By Randy Olson
There is no doubt that the terrible events of Spring 2015, when Iowa's egg farming community faced one of the most devastating times in our history with the multi-state avian influenza (AI) outbreak, will not soon be forgotten. Through this time, however, our egg farmers never lost their resolve to recover or their intent to restore full production of safe, high-quality eggs for millions of consumers across the nation.
AI moved rapidly through Iowa's egg and poultry farms, and all told, more than 40 percent of the Hawkeye state's egg-laying flocks succumbed to the disease over the course of the next two months. For Iowa, the number-one egg producing state in the nation, the loss of more than 30 million hens and pullets was economically disastrous.
What was even more difficult, however, was the emotional toll it took on the egg industry overall, and especially those farmers who lost their flocks. For many of them, it was the first time they had directly experienced such a situation, and then had to face daunting decisions about how to maintain the jobs of their employees, protect other flocks from AI, collaborate with state and federal regulatory officials, and manage the disease's extensive cleanup process.
While farmers may not forget the negative impact of the disease, they will remember a ray of hope that emerged during this time. As soon as AI hit our state, the immediate outpouring of support, volunteerism and prayers farmers received from our state leaders and from their local communities began. On behalf of Iowa's egg farmers, our sincere appreciation and gratitude to all Iowans for reminding us of the reasons to move forward after this crisis. You stood with the egg farming community, and it was appreciated.
The recent announcement that the last control zones from the spring AI outbreak have been lifted, freeing up the last of the state's poultry farms for repopulation, is welcome news and underscores the strength of our industry and the combined response. Affected egg farmers have been making good progress toward repopulating their farms and resuming egg production - by working tirelessly to swiftly and fully restore their farms to pre-AI levels.
At the same time, Iowa's egg farmers have embraced what for them is a new culture of pervasive biosecurity. Indeed, disease prevention has never been more important, and farmers across the state are focused on expanded biosecurity measures on their farms to help prevent any recurrence of AI.
While AI created some early disruption in the egg market and restoring the industry fully will take time, Iowa's egg farmers are following a responsible, but aggressive, timeline toward repopulation. They are doing so in full cooperation with USDA, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and other stakeholders.
Iowans should be confident that there will be a steady supply of nutritious, high-quality eggs for the holiday season and into 2016. That is the job of Iowa's egg farmers - producing eggs that are safe and wholesome, as well as being among the best food values for quality protein and nutrients.
Looking ahead, the future for Iowa's egg farming community is solid. While there have been fundamental changes in egg farm operations and on-farm disease prevention, some things have not changed for generations of egg farm families - an absolute and firm commitment to being excellent caretakers of their flocks, strong and engaged members of their communities, and good stewards of the land, air and water around their farms.
The lessons of the AI outbreak have given egg farmers a newfound appreciation for their farms, their employees, their families and their neighbors. Again, there is little more we can say on behalf of Iowa's egg industry, but our most sincere thank you.
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