Minnesota turkey industry urges state support as avian diseases spread year-round

Members of Minnesota’s turkey industry and the state veterinarian told the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee on the day’s first panel that avian disease response requires steadier funding and federal cooperation as outbreaks continue year-round.

The testimony underscored two viruses. Minnesota leads the nation in turkey production, and industry representatives said highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) remains a continuing threat while avian metapneumovirus, a contagious respiratory disease that is not classified as a foreign animal disease, arrived in Minnesota in spring 2024 and has caused substantial losses.

“The pile of mortality at the end of the barn is one that our farm hadn’t seen before,” said Erica Swatsky, a sixth-generation turkey farmer from Kensington and a board director on the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. Swatsky described a November 2023 HPAI event on her farm in which her flock was depopulated and crews built compost piles, and she said her subsequent restocked flock later tested positive for avian metapneumovirus. “A silent barn is not only sad, but it’s truly very eerie.”

Why it matters: Committee members and industry representatives said the Board of Animal Health and the Minnesota…