Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 1/1/18


In a new report, USDA’s Economic Research Service evaluated the final outcome of the 2014-2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United States, concluding that the spread of the actual disease was not as big an effect as the closing of key export markets.

Also, different parties to the industry had widely varying experiences, ERS said. “Trade restrictions during and after the outbreak affected all poultry commodities, but the overall market impact differed for each commodity, reflecting several factors,” according to the report’s conclusion.

For example, producers who lost birds or entire flocks to the disease were negatively affected, but other producers gained from the increase in prices that followed the reduction in supply, ERS noted.

Also, “the economic losses resulting from trade restrictions in foreign markets were serious. These restrictions decreased overseas demand for broiler products and led to lower prices for broiler producers — highlighting the importance of policy responses to the total cost of the outbreak.”

The effects of the trade disruptions also lasted longer than the direct effects of bird culls: “[P]rices for many poultry products remained at multiyear lows in 2016, partly due to lingering export weakness related to the outbreak and other factors.”

ERS also commented that the agency pulled together a lot of financial and operational support for the industry during the ’14-’15 outbreak, and sought to improve its policy and planning for future potential outbreaks. “The few HPAI events that occurred in the United States in 2016 and 2017 were quickly extinguished with relatively few birds lost,” ERS said.

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