Rose Acre Farms is growing its pullet farm located in Seymour, Indiana, with the addition of a fourth pullet house on the property.
Currently, three 50-by-500-foot pullet houses already exist at the 38-acre facility. The new house was approved to be 80-by-505-feet.
The extra house was approved at the most recent Jackson County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting. Additionally, the egg producer was approved to skip the town’s required standards of adding a 6-feet high and 3-feet wide tree and shrub barrier for a commercial facility for raising and breeding non-farm fowl and animals. According to Rose Acre Farms Environmental Affairs employee Wes Spray, who spoke on behalf of the producer at the meeting, these standards increase the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), as it provides wild birds a roosting area close to the pullet houses.
2022-24 impact of the virus in the U.S.
Wild birds and their migration patterns have heavily contributed to the spread of HPAI in the U.S.
According to University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Professor Dr. Carol Cardona, groups of birds are constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed during migration. Birds come together into groups for breeding before migrations begins. If the virus exists in one of those birds, multiple will have it after the breeding period is over.
Additionally, new viruses can be created when one host is infected with more than one type of the virus, which can make tracking the virus complicated.
HPAI has been present in the U.S. egg industry since February 2022 and has caused the depopulation of approximately 73.4 million layers over 57 flocks total, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Of the three years, HPAI had the largest impact on layer producers in 2022.
Over 43.4 million hens were depopulated in 2022, with March being the month with the most bird losses at 16.91 million over eight flocks. Following March 2022 were April at 10.7 million layers over 10 flocks, September at 4.9 million layers over two flocks and December at 3.9 million layers over four flocks.
