Outbreak Continued from Page 1
to practice strict biosecurity. That includes not allowing people onto the pasture and changing her boots and clothes whenever she goes out there. She said she recognizes her farm re- mains susceptible to AI, as infected birds could land on the farm’s chicken coop or eat from her birds’ feeder, passing the disease to her flock. “I just stay vigilant as much as possible,” Holbrook said. Jones said most of the farms impacted by the current outbreak have been “very bios- ecure.” Still, the disease has been “popping up like popcorn around the state.” With California’s last confirmed AI finding as recent as Dec. 28 in Marin and Sonoma counties, the state remains focused on controlling spread and eliminating the virus, she said. State epidemiologists will work to better understand the outbreak in the coming months. It remains unclear if the virus itself has become more virulent, if it is more prevalent in the environment or if there were breaks in farm biosecurity. “We hope to find the answer with more study,” Jones said. “But sometimes we nev- er get the answer to that important ques- tion: Was it bad luck or is there something that can be fixed to prevent future intro- ductions of virus?” Weber of Sunrise Farms expressed frus- tration that even though a new vaccine for AI is available, poultry producers do not have access to it. The vaccine is being used in a trial on the California condor to pro- tect the endangered bird. Weber said his
farm already vaccinates its birds for other diseases and that vaccinating for AI would be “a better solution than trying to fight an invisible wildfire.” Jones said use of the AI vaccine, which is regulated by USDA, remains “complicat- ed,” though there are “very active national discussions on the topic, and influenza control experts continue to look at indi- cations for use.” Mattos of the poultry fed- eration noted most countries ban poultry vaccinated for AI. Maurice Pitesky, a poultry specialist and expert in highly pathogenic avian influ- enza at the University of California, Davis, said vaccines are likely part of the solution, but they’re not a panacea. He said not al- lowing the AI vaccine for poultry appears to be more of a political decision than one based on science. “This is an example of where the science is ahead of the policy and economics,” he said. With millions of waterfowl arriving in California each fall during migration season, Pitesky said it’s clear poultry farmers need to do more than what they’ve done for years. He said biosecu- rity methods alone—including fencing, foot baths, vehicle washes and employ- ee training—have not been sufficient to keep out AI. “The reality is, if you have high water- fowl abundance around your farm and there’s AI in those waterfowl, there’s just no way that that physical operational bar- rier is good enough to prevent exposure
and infection,” he said. “We need to think outside the barn.” Pitesky is trying to get more farmers to also use prediction tools such as the Waterfowl Alert Network, a software subscription service that gives daily notifications to producers when wa- terfowl are close to their farms. Having this information, he said, would allow farmers to be more strategic about their biosecurity. He compared the tool to weather fore- casting that tells farmers when a storm is coming. If farmers know where high num- bers of waterfowl are roosting, for example, they could deploy water cannons or blast- ers or change the habitat around the farm to push birds away. Mattos said the poultry federation has helped Pitesky apply for a USDA grant that would allow the tool to be offered to producers on a pilot basis. Pitesky said his hope is for these types of technologies to be subsidized com- pletely by the government to encourage producers and other stakeholders to start using them. “We’re dealing with an existential issue for the commercial poultry industry, not just in the U.S. but globally,” Pitesky said. “(Poultry) is our primary source of animal protein, and we’re losing millions of birds a year if we keep on continuing down the same path.” (Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com.)
continue for months. But with produc- tion at a standstill, he acknowledged the farm may need to lay off some of its workforce, even though “we’re trying our best not to do that.” He said it remains unclear how the farm contracted the virus, noting “we’ve done everything we can” to keep it out. Avian influenza is introduced primarily by wild birds such as waterfowl and shore- birds, which can carry the virus but not ap- pear sick. Infected birds shed the virus into the environment through their feces and secretions. Domestic poultry can catch AI directly from infected birds or indirectly through contaminated water, feed, cloth- ing and equipment. First identified in Europe in 2020, the H5N1 strain of the virus has circled the globe with outbreaks in 67 countries on five continents. In the U.S., the disease ripped through some of the largest poul- try farms in the Midwest and East Coast, sending egg prices to record levels in 2022 and early 2023. To protect commercial flocks, State Veterinarian Annette Jones has asked producers to keep their poultry indoors through June, including certified organic layers and meat birds that are required by law to have outdoor access. Sonoma County egg farmer Tiffany Holbrook, whose birds are raised on pasture, said she will not be moving her chickens indoors, though she continues
CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
For the week of Thursday, December 28, 2023 - Wednesday, January 3, 2024 ETO (INCHES/WEEK) THIS YEAR YEAR 3.0
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (70)
FRESNO (80)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
0.12 0.14 0.22 -46
0.15 0.13 0.32 -52
0.20 0.21 0.25 -22
0.20 0.14 0.21 -10
0.23 0.18 0.22 -5
0.42 0.23 0.42 -1
0.26 0.18 0.28 -1
0.29 0.23 0.28 8
0.48 0.56 0.46 3
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
January 10, 2024 Ag Alert 13
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