Poultry growers cry foul over proposed organic rule

Highly pathogenic avian influenza was wreaking havoc on chicken and turkey operations a year ago this week. USDA and Iowa officials had just reported a 5.3-million chicken egg-laying farm was going to have to be culled because of H5N2, by far the largest chicken flock to be hit at that point in the avian influenza outbreak.  And as that was going on last year, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was lamenting the various weaknesses in biosecurity on poultry operations that allowed highly pathogenic bird flu to spread so readily from flock-to-flock. The bird flu outbreak cost roughly $3.3 billion in economic impact, hitting 21 states and more than 210 farms and the destruction of nearly 50 million chickens and turkeys.  Read More