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<\/a><\/p>\nBrooke Rollins.\u00a0 (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n WASHINGTON D.C.\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Donald Trump administration agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins on February 26,\u00a0 2025 told media that she has directed the USDA to spend $1 billion more to try to lower egg prices by fighting the H5N1 avian flu.<\/p>\n This will be in addition to the $2 billion that the USDA has already spent fighting H5N1 since 2022,\u00a0 $1.2 billion of which was paid to agribusiness in compensation for poultry killed in thus far futile efforts to try to \u201cstamp out\u201d the disease.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Among the keen listeners to Rollins\u2019 speech was CoBank analyst Brian Earnest.<\/p>\n CoBank, \u00a0a part of the U.S. Farm Credit System, \u00a0helps to fund agribusiness.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see a whole lot here that is a big change here from the current plan of action,\u201d\u00a0 Earnest earnestly told Josh Boak of Associated Press.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main reason egg prices have climbed,\u00a0 hitting an all-time average high of $4.95 per dozen this month,\u201d\u00a0 Boak summarized,\u00a0 \u201cis that more than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to limit the virus\u2019 spread when cases are found. \u00a0Most were egg-laying chickens. \u00a0Just since the start of the year, \u00a0more than 30 million egg layers have been killed.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe USDA now predicts the cost of eggs will go up 41.1% this year,\u201d\u00a0 Boak added.\u00a0 \u201cJust last month, \u00a0the increase was predicted to be 20%.\u201d<\/p>\n The Brooke Rollins plan,\u00a0 Boak detailed, \u00a0\u201ccalls for $500 million investment to help farmers bolster biosecurity measures.\u201d<\/p>\n This largely translates into doing even more than factory farms do already to ensure that densely housed poultry never get so much as a whiff of fresh air from outdoors.<\/p>\n Rollins also pledged $400 million \u201cin additional aid for farmers whose flocks have been impacted by avian flu,\u201d\u00a0 Boak said,\u00a0 a pledge translating into more compensation payments to agribusiness.<\/p>\n Brooke Rollins.<\/strong><\/em> Finally,\u00a0 Rollins promised to spend \u201c$100 million to research and potentially develop vaccines and therapeutics for U.S. chicken flocks and explore rolling back what the administration sees as restrictive animal welfare rules in some states,\u201d\u00a0 Boak paraphrased, \u00a0\u201clike California\u2019s cage-free requirement approved by voters.\u201d<\/p>\n How any of this might actually lower egg prices within a year or more,\u00a0 even in the unlikely prospect that H5N1 is stopped following the present USDA strategy,\u00a0 is unclear.<\/p>\n Explained Oklahoma State University dean of agricultural programs to John Towfighi of CNN,\u00a0 \u201cEgg production is a biological process. \u00a0These are live animals who are bred and have breeding stock. \u00a0And so, there is certainly a time component in adding back capacity to our national egg laying flock.\u00a0 That biological lag means there\u2019s some limits in terms of how fast we can respond.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rollins\u2019 media conference came just eight days after Allan Smith, \u00a0Melanie Zanona and Laura Strickler of NBC News disclosed that the USDA \u201caccidentally\u201d fired \u201cseveral\u201d key personnel who were \u201cworking on the federal government\u2019s response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n Reported Smith,\u00a0 Zanona,\u00a0 and Strickler,\u00a0 \u201cThe USDA said it is now trying to quickly reverse the firings.\u201d<\/p>\n Said an unidentified USDA spokesperson in a prepared statement.\u00a0 \u201cAlthough several positions supporting [bird flu efforts] were notified of their terminations, \u00a0we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters. \u00a0USDA\u2019s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, \u00a0and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rollins told Boak,\u00a0 he wrote,\u00a0 that despite those firings,\u00a0 and others that have \u201ccut the USDA off at the knees,\u201d\u00a0 some ex-staff told Investigate Midwest<\/em>,\u00a0 \u201cShe believes the USDA has enough staff to respond to bird flu even after all the cuts to the federal workforce at the direction of Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n Said Rollins,\u00a0 \u201cWill we have the resources needed to address the plan I just laid out? \u00a0We are convinced that we will,\u00a0 as we realign and evaluate where USDA has been spending money, \u00a0where our employees are spending their time.