Avian Flu was confirmed at a Lancaster County farm over the Weekend, drawing the attention of farmers in our viewing area. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture discussed containing the illness Yesterday.
As for how it’s affecting farmers? Dylan Huberman spoke to some at the Boalsburg Farmers Market in Centre County Today to see,
While farmers acknowledge the possibility of issues in the future, they say, they’re not going to worry about it until it is confirmed out here.
Yesterday, the state’s Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding described potential problems for farmers and consumers, including supply chain issues and price hikes on poultry products.
For now, farmers I talked to here said they’ll control what they can, mainly using biosecurity protocols to protect their birds, but other than that, they say they’re not all that worried about selling poultry since AG officials maintain it remains safe to eat if properly cooked.
And Bill Callahan of Cow-A-Hen Farm says his business would survive even if the poultry portion did not.
“We run what I call a three-legged stool on our farm where we have Poultry, Pork and Beef, and if we have Avian Influenza hit us or close to us, which is a possibility, and we lose the poultry part of the business, then we rely on our beef and pork to carry us through. It won’t be devastating to us.”
