Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Iowa avian flu losses total $1.2 billion


Avian influenza has cost the Iowa poultry industry $1.2 billion this year, according to a study commissioned by the Iowa State Farm Bureau.

Thirty million egg layers were lost and 1.5 million turkeys.

The state lost 8,400 jobs.

A farmer friend from Iowa told me today that they hauled dead birds to landfill sites and said that seemed like a dumb idea because it spread the virus.

Here in Ontario, euthanized birds on three farms were composted inside the barns, then composted further outside while the barns were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.