Turkey processor Jennie-O, owned by Hormel Foods, said it will lay off 233 workers at its plant in Faribault, 50 miles south of Minneapolis, because bird flu has reduced the number of turkeys available for slaughter, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Avian influenza has hit 80 poultry farms in Minnesota, with losses of more than 3.8 million turkeys. More than half of the 76 turkey farms with an outbreak appear to be Jennie-O suppliers, says the Star-Tribune. The layoffs in Faribault will take effect on May 26. The company said, “We do not have an anticipated return-to-work date at this time.”
The epidemic “could be felt at Thanksgiving tables across the nation come November,” says Reuters, based on the views of growers and trade groups. “[F]armers say they may be running out of time to raise enough turkeys,” given losses so far, the two or three months needed to bring an infected farm back into production and the usual four-month period needed to rear a turkey to full growth. “We’re going to have fewer turkeys coming out because of this,” the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association told Reuters. Minnesota usually produces 20 percent of the 240 million turkeys grown annually in the United States. The U.S. stockpile of frozen turkeys could buffer the loss of turkeys this spring.
An egg farm with 1.1 million hens in southern Minnesota was struck by avian influenza – the largest single incident in the state, according to the Star-Tribune. It was the third egg operation in Minnesota to suffer an outbreak. Minnesota and Iowa have been hit the hardest by avian influenza.
The USDA says 114 outbreaks of avian influenza have been confirmed since Dec. 19, and that 21.6 million domestic fowl, mostly chickens and turkeys, have died of the diseases or were destroyed to prevent the virus from spreading.