkeys in that barn and by Tuesday there were 200 -300 birds alive still.”

What ensued over the next three months was a process of depopulating the remaining birds, composting, cleaning and disinfection of the barn, followed by USDA testing before receiving clearance to repopulate.

He says the indemnification payment covered most of his inputs but the family-run farm still took a financial hit of more than $500,000 dollars; not to mention the $1.5 million invested in biosecurity upgrades.

Orsten operates alongside his brother and tells Brownfield after the second farm was hit by avian flu, he suggested that it might be time to get out of the turkey business.

“Because we’re going to be spending a lot of money if we’re going to stay in it.  We both just kind of sat there for a minute and then both started speaking at the same time and said, ‘this is what we do.  We’re turkey farmers; it’s what we know how to do…it’s in our blood.”

The second case of high path A-I was confirmed on an egg-laying farm Memorial Day weekend, and restocking began November 15^th.

Orsten says challenges remain from the outbreak, but the family farm is moving forward and hopes to be in the turkey business for many years to come.

Brownfield spoke to Orsten at the 2016 Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in St. Paul.