\u201d<\/p>\n This hinted that Rollins may transfer most,\u00a0 some,\u00a0 or perhaps all of the fewer than 60 USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service personnel assigned to enforcing the federal Animal Welfare Act.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n This includes the Animal Welfare Act amendments that prohibit cockfighting and transporting cockfighting paraphernalia across interstate lines.<\/p>\n That transporting gamefowl is a major vector for spreading H5N1 has been recognized by epidemiologists since a 2004 outbreak killed at least 32 people in Thailand,\u00a0 Vietnam,\u00a0 and Cambodia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe takeaway, \u00a0in my opinion,\u201d\u00a0 Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle told ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong>,\u00a0 \u201cis that Rollins is caving into the National Chicken Council,\u00a0 bending the knee to demands of the broiler bird industry and its overstated fears of disruption in its $7 billion dark meat chicken exports,\u00a0 in not pursuing a vaccination strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n China reportedly may refuse U.S. exports of chicken feet if the birds have been vaccinated.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pacelle in a prepared response to Rollins charged that \u201cBrooke Rollins\u2019 so-called \u2018comprehensive strategy to combat bird flu\u2019 is as hollow as an empty eggshell.\u201d<\/p>\n Specifically,\u00a0 Pacelle explained,\u00a0 \u201cRollins says the agency is \u2018exploring the use of vaccines and therapeutics\u2019 for laying hens but is not approving a vaccine for use in avian agriculture,\u201d\u00a0 even though vaccines against H5N1 are already approved and in use in many other nations.<\/p>\n \u201cIn short,\u201d\u00a0 said Pacelle, \u00a0\u201cit appears that Rollins is doubling down on the agency\u2019s \u2018stamp out\u2019 strategy that has allowed the H5N1 virus to continue its march to all 50 states over three years, resulted in a depopulation calamity in the egg industry, \u00a0and the start of viral spread to humans.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pointed out former USDA researcher and infectious disease expert Jim Keen,\u00a0 DVM,\u00a0 now director of veterinary science for the Center for a Humane Economy,\u00a0 \u201cMexico has had a fraction of the outbreaks of the United States even though American producers have heavily invested in biosecurity and are already superior to the Mexicans in that regard.\u00a0 It is clear that vaccination in Mexico and France is working, \u00a0and it is astonishing to me that Secretary Rollins is talking about \u2018exploration of a vaccine and therapeutics\u2019 when what\u2019s needed is on-the-ground implementation of vaccination.<\/p>\n \u201cReputable U.S.- and European-made veterinary vaccines against H5N1 are ready and she can approve them immediately,\u201d\u00a0 Keen said.<\/p>\n Sandhill cranes.<\/strong><\/em> Even as Rollins spoke,\u00a0 reported Jackie Roman for NJ Advance Media<\/em>,\u00a0 \u201cA case of bird flu was discovered at a live bird market in Union County, \u00a0the New Jersey Department of Agriculture announced, \u00a0marking the first positive bird flu case among domestic poultry in New Jersey since 2023,\u201d\u00a0 hinting that similar outbreaks may soon follow at live bird markets throughout the U.S.<\/p>\n Wild migratory waterfowl continue to shed the H5N1 virus along the major flyways following the U.S. coasts and the Missisippi and Missouri river systems.<\/p>\n According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources,\u00a0 \u201cnearly 1,500 sandhill cranes have died in Indiana so far in Green County, \u00a0Union County, \u00a0Jasper County, \u00a0La Porte County, and Starke County from bird flu,\u201d\u00a0 reported Cicily Porter of WSBT television in South Bend.<\/p>\n Sandhill cranes are just one relatively rare migratory bird species;\u00a0 Indiana is just one of the 50 states,\u00a0 all of which have now reported H5N1 outbreaks.