1st Restocked Iowa Turkey Farmer Talks Lessons From Bird Flu
MANSON, Iowa (AP) — Thousands of young turkeys are running around barns on a farm that was the first in Iowa to restock after a bird flu outbreak devastated Midwest flocks.
Brad Moline farms with his father and brother near Manson, 120 miles northwest of Des Moines. He hosted state and federal agriculture officials at a news conference Monday to celebrate the restocking of the family farm's barns 10 days ago.
Moline says better and earlier detection of sick birds and improved biosecurity are lessons learned for the industry that lost 48 million turkeys and chickens in 15 states.
Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska lost the most birds.
Jack Shere with the U.S. Department of Agriculture says cleaning and disinfection at farms in those states should be done by the end of August.
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