Rollins announces administration’s HPAI plan... The Trump administration is investing up to $1 billion in new funding to combat impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and soaring egg prices.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in the Wall Street Journal said, “There’s no silver bullet to eradicating avian flu.” She laid out a five-point plan to address the situation.
- Dedicate up to $500 million to helping U.S. poultry producers implement gold-standard biosecurity measures. USDA has developed a successful pilot program, called Wildlife Biosecurity Assessments, to identify and implement more safety measures. USDA will pay up to 75% of the cost to address any identified biosecurity vulnerabilities at poultry farms.
- Make up to $400 million of increased financial relief available to farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu, and we will assist them in receiving faster approval to begin safe operations again after an outbreak.
- USDA is exploring the use of vaccines and therapeutics for laying chickens. While vaccines aren’t a stand-alone solution, we will provide up to $100 million in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics, to improve their efficacy and efficiency. This should help reduce the need to “depopulate” flocks, which means killing chickens on a farm where there’s an outbreak. Note: USDA hasn’t yet authorized the use of a vaccine. Before making a determination, USDA will consult state leaders, poultry and dairy farmers, and public-health professionals. The agency will also work with trading partners to minimize potential negative trade effects for U.S. producers and to assess public-health concerns.
- USDA will take other actions to lower the price of eggs. For starters, it will remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on egg producers where possible. This will include examining the best way to protect farmers from overly prescriptive state laws, such as California’s Proposition 12, which established minimum space requirements for egg-laying hens.
- USDA will consider temporary import options to reduce egg costs in the short term. We will proceed with imports only if the eggs meet stringent U.S. safety standards and if we determine that doing so won’t jeopardize American farmers’ access to markets in the future.
Senate Ag Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) said, “Producers and consumers alike have experienced the economic burden of this outbreak since 2022. I applaud Secretary Rollins and the Trump administration for prioritizing a strategy to combat this evolving threat. I look forward to working with USDA to ensure all poultry and livestock producers’ unique challenges are taken into consideration and they have the tools they need to address animal disease risks.”