Minnesota turkey farmers still reeling from the toll of bird flu as Thanksgiving approaches – Star Tribune
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MELROSE, Minn. — Chris Huisinga drives to Willmar every Monday from his turkey farm in western Minnesota. Driving shotgun in his pickup truck? Look at tubes Full of tracheal swabs.
So far, He is prevented turning Proper into a statistic: Definitely one of many 100-plus farms in Minnesota to get hit this yr by extremely pathogenic aby way ofn influenza (HPAI), a plague that has devasaid many turkey farmers for the second time in a decade, forcing them to euthanize 3.6 million chooks Inside the state this yr.
On the cusp of this yr’s Thanksgiving — when People collect Throughout the bronze chook to debate politics, watch soccer and share ideas of gratitude — Huisinga is Aware of He is nonetheless Simply one by way ofl amethod from dropping everyfactor.
“Divine intervention or coincidence or no matter You should say has stored us from having factors,” Huisinga said, Chatting with the Star Tribune on Oct. 31 after pulling off the road on his Method to the state laboratory. “I am the final of a dying breed. I am an unbiased turkey grower.”
The biggest toll of this yr’s chook flu outbreak probably Will not be on American pocketbooks however on the feelings and nerves of turkey growers.
Consumers Buying for for a chook this month will discover that turkey, like everyfactor else, is Costlier than final yr. The nationwide common worth per pound for a frozen turkey hen was $1.47 final week As in contrast with $1.15 a yr in the past, Based mostly on U.S. Division of Agriculture knowledge.
But HPAI’s influence on The client worth of turkeys Shall be a …….
