Dear Neighbor,
House finance bills are in the final stages of the committee process and soon will be ready for votes of the full body so we can establish a new two-year state budget. Look for more on those soon but, until then, I would like to pass along an update regarding avian influenza.
This has been a big issue all across our state, including Stearns and Pope counties. The House passed $900,000 in emergency funding Thursday. This would help get us started, but more funding may be necessary and we will continue to work on this issue. One difficult aspect of this is we are dealing with a moving target since the total costs from this infection are still unknown and more flocks could be hit. I will provide additional information as further legislative action develops.
We also conducted a joint meeting of the House ag. finance and ag. policy committees this week to discuss the situation and to hear from experts. Among those on hand to testify were the chief USDA vet, officials from the DNR, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health and the University of Minnesota, the commissioner of the Agriculture Department, a representative from the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association and a turkey producer from Northfield.
All of those people provided different perspectives and insight. Lou Cornicelli, a wildlife research manager from the DNR said they have tracked and tested wild birds and have not turned up a single positive test. This raises the important question of how avian influenza is spreading. The virus does not seem to be spreading from barn to barn, so how is it getting into them?
Dave Olson of the Minnesota Turkey Growers said the anxiety over receiving more bad news about an infected site is like living under a 24-hour-a-day tornado warning.
I am really impressed with the cooperation of federal, state and local officials on this issues. Minnesota has a good system and preparation efforts have been going on for years to help mitigate the damage from severe situations like this. Avian influenza does not do well in warm weather, so let's hope summer comes early this year to help stifle this outbreak. But we are warned that things could pick up again when cool fall weather arrives.
I would like to thank Gov. Mark Dayton for allowing heavier trucks to be used in servicing all turkey farms. I also thank fellow members of the Legislature for recognizing the seriousness of this problem and for making action in this area a priority.
Click here for a clip of me speaking more about avian influenza and also providing an update on the governor's buffer-strip proposal.
Sincerely,
Paul