Vermont agency outlines farm-level testing plan for HPAI in dairy; USDA approves cooperative agreement

Vermont agriculture officials told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry on the record that they have a USDA-approved, farm-level testing program to detect the bovine strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and that initial results from a limited number of Vermont dairy farms have been negative.

The testing plan, developed jointly with processors and cooperative buyers, was approved by USDA under a cooperative agreement that will allow the state to take monthly samples on farms rather than sampling only at processing facilities. Eby Florie, director of food safety and consumer protection at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, said, "we were able to get our plan approved, by USDA." She said the agency began farm sampling at the start of the year and has onboarded temporary staff for the effort.

Why it matters: Vermont exports more than 80% of its milk, agency officials told lawmakers, and federal testing at pooled processing sites could require states to quickly trace any positive result back to implicated farms. Agency leaders said the farm-level approach speeds that tracing and gives state veterinarians the ability to move quickly if a positive is found.

Agency officials explained how the testing program works and why it targets lactating dairy cows. Dr. Kate Levine, assistant state veterinarian, told the committee that the federal order issued in 2024 requires testing for lactating dairy cattle before interstate movement because "milk is really the commodity that,…