Amid rising egg prices, USDA will invest $1 billion to combat the avian flu through a multi-pronged approach but won't authorize a vaccine at this time.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the Trump administration’s plan for tackling the avian flu in front of state agriculture leaders at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Winter Policy Conference in Washington Wednesday morning.
“There’s no silver bullet to eradicating avian flu,” Rollins said, announcing a "five-pronged strategy.”
Later at the White House, Rollins told reporters that egg prices should be lower by the summer. She cautioned that prices would likely continue to increase into April, "which is actually normal because so many eggs are used around Easter."
USDA’s Economic Research Service is forecasting that egg prices will increase by 41.1% this year.
One part of this strategy will include getting feedback and developing pathways for a vaccine, but Rollins said the administration has not authorized the use of a vaccine at this time. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed posted shortly before her remarks, Rollins said $100 million will be dedicated to research and development for the vaccine, which should reduce the need to depopulate flocks.
Some industry groups have raised concerns about the potential impact of vaccines on trade in broiler chickens.
Before authorizing a vaccine, Rollins said the department would solicit feedback from states, public health professionals and producers while also working with trading partners to ensure minimal impact.
State agriculture department leaders will debate using vaccines to fight bird flu today as the delegation votes on a policy amendment urging USDA to use “science-based vaccination use strategies” to combat bird flu in poultry and dairy cattle. The language approved by NASDA’s Animal Agriculture Committee Tuesday supports making a vaccine available for poultry, dairy cattle and other livestock industries in states affected by the outbreak.
To directly address the price of eggs, which has increased 53% since January 2024, Rollins said USDA will remove regulatory burdens on producers where possible. In the WSJ op-ed, she cited California’s Proposition 12 as an example of such regulations. Congress has been considering legislation that would bar states from imposing requirements on commodities grown in other states.
She said the administration will also consider temporarily increasing egg imports while reducing exports to “keep eggs here in America.” She didn’t name specific countries but said the administration is already in discussions with several partners where the U.S. can safety import eggs in the short term.
In addition to these efforts, Rollins said $500 million will go toward implementing “gold-standard” biosecurity measures at U.S. poultry productions. USDA will provide free audits and wildlife biosecurity assessments, a continuation of a pilot program that has been successfully tested on 150 U.S. poultry farms.
The pilot program showed that participating farms did not see an outbreak after implementing the security measures, Rollins said.
USDA will also pay up to 75% of the cost to address any identified biosecurity vulnerabilities at poultry farms.
USDA committed to making $400 million available to increase indemnity rates to better reflect market values. Rollins also committed to working to achieve a faster approval timeline for payments.
Rollins said the administration is “confident” this strategy could stabilize the market in the next three to six months. More importantly, she said this work will help the country overcome HPAI for years to come.
“All of this work to repair and restore American agriculture is necessary, but it isn’t enough,” Rollins said. “We cannot simply fix the immediate issues.”
Concluding her address, Rollins noted the need to craft an agenda serving small towns and rural America.
“It also means that the great movement helmed by Secretary Bobby Kennedy, my friend, to Make America Healthy Again, can exist in synthesis with, rather than in tension with, American agriculture,” Rollins said. “I also know full well that it means standing up for farmers and ranchers in those discussions when necessary.”
At the White House, Rollins assured reporters that USDA had the staffing it needs despite a round of buyouts, as well as mass firings of probationary employees. USDA has already acted to rehire some of the terminated employees who work on bird flu issues.
The department still has "a lot of employees that we will now recalibrate and redeploy to supporting our ag industry," Rollins said.
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