Latest news with #TomTabler
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tennessee poultry industry not as hard-hit by avian flu, data show
The majority of Tennessee birds killed due to avian flu (either by contracting the virus or by euthanasia after exposure to limit an outbreak) have been in commercial facilities, according to the USDA. (Photo: John Partipilo) Ongoing bird flu outbreaks continue to ravage commercial poultry flocks in Indiana and Ohio, where two counties issued emergency declarations this week. But Tennessee appears to be faring better, at least for now. 'It's not that we have not been affected, but we have not been affected by avian influenza near as much as what some other states have,' said Tom Tabler, statewide poultry extension specialist at the University of Tennessee. The current outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus has been detected in wild, commercial and backyard flocks since February 2022, according to the CDC. The virus is deadly to chickens and turkeys and is typically spread by wild migratory birds. Under current U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, if one bird tests positive in a commercial flock or backyard coop, the entire flock must be euthanized in an effort to stop the spread, Tabler said. Nearly 163 million birds have been affected across the U.S. since early 2022, including 9 million birds in Ohio within the last month. Tennessee has seen 456,070 birds affected since the outbreak began in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's data dashboard. The majority of those birds were from five commercial flocks. Tennessee's last reported detection was in a non-commercial flock of 30 birds in Greene County on Jan. 16, according to USDA data. Nobody seems to know why just yet, but broilers do not seem to be quite as susceptible to avian influenza as table egg laying flocks and turkey flocks. – Tom Tabler, University of Tennessee Extension A commercial operation in Gibson County reported 37,700 birds affected in late November, the most recent commercial-scale outbreak in Tennessee. The state's most impactful string of five outbreaks struck Weakley County in December 2022, resulting in the deaths of 397,100 birds from commercial breeders. While Ohio and Indiana are among the country's top egg producers, Tennessee's main commercial product is broiler chickens — birds raised for meat. 'Nobody seems to know why just yet, but broilers do not seem to be quite as susceptible to avian influenza as table egg laying flocks and turkey flocks,' Tabler said. He posited that broiler chickens are usually processed when they are young, while laying hens can be older. The USDA recently granted a conditional license for a bird flu vaccine for use in chickens, but the vaccine has not yet been cleared for commercial use or sale. That strategy is also complicated by trade relationships — some trade partners will not accept exports from countries that allow vaccinations, said Jada Thompson, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas. There is no treatment for the virus, leaving biosecurity practices as the best line of defense for commercial and backyard flocks alike, Tabler said. But those practices might be a new concept to novice chicken owners. Commercial producers are used to biosecurity practices, Tabler said, 'because this is not the first go-around the U.S. has had with avian influenza.' A smaller outbreak in 2014 killed about 50 million birds — at that time, the largest HPAI outbreak in U.S. history. Tabler describes biosecurity as a three-legged stool: isolation, traffic control and sanitation. To have sound biosecurity, all three are key. Isolating flocks from any exposure to other birds that might be carrying the virus can reduce risk, he said. The same logic goes for traffic in and around areas where flocks are raised and kept — whether that is vehicle or foot traffic. Wild birds spread the virus through nasal secretions and fecal material, which can end up being tracked from one location to another on boots, tires or through other means. Ohio health officials report first human case of avian flu That's where sanitation comes in. Commercial producers may use foot baths at the door of chicken houses, or may require the use of disposable boots or shoe covers, Tabler said. 'Right now, nothing can be too clean,' he said. Tennessee is home to several large-scale chicken processors, including Tyson Foods, Koch Foods, Perdue Foods and Pilgrim's Pride. Tyson Foods opened a poultry complex in Humboldt, a city in Gibson and Madison counties, in 2021. The company did not respond to requests for comment, but its website states that all of its U.S. poultry operations 'continue to operate under heightened biosecurity.' That includes limiting non-essential visitors, disinfecting vehicles before they enter farms and special uniform and footwear requirements. All flocks are tested before they leave the farm, the website states. The number of backyard flocks in Tennessee is nearly impossible to measure. Anyone can have backyard chickens so long as they comply with local ordinances, Tabler said, and they aren't required to register like commercial flocks do. 'It is unbelievable how popular backyard chickens have become just in the last five or six years since the pandemic,' he said. But people who are new to caring for backyard chickens may need more education on biosecurity measures, something Tabler and county agents throughout the state are trying to promote through talks and online resources. Backyard flock owners can implement biosecurity measures without too much difficulty, 'but it does take more time' and attention, he said. Any place that flock owners congregate presents a risk of transmission, Tabler explained. Manure can be tracked in and out of popular feed stores or coffee shops, he said, and if an owner doesn't take precautions to change shoes or clothes before making contact with their chickens, 'that increases the risk factor.' The H5N1 virus is also being seen in mammals like bears, raccoons, skunks and possums, because they may feed on dead birds that carry the virus, Tabler said. The flu has also been seen in dairy cows and in humans (U.S. dairy and poultry workers), according to the CDC. Tennessee hasn't logged any cases in humans. But the CDC hasn't documented person-to-person spread as of Feb. 20, and it classifies the public health risk to humans as 'low.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Egg Prices Are Skyrocketing—But Why Are Some Cage-Free Ones Cheaper Than Regular?
