ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — If it seems that poultry has not been making headlines lately, it’s probably a good thing.
After about four years of fighting back against disease, producers on the roughly 600 turkey farms in Minnesota are feeling relief under the currently quiet part of the season. That’s after getting through another spring migration period, a time when diseases like highly pathogenic avian influenza often spread rapidly as flocks of waterfowl make their way back through the upper Midwest from the south.
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Minnesota, the No. 1 turkey producer in the country, last had a report of avian influenza on May 20 in a commercial turkey flock. There were no reports of the disease in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa or Wisconsin in the month of June in either commercial or backyard flocks, according to USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Across the entire United States, the only active cases in the first week of July added up to just about 30,000 poultry, with the biggest outbreak affecting a 19,000-bird commercial poultry operation in Indiana on June 8. Indiana is where the first commercial poultry outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza took place more than four years ago
While it may look like producers could let down their guard under the summer sun, they know better. At the recent Minnesota Turkey Growers Summer Summit in Alexandria, vendors continue to push the latest technologies like lasers that can scare wild birds off. Producers continue to talk about added windbreaks around their farms that can help limit the spread of airborne disease. And the desire to implement vaccines is being pushed more aggressively than ever. The group was also abuzz over research that shows how diseases could be confirmed in wastewater, even before the birds start to show any symptoms.
Even a section of the main meeting area was set up with University of Minnesota researchers promoting their potential work into turkeys that could lead to the next big advancement in poultry biosecurity. Turkey growers had the opportunity to hear directly from the students and vote on the research project that they wanted to see receive some of the turkey growers' research dollars.
The University of Minnesota’s research has been on the forefront of efforts to respond to ongoing and emerging avian flu outbreaks. For example, as part of its disease surveillance and research efforts in response to the avian flu outbreak, the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has conducted more than 100,000 tests since July 2023 for the disease. The laboratory’s all-animal species facility in St. Paul and Minnesota poultry testing facility in Willmar play an integral role in diagnosing avian flu in animals, contributing to ongoing research into the disease, and conducting disease surveillance across production, companion and wild animals.
Leslee Oden, president and CEO of the National Turkey Federation, was on hand to see and hear about the research projects and was encouraged by the work that’s ongoing in the industry. She said locally, nationally and worldwide, there remains a need for research into protecting the flock.
“It’s been a really challenging time for the U.S. turkey industry and specifically here in Minnesota,” Oden said. “But you know, with those challenges we’ve also been able to overcome and really learn from the lessons of what we’ve had to experience.”
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The challenges have brought new technologies and research that continue to help growers protect and grow their birds. The combination of options that turkey growers are able to use is leading to a different picture and a chance for the industry to change the focus from being reactive to being proactive.
Oden said even as advancements are in place, producers still need to keep adding to their toolkit to protect their poultry.
“We need more tools. We need more advancement in the research side of this ever-changing virus with high-path influenza and avian metapneumovirus,” Oden said.
Some producers have seen success with lasers that can scare off other birds that may otherwise spread disease from the premises. Minnesota Turkey Growers Association president Jake Vlaminck said vaccines can play an important role. But Oden said the vaccine brings with it a trade impact. She said the push locally and federally is to be able to use those vaccines without impacting trade with the world. Important trade partners like the European Union have strict rules around banning the import of vaccinated poultry over fears that the vaccine may mask detection of the disease in those birds.
“The rest of the world is already looking at vaccination,” Oden said.
It’s a conversation that Oden said needs federal attention. Without the vaccine, attention needs to remain on research. According to Oden, agricultural funding that dealt with animal disease was included in the federal reconciliation bill for the first time last fall. She was greatly encouraged by that. She wants to see state and federal partners continue to prioritize animal health as a key to food security.
“Unfortunately, HPAI is a global threat, and we’re continuing to see it around the world, and we’re going to continue to see it here in the U.S., and so that’s why we’ve got to make sure we have those tools to be able to do it,” Oden said.
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Australia was the latest country to confirm HPAI for the first time on June 20 after managing to avoid cases for more than four years.
In the U.S., in order to declare a state free of HPAI, it must remain free of highly pathogenic avian influenza for 28 days after the completion of cleaning and disinfection on the last affected farm. After this minimum 28-day period, the state can regain its official disease-free status, provided that ongoing surveillance confirms the absence of the virus, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.
“It’s like popcorn. All of a sudden something pops somewhere, and you’re like, ‘What affected that? What caused that?’” Vlaminck said.
Even if the region goes a few months without a case, the next major bird movement can erase that. Or the source could be unknown.
“As we’ve seen, it can happen just about any time of the year,” said Vlaminck, who grows turkeys in Kandiyohi County.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever not think about and talk about high-path avian influenza,” said Ashley Kohls, executive director of Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, during the summer gathering. But now these industry leaders are speaking out more boldly for vaccination.
“We cannot vaccinate right now (for HPAI), but there is more acceptance for it now than there has been,” Kohls said.
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Where vaccines have been able to come in and make a difference is against the avian metapneumovirus. That virus causes swollen sinuses, causing the birds to struggle to breathe. It does not usually kill the bird, but it does weaken the immune system enough for secondary infection to kill them. Vlaminck said that USDA approvals, back in January 2025, allowed them to import and start using a European vaccine against that virus, which can be sprayed in the turkey barns as an aerosol so the birds take it in through their nose and eyes. It’s shown itself as an effective tool.
And while that vaccine is imported from overseas, South Dakota State University researchers have developed their own vaccine to fight the disease, too. It's currently going through steps for commercialization as the first fully American-made aMPV vaccines.
In an informal talk, the Minnesota growers gathered privately to discuss what methods are working for them. This time was not open to members of the media in order to allow the growers to feel free to talk openly about what is or is not working for them and for others not to be afraid to ask questions to find the answers that can help their flocks thrive.
Despite the threat of illnesses remaining over the heads of poultry producers across the country, the industry, government and animal health organizations maintain that the disease is of low risk to humans, as the disease does not spread easily from birds to humans. There is currently no known, sustained spread from person to person, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
While the illnesses may never be eradicated, the groups will take these quieter times and are working to get turkey back in the headlines for other reasons — such as its ability to perform ounce for ounce as a top protein for consumers to enjoy year-round.