The effects of avian flu on a Saskatchewan broiler breeder operation are not yet over, says the owner, even though he has birds in his barns again.
James Glen said Feb. 7 that normal operational cycles have resumed at Pedigree Poultry with about 20,000 birds having been placed so far.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Feb. 4 that it had lifted the quarantine measures put in place last September after the discovery of the highly pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza virus at the Regina Beach operation.
About 50,000 birds were destroyed and a lengthy cleaning and disinfection process took place.
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Glen said clean-up operations cost between $200,000 and $250,000.
The CFIA compensates producers for the market value of the birds at the time they were destroyed. It also pays for disposal costs but it does not pay for the loss of production and income or cleaning and disinfection.The industry stepped in to help pay some of costs.
Glen said last week that the compensation CFIA is offering for replacement is not enough.
“They have a fantastic notion of what the birds are worth,” Glen said. “This thing is far from over.”
CFIA spokesperson George Luterbach said compensation levels are determined by a formula, which calculates the value of birds at the different stages of growth.
Pedigree Poultry would have housed birds of different ages as they moved in and out of producing eggs for broiler barns and was able to supply a product year-round.
“You’re going to have to start over with something younger than what you removed,” Luterbach said.
Younger birds require greater input costs to bring them into egg production. Then, the eggs become output that start to bring a return.
According to federal regulations, the maximum compensation available is $24 per bird. Luterbach couldn’t say how much the agency had offered Glen for his birds.
“Compensation is in progress,” he said.