All products featured on Self are independently selected by Self editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. leekris/Adobe Stock If you've been to the supermarket recently, you might have noticed a couple interesting things in the refrigerated section: For one, many of the shelves that once contained cartons upon cartons of eggs are now bare. And if you're lucky enough to find the breakfast staple in stock, you might be met with a surprising form of sticker shock: Eggs that have historically been more expensive, like organic, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised varieties, are often now actually on par with—or even cheaper than—the regular options, which have skyrocketed in cost. For example, on a recent trip to a Giant in Pennsylvania, we noticed large white eggs selling for $7.30 a dozen, while the cage-free option was just $4.95. You could write it off as an isolated fluke, but we did some digging and found similar trends at other major chains. As of press time, Shoprite lists Bowl & Basket–brand extra-large fresh white eggs for $7.69 a dozen—20 cents more than an 18-count pack (that's 50% more of 'em!) of cage-free large white eggs ($7.49). Meanwhile, Walmart is selling Great Value-brand jumbo white eggs for $6.82 a dozen, compared to Eggland's Best-brand cage-free large brown eggs ($6.06) and Eggland's Best-brand organic-certified large brown eggs ($6.14). Other disgruntled egg enthusiasts have questioned the discrepancy on Reddit, too: 'Why are some eggs suddenly super expensive, but my usual organic free range eggs are still $5?' one user asked. Why indeed—and what, if anything, does the increase in egg prices have to do with the current egg shortage? We reached out to a few experts to find out. In short, you can consider it a direct consequence of bird flu, the 'most critical issue' affecting the market, Tom Tabler, PhD, a professor of animal science at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, tells SELF. To quickly recap: In the last three years, outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu have ravaged the US's poultry flocks and dairy herds, killing many birds and forcing farmers to cull those that might have been exposed. Close to 158 million birds had been affected as of February 11, according to the CDC. 'Aside from the public health threat' posed by these outbreaks, 'this is really going to impact supply chains,' Scott Roberts, MD, an infectious diseases expert and assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, tells SELF. So far, the US has lost around a quarter of its population of table egg-laying chickens (a.k.a 'table egg layers'), dealing a devastating blow to the egg industry, according to Dr. Tabler. 'Usually, we have somewhere between 375 and 400 million layers laying eggs at any one time,' he says. 'Right now, we only have about 300 million laying eggs.' Stats reflect that decline: Egg production fell to a five-year low of 9.1 billion dozen in 2022, down from 9.4 billion dozen in 2019, according to the USDA. Fewer hens equals fewer eggs equals higher prices. It's simple supply and demand: When there's less of a commodity to go around, its value increases. In one recent example of this, the diner chain Waffle House added a 50-cent surcharge to every egg sold to account for the rising costs, per the AP. So yes, the cost of eggs in general has spiked. At the beginning of 2024, a dozen averaged about $2.50, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and increased to $4.15 by the end of the year. In a February 7 USDA report, the organization listed the most recent average cost at $7.34 a dozen. Good to know, but our original question still remains: Why has the price of organic, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised eggs stayed relatively stable as the price of regular eggs has skyrocketed? It's actually pretty straightforward: Chickens used to lay those kinds of eggs haven't been hit as hard as those responsible for the regular type, according to Dr. Tabler. It's not that higher-end layers are less susceptible—in fact, chickens that have access to the outdoors (like free-range and pasture-raised flocks) are actually more likely to come into contact with potential disease vectors like wildlife, Dr. Tabler says. 'There's more disease risk outside than there is inside the chicken house,' he explains. Rather, it's a ruthless numbers game that comes down to a difference in scale. Farming operations that produce regular eggs are often a whole lot larger than those that produce varieties like organic, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised—they're 'huge,' in Dr. Tabler's words. 'And by 'huge,'' he says, 'I mean there may be three million, four million, five million head of chickens laying eggs all on one site in multiple barns.' Because federal guidelines mandate culling an entire flock if even a single bird tests positive for bird flu, an outbreak among regular layers therefore means far more birds have to be euthanized—'depopulated,' to use USDA terminology—so the impact on egg production is proportionally much greater. 'It's not so much that the high-end eggs have come down in price,' Dr. Tabler explains. 'It's that regular eggs have increased dramatically in price.' And unfortunately, the spike doesn't seem likely to ease anytime soon, according to Dr. Roberts. In fact, he says, things are only worsening month-to-month—and accordingly, egg prices will probably continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Dr. Tabler is similarly pessimistic. 'Before the avian influenza outbreak started, eggs cost $1.79 a dozen in December 2021,' he says. 'I was in California helping USDA dispose of avian influenza-infected flocks in late December 2024, and eggs were $8.97 a dozen.' Even the USDA predicts that prices will rise an additional 20.3% in 2025. What's more, Dr. Roberts is concerned that the recent federal shift in power—and the 'really scaling back a lot of public health funding' that came with it—could exacerbate the problem. And science communication, which is obviously especially vital in times of outbreak, could take a hit, too: In an unprecedented move, federal public health communications were recently paused, stalling the release of several bird flu studies, as reported by CBS. Ultimately, 'we don't know where this is going to end,' Dr. Roberts says. While there are still a lot of unknowns—and a lot of factors, like prices, remain out of your control—you can still take some steps to stay safe from the eggs you do eat: mainly, practicing good food safety. Separate raw poultry and eggs from ready-to-eat stuff, like leftovers, fruits, and vegetables. Make sure to cook poultry and eggs thoroughly before digging in—hitting an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit will kill off any lurking viruses or bacteria, including bird flu viruses. And if you just can't bring yourself to shell out all that extra cash for your regular ol' eggs? That's okay. We're pretty sure you'll find a suitable alternative in this robust list of high-protein breakfasts that are completely egg-free. Related: 8 Things Food Safety Experts Would Never Do in Their Own Kitchens How to 'Fridgescape' to Keep Your Food Safe, Save Money, and Actually Get Organized Are Those Squiggly White Things in Your Berries Actually Worms? Get more of SELF's great food coverage delivered right to your inbox—for free. Originally Appeared on Self
