Tag: chicken

Lancaster and Berks counties have nearly 3.9 million commercial birds to the recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak, according to Penn State Extension and the state Department of Agriculture. 

While the federal government is stepping in to pay for the cleanup and disposition of infected flocks and will cover the cost of replacing them, there is no stipulation for covering the loss of egg production during the cleanup phase to farmers. 

And while consumers are paying more than double for eggs at the store, grocers are seeing a major drop in profit margins while trying to keep prices as low as possible. 

John Boney, Penn State Extension poultry specialist and assistant professor of poultry science, said 3,845,200 birds in Lancaster County and 44,100 birds in Berks County have been destroyed due to the outbreak to date. 

“Lancaster County is our most poultry dense county in the state,” he said.  

The infected farms will not see income during this time of disposal and cleanup.  

“Some will probably not stay in business,” he said. 

Boney explained that the active cleanup is still underway, so farmers are not dealing with the bottom line yet. That will happen closer to mid-July when, he said, hopefully reflocking can begin. 

That’s because, while the outbreak is ongoing, those in the control zone are still being tested on a regular basis and new flocks can’t be brought in.  

“All flocks must test negative so the virus can be eradicated,” he said. 

“It’s too early to know what the costs of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak Pennsylvania will be,” said Shannon Powers of the state Department of Agriculture. “The cost will be borne by the poultry businesses, state and federal government and to some extent, by consumers paying higher prices for eggs and poultry.” 

As of May 9, nine commercial chicken and duck flocks in Pennsylvania have been affected with a loss of 3,889,300 birds, she said. Costs to farms and various agencies involved in the response will be determined in the coming months as contracts, personnel, supplies and other expenditures are finalized and indemnity funds for farms processed. 

For local grocers like Scott Karns, president and CEO of Karns Foods, Mechanicsburg, profit margins are being held as low as possible to keep egg prices down.  

“We’ve seen prices double and they continue to climb weekly,” he said. 

While he can still get eggs, mostly from non-infected Biglerville, “once prices go up, they continue to go up,” he said. 

Egg prices are just the start. Karns said he is expecting price increases in bakery items, frozen dinners; basically anything made with eggs.  

“There has been a significant increase in the cost of chicken due to the cost of the feed,” he said. “We’ve been expecting that because of a lack of supply of wheat and corn used in the feed.” 

On top of that, Karns said the government is asking for an increase in the production of ethanol fuel, which uses corn.  

“It doesn’t look good for the next year,” he said. 

Farmers and the veterinarians and others tied to the poultry industry are in an incredibly stressful time, in an atmosphere of uncertainty and little rest, compounded by fuel, fertilizer and other input costs that were already increasing due to global events happening prior to the HPAI outbreak, Powers agreed.  

Karns is buying large eggs wholesale for $2.81 a dozen and selling them for $2.99.  

“That’s not much of profit margin and when you add in the loss for cracked eggs, it’s not enough to pay the bill,.” he said  

Jeff Hummer, president of Hummers Meats Inc., Mount Joy, echoed the problem.  

“The availability hasn’t been affected, but the pricing has,” he said.  

He too has been paying double the past few weeks and is seeing sales volumes decrease. 

“People are hesitant to buy at these prices,” he said. “Chicken prices have gone up as well and people are holding off to see if they will come back down.” 

Karns said coming off the Easter holiday when eggs are in demand makes this the worst time for an outbreak.  

“Summer travel makes demand for eggs increase too. People go to buffets, so eggs are in demand,” he said. “We are going to see this for at least six months.” 

Farms must have biosecurity plans and meet additional reporting requirements to receive compensation, Powers said.  

USDA provides compensation for depopulation (euthanizing birds), as well as waste disposal and virus elimination, which must be completed before affected farms can begin to safely restock. However, “USDA cannot offer indemnity for income or production losses suffered due to downtime or other business disruptions,” she said. 

“We were prepared for this poultry industry emergency. Since 2015-16, Governor Tom Wolf has ensured that $2 million has always been readily available for Pennsylvania to have a quick response to Avian Influenza. That funding, in addition to rapid response funding for agricultural emergencies established under the PA Farm Bill, means Pennsylvania has $3.5 million available for immediate response needs,” Powers said. 

In addition, the Wolf Administration has provided $3 million to fund the Center for Poultry Excellence — which trains and equips the industry in biosecurity and safe, quality poultry and egg production — since establishing it in 2019 and proposed $1 million in funding for 2022-2023.  

“The administration is in conversation with the General Assembly to assess whether additional funds will need to be appropriated to support the response,” she said. 

Boney said teams from Penn State Extension serve on Avian Task Force to serve as experts in high alert situations. 

He said it has been six days since the last outbreak in Berks County on May 3 and “that is good news.”  

The disease comes from migratory birds, which are active right now.  

“We know the virus is spread by people, tools, shared equipment and wild birds on the premises,“ Boney said.  

Standing water and feed spills draw wild birds to farms, but the disease can also be carried in the air and moved by wind, he said. “There are a lot of opportunities for spread.” 

The last outbreak in Pennsylvania was in 1983-84.  

Protecting Pennsylvania’s $7.1 billion poultry industry is a year-round top priority.  

“Our PA Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System is made up of the finest diagnostic laboratories in the world,” Powers said. “Together, the labs processed more than 200,000 samples last year. We are carefully monitoring the surge in testing demand and planning to meet ramped up need.” 

There are 95 state Department of Agriculture, USDA and contracted experts working as first responders on affected farms to quickly and safely contain the outbreak, and at the department’s main building in Harrisburg. The number of direct responders is growing. 

Farmers face unique stresses that isolate them in the best of times. With the outbreak, Pennsylvania now offers the AgriStress HelpLine available to Pennsylvania farmers, farm families and farm workers who need mental health support or a place to turn to talk about their stress. 

The hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 833-897-2474 to speak with a healthcare professional anonymously at any time.