Herbruck's Poultry Ranch, one of the largest egg producers in the U.S., faced a devastating outbreak of avian flu, resulting in the culling of 6.5 million birds. CEO Greg Herbruck described the emotional toll on his team, who witnessed massive loss daily. Following standard procedures, they initiated the stamping-out strategy to manage the outbreak, which had been effective in previous crises. However, despite substantial investments in biosecurity measures, the outbreak has persisted, and the threat to human health has increased, prompting concerns about the broader implications of the ongoing crisis.
The mental toll on our team of dealing with that many dead chickens is just, I mean, you can't imagine it, Herbruck said.
In April 2024, as his first hens tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus, Herbruck turned to the tried-and-true U.S. Department of Agriculture playbook.
Since then, egg farms have had to invest millions of dollars into biosecurity.
But their efforts have not been enough to contain the outbreak that started three years ago.
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