One of the country’s largest egg producers described the current outbreak of bird flu as an “epic battle.”
For the US poultry industry, that battle has been the deadliest in history, killing 58 million birds since February of last year and affecting laying hens, chickens and turkeys.
Unlike normal bird flu spikes that last for months, this outbreak lasted through the summer and is spread almost entirely by wild birds.
The outbreak increased pressure on the industry to protect their flocks, forcing them to kill millions of birds to prevent the deadly spread.
Versova Management Co., one of the five largest egg producers in the country, learned lessons from a previous outbreak in 2015, but remains anxious. “We are fighting an epic battle,” its president JT Dean told the Wall Street Journal. We have to be perfect.
The US poultry industry has been locked in its deadliest battle against bird flu in history, with 58 million birds culled since February of last year.
Unlike the usual avian flu spikes that have lasted in recent months, this outbreak continued through the summer of 2022 and is transmitted almost entirely by wild birds.
Dean said the company was forced to change its practices to keep wild birds away, including installing vibrator mechanisms on bins containing chicken feed to prevent contamination of workers.
The disease is so contagious that the wind can blow bird droppings into a barn vent, causing the virus to circulate indoors.
It can also be transmitted to commercial flocks when workers step on wild bird feces outside a barn and scatter it inside with each step.
Some farms have installed motion detection alarms, known as “sound cannons,” as well as bright laser systems to scare away wild birds without harming them.
Of the 58 million birds that have been culled, nearly 75 percent were laying hens. They are more susceptible to bird flu because, unlike chickens that go to slaughter in a matter of months, they keep producing eggs for a year.
Iowa-based Versova said it has about 17 million laying hens, making it one of the world’s largest egg-processing companies. States like Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Colorado have seen the most severe contamination of flocks, according to the CDC..
The last time the industry was hit so severely by bird flu was in 2014-2015. Although that outbreak killed more than 50 million birds, it was much shorter, ending in June.
What makes this outbreak different is that wild birds are responsible for about 84 percent of all cases, according to the USDA, whereas during the last outbreak it spread from farm to farm.
States like Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and Colorado suffered the most severe contamination of flocks, according to the CDC.
Bird flu, along with rising energy and labor costs, pushed the price of eggs to an all-time high in January, though it fell in February.
The US Department of Agriculture has warned that the upcoming migration could spark a resurgence.
The start of the outbreak early last year also coincided with rising energy and labor costs, sending the cost of eggs to an all-time high.
Last month it topped the cost of beef per pound, and while it’s down to $2.22 this month, it’s still higher than usual. In January, a dozen large Grade A eggs cost an average of $4.82.
The higher cost of feed and transportation pushed egg prices even higher. Although the increase squeezed consumers, some suppliers have posted big profits as their margins mean they get more out of each egg.
Cal-Maine, the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the US, had record quarterly revenue of $199 million in the last quarter of 2022. In the last quarter of 2021 it nearly broke even, with a net profit of $1 million.
In some places, it has been difficult to find eggs on the shelves, but supplies are generally holding up because the total flock is only down 5 percent from its normal size of around 320 million hens.
Farmers have been working to replace their herds as soon as possible after an outbreak.
Although the increase squeezed consumers, some egg suppliers have posted big profits as their margins mean they get more out of each egg.
Purdue University agricultural economist Jayson Lusk said he believes the bird flu outbreak is the main driver of the price increases. Unlike previous years, the virus lingered through the summer and reemerged last fall, infecting poultry and egg farms.
“The bird flu is not the only factor, but in my opinion it is the main driver of what we are experiencing right now,” Lusk told the Associated Press.
But the president and chief executive of the American Egg Board trade group, Emily Metz, said she believes all the cost increases farmers have faced in the past year were a bigger factor in the price rises than bird flu.
“When you see fuel costs go up, and you see feed costs go up as much as 60 percent, labor costs, packaging costs, all of that…those are far more important factors than bird flu for clear,’ Metz said.
