Farm Progress America, March 3, 2025

Mike Pearson takes a look at the plan introduced by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in the Trump administration to handle the bird flu crisis.

So far, 166 million birds have been depopulated and consumers have seen a 41 percent increase in egg prices.

The plan is a five prong approach through a $1 billion strategy to stabilize the industry.

The plan includes $500 million dedicated to enhancing biosecurity measures.

The USDA will be offering free biosecurity audits to all commercial egg laying facilities to identify vulnerable problems to fix that can lead to the spread of the virus.

Then if updates to the infrastructure are necessary through the assessment then the government will cover up to 75 percent of the costs.

For Americans currently impacted by the avian influenza, $400 million has been aside for financial relief that can be used to repopulate flocks and ensure the current market values are paid.

Another $100 million has been set aside for vaccine development and research to see if widespread culling is necessary when there is an outbreak of the virus.

Also included in the plan is a temporary increase in egg imports to help consumers. Turkey has agreed to send 33 million pounds of eggs through the month of July.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness .

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