Secretary Rollins Tours Egg Laying Facility, Hosts Avian Flu Roundtable in Texas

Feb 26, 2025

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins met with poultry farmers and industry leaders as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ongoing response to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Secretary Rollins toured a Cal-Maine Foods egg-laying facility in Bogata, Texas before traveling to Mount Pleasant, Texas, where she hosted a farmer roundtable focused on avian flu response efforts.

“It’s great to be back in Texas and see firsthand the incredible work farmers are doing to protect their flocks,” said Secretary Rollins. “The Biden administration failed to lead on avian flu, and families across America are paying the price. President Trump understands the importance of addressing this issue head on, and USDA is taking action to support farmers, strengthen supply chains, and bring egg prices down.”

During her visit to Cal-Maine Foods, Secretary Rollins saw firsthand how strong biosecurity measures are being implemented to combat outbreaks, support poultry farmers, and stabilize record-high egg prices.

Secretary Rollins then traveled to Mount Pleasant, Texas for a roundtable discussion with poultry farmers, veterinarians and industry leaders. The discussion focused on ongoing avian flu outbreaks, USDA’s response, and the need for proactive disease mitigation strategies.

Following today’s roundtable, Secretary Rollins sat down with local media to discuss USDA’s response to avian flu and what it means for the state of Texas.

Source : usda.gov

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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