<\/p>\n Cat stalks sandhill crane from the safe side of a window.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The American Veterinary Medical Association on February 25,\u00a0 2025 warned that,\u00a0 \u201cSince the U.S. outbreak of avian influenza H5N1 in dairy cattle began in March 2024, \u00a0dozens of cats are known to have contracted the virus,\u00a0 including barn and feral cats, \u00a0indoor cats, \u00a0and big cats in zoos and in the wild,\u00a0 e.g., mountain lions, \u00a0tigers, \u00a0leopards, and bobcats.<\/p>\n \u201cCats were already known to be susceptible to the H5N1 virus,\u201d\u00a0 the AVMA mentioned \u00a0\u201cwith several feline cases linked to poultry or wild bird exposure before the outbreak in cattle began.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether infected cats can infect other cats is currently unclear,\u201d\u00a0 the AVMA acknowledged.\u00a0 \u201cHowever, \u00a0that possibility cannot be dismissed.<\/p>\n \u201cRecent investigations implicate food as a source of infection for cats,\u201d\u00a0 the AVMA said,\u00a0 \u201cmost often unpasteurized milk and raw or undercooked meat (e.g., poultry).\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Amid the growing nationwide concern about H5N1, \u00a0the price of eggs,\u00a0 and even the potential H5N1 threat to cats,\u00a0 agriculture secretary Rollins,\u00a0 a Republican from Texas,\u00a0 conspicuously said nothing at all about the cockfighting vector.<\/p>\n In neighboring Oklahoma,\u00a0 meanwhile,\u00a0 Republican cosponsors pushed state senate bill SB 1111,\u00a0 to decriminalize cockfighting, \u00a0to a public safety committee hearing scheduled for March 4,\u00a0 2025.<\/p>\n Oklahoma voters made cockfighting a felony in 2002,\u00a0 reminded Animal Wellness Action representative Kevin Chambers in an email to ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong>,\u00a0 but \u00a0\u201cThis bill would decriminalize cockfighting to a misdemeanor on the first two convictions and removes some existing language that would make it even harder to prosecute people than it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite lack of recent vigorous action against cockfighting from the federal level,\u00a0 the association of cockfighting with H5N1 has apparently encouraged some state and local agencies to bust cockfights within their jurisdictions.<\/p>\n In Kansas,\u00a0 the Sumner County Sheriff\u2019s Office on January 25,\u00a0 2025 impounded more than 400 alleged gamefowl from a property in Mulvane, \u00a0near Wichita.<\/p>\n Then on Valentine\u2019s Day,\u00a0 February 14, \u00a02025,\u00a0 sheriff\u2019s deputies in Thurston County,\u00a0 Washington,\u00a0 impounded \u201cmore than 500 roosters being raised for cockfighting\u201d from a location near Yelm,\u00a0 KOMO News of Seattle reported.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to the roosters,\u201d\u00a0 according to KOMO,\u00a0 \u201cnumerous neglected livestock such as horses, cows and goats were also found on the property.<\/p>\nAg secretary Brooke Rollins continues to stall vaccination,\u00a0 & hopes to undo state-level cage-free laws,\u00a0 which have little or nothing to do with the price of eggs<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI don\u2019t see a whole lot here\u201d says agribiz banker<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cPrice of eggs will go up 41.1% this year\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Wikimedia photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nRollins needs a biology lesson<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nUSDA \u201caccidentally\u201d fired H5N1 response team<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWill Animal Welfare Act enforcement staff be reassigned?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cBending knee to demands of the broiler bird industry\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHollow as an empty eggshell\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMexico & France<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton photo\/ collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nH5N1 found in live market & hits sandhill cranes<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAVMA warns H5N1 can hit cats<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0Oklahoma Republicans push to decriminalize cockfighting<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBig cockfighting busts in Kansas & Washington<\/h2>\n