Avian flu discovered on turkey farms in Arkansas

Mar 12, 2015

A turkey farm in Boone County, Arkansas that houses around 40,000 turkeys has been confirmed as having the H5N2 strand of avian flu.

As a result, the farm has been quarantined.

“This is the reason the commission exists,” Bruce Holland, executive director of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “I think we’ve had a good, swift response and we hope there aren’t any outbreaks in the rest of the state.”

Surviving turkeys will be euthanized to prevent them entering the food system.

Some of the turkeys from this farm were supplied to poultry giant Butterball, whose turkeys are a mainstay in grocery stores around holidays throughout the year.

Current data from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) shows Arkansas produced approximately 29 million turkeys in 2014, second behind Minnesota’s 45 million.

There could be economical impact as a result.

Since January, China hasn’t accepted any poultry imports from the United States and Mexico, the top importer of US poultry products expanded bans to other states affected by the avian flu. Arkansas alone is responsible for about 3.5 billion metric tons of poultry, valued at about $4.6 billion globally.

The confirmation of the bird flu in Arkansas comes just days after the Missouri Department of Agriculture reported a similar finding at two farms who also supply Butterball with some turkeys.

In 2013, Missouri produced about 17 million turkeys.

Do you have turkeys on your farm? Join the conversation and tell us what measures you’re taking to make sure your birds don’t contract avian flu.

Turkeys

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.