“Ohio farmers were hit hard by the spread of bird flu. … There’s no part of America that’s been more ravaged by the avian bird flu than where we stand now,” Rollins said of Darke and Mercer counties.
Tim Weaver of Weaver Eggs Inc. — a third-generation family farm in Versailles where the family’s fourth generation is now working — said one of his farms, the Dew Fresh egg farm, lost 1.3 million laying hens in January to HPAI.
“We have the most stringent biosecurity you can get and we still got hit at one of our farms,” Weaver said. “And that’s why we need vaccinations (for chicks).”
Credit: Jen Balduf
Credit: Jen Balduf
He said for the past 10 years that Weaver Eggs has maintained strict sanitation. All trucks are washed on arrival and again before leaving the farm. There are dedicated trucks that only work on a particular farm. Also, workers must shower and change clothes on arrival and do the same when they leave.
“Even when following biosecurity practices it is a tough disease to stop,” Caden Buschur, agriculture and natural resources educator for Ohio State University Extension’s Darke County office said previously. “Wild birds are thought to be a big contributor to the spread of the disease.”
Bird flu cases are trending down, but it is typical for cases to ebb and flow based on wild bird movement, according to the USDA.
The most recent case reported in the state was April 14 in Darke County that affected more than 293,000 layers. However, before that the last cases involving laying birds were toward the end of February in Darke and Mercer counties, and two incidents in early March involving about 30,000 turkeys combined in Mercer County, records show.
“HPAI has been devastating for poultry farmers in western Ohio, so I appreciate that Secretary Rollins came here personally to speak with local farmers and hear what they’ve been going through,” DeWine said. “The visit was very positive and productive.”
Ohio is the second-largest egg producing state, behind Iowa. According to the USDA’s Chickens and Eggs 2024 Summary, Ohio had 40.6 million layers and produced more than 12.3 billion eggs.
The state is 10th in turkey production with 6.1 million annually, the ODA reported.
In the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, the most recent available, Ohio had more than 20 million broilers and other meat-type chickens. A 2024 survey in December listed the number of pullets — hens less than a year old — at around 13.3 million.
Rollins said for almost two years there have been bird flu cases affecting egg producers across the nation, with little done by the previous administration to address the outbreaks and rising egg prices.
In February, she announced a five-point plan to help combat the avian flu, protect the U.S. poultry industry and lower egg prices. Since then, she said wholesale egg prices have dropped by 56%.
Her plan included funding for biosecurity measures, financial relief for affected farmers, vaccine research and temporary import options.
DeWine and Rollins also visited a Darke County dairy farm to watch a demonstration of a farming practice that is under consideration to become an H2Ohio best practice. Ryan Schmitmeyer’s farm uses advanced equipment to manage on-farm manure and reduce the risk of nutrient runoff from his fields. The equipment, called 360 Rain, is a self-driving irrigation system designed to apply manure directly to the roots of a growing crop, according to the governor’s office.
H2Ohio is DeWine’s statewide clean water initiative, which is working to reduce nutrient runoff from farm fields to protect and preserve Ohio’s lakes and waterways.
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