The infection of a farm worker in Wisconsin with avian flu has been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Stephen Ausmus | Agricultural Research Service, USDA)

A Barron County farm worker has been confirmed to have been infected with avian influenza, the state health department reported Friday. The confirmation was made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

With the CDC analysis in hand, “the case will now be reported as a confirmed human case” of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced. It is the first reported case of the virus in a human in Wisconsin. 

The presumed infection was first reported Wednesday in a farm worker who was one of 19 people exposed to a poultry flock in Barron County where the avian flu virus was detected. The flock has been destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus. 

The individual has been treated with antiviral drugs and is recovering, according to DHS. 

Huntsinger Farms in Eau Claire has been around for nearly a century. At the end of harvest season, "Wisconsin Today" hears about this specialty crop.

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Bird flu was found in a Kenosha flock of chickens and ducks, which will be destroyed to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. (Photo by Stephen Ausmus | Animal Research Services, USDA)

A farm worker in Barron County has tested positive for avian influenza after being exposed to a poultry flock infected with the virus, Wisconsin health officials said Wednesday. The woman is the first person identified with the infection in Wisconsin.

At the other end of the state, a case of the highly contagious disease has turned up in a Kenosha County poultry flock, according to the state agriculture department. The flock has been isolated and will be destroyed.

The risk of illness for the general public remains low, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), while people working with infected animals or who might be otherwise exposed to them are at higher risk.

Also Wednesday, the federal government reported the first severe case of bird flu in a patient in Louisiana. That was believed to be associated with wild birds, not domestic poultry. 

The infected woman in Barron County was identified through a test at the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene. The diagnosis is pending confirmation at federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

She was exposed to the Barron County poultry flock where the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) identified an infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) last week. The flock was destroyed.

After the infected flock was identified, DHS and Barron County Health and Human Services began monitoring farm workers who may have been exposed to the birds, said Thomas Haupt, a DHS research scientist and epidemiologist, in an online news conference Wednesday.

The woman who tested positive was one of two people tested. 

“She had relatively mild symptoms but symptoms that would be consistent with influenza, including sore throat, slight fever, some fatigue, some eye discharge,” said Haupt. He said she was improving after being treated with an antiviral medication and was expected to make a full recovery.

Public health officials are monitoring another 17 people who were exposed.

State public health veterinarian Dr. Angie Maxted said when people are infected with a communicable disease, public health agencies contact family and other household members to test them for the illness and inform them about preventive measures.

The Kenosha flock where an H5N1 infection was reported Wednesday is a “backyard flock” — one that is raised for a family’s own use, with limited, local sales of eggs or other products, said Dr. Darlene Konkle, DATCP state veterinarian. The flock consisted of 88 chickens and five ducks.

Haupt said the Kenosha County residents who might have been exposed are being tested for the virus. There are no concerns that members of the general public were at risk, however. Maxted said that it appears only the flock’s owners were exposed to the birds.

According to DATCP, the birds from the flock where the infection was reported will not enter the food supply.

In addition, poultry within a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) area of the Kenosha flock will be restricted from being moved on or off any premises, said DATCP, which establishes a control area around any premises where an infection is found.  

DATCP has a mapping tool that poultry producers and owners can consult to learn whether their poultry are in an active control area or surveillance zone.

Concern about the virus has been heightened for the last three years, with reports of infections in both wild and domestic birds in North America since December 2021.

Konkle said DATCP has been sending information to dairy, poultry and other livestock producers all year, encouraging them to improve biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of disease and protect their birds and animals.

The H5N1 HPAI virus is highly contagious and can be fatal to domestic poultry. The severity of the illness varies depending on its strain and on which species of animal it affects, according to DATCP.

The virus spreads by contact with infected birds, commingling with wild birds or their droppings, and through clothing or equipment used by people working with infected birds or animals.

DHS has a web page with guidance for Protective Actions for People. The department can provide a limited amount of surplus personal protective equipment for farm workers, businesses and processors from the department’s medical stockpile through its Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care.  

State law requires all Wisconsin livestock owners to register where their animals are kept, which helps health officials alert flock and herd owners.

Avian flu in domestic birds tends to increase late in the year, likely due to weather conditions and the flow of migrating birds through Wisconsin. “There’s more opportunity, when it’s circulating in these wild birds” for the virus to spread, Konkle said.

People who have contact with livestock and animals are at higher risk for exposure to the H5N1 avian flu virus and should avoid contact with sick or ill animals, said Maxted.

When they must be in contact, people should follow “common sense” precautions, washing their hands frequently and wearing protective clothing including gloves, respiratory protection and eye protection, she said, and clothing exposed to animals should be cleaned and disinfected.

Haupt said the DHS bureau of environmental and occupational health has been working with farmers and farm workers to inform them about the risks of avian influenza and precautions to protect themselves from the virus. The agency urges people who do get sick to take time off.

“If someone is sick, if you don’t have to work — don’t work,” Haupt said. “Stay home, give yourself time to heal.”

This report has been updated to correct the number of people in Barron County being monitored after avian flu exposure.

The young adult was treated with oseltamivir, a medication that reduces influenza symptoms, and is expected to make a full recovery.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday a Louisiana resident is believed to have been infected with a severe case of bird flu through sick or dead birds on their property that were not part of a commercial poultry flock. In this photo, a seagull flies against a coastal backdrop. (Photo by Adrijan Mosesku/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — A Louisiana resident has contracted the country’s first severe case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a human, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.

The unidentified person is believed to have been infected with the virus through sick or dead birds on their property that were not part of a commercial poultry flock, though federal public health officials declined to provide more details on a call with reporters, citing patient confidentiality. The virus is also called bird flu, or H5N1.

“Previously, the majority of cases of H5N1 in the United States presented with mild illness, such as conjunctivitis and mild respiratory symptoms, and fully recovered,” Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said during the call.

“Over the 20-plus years of global experience with this virus, H5 infection has previously been associated with severe illness in other countries, including illnesses that resulted in death in up to 50% of cases,” Daskalakis said. “The demonstrated potential for this virus to cause severe illness in people continues to highlight the importance of the joint, coordinated U.S. federal response, the One Health response, to address the current animal outbreaks in dairy cows and poultry and limit the potential of transmission of this virus to humans through animal contact.”

Despite the Louisiana case, Daskalakis said on the call, the CDC believes the threat to the general public remains low.

The Louisiana Department of Health wrote in a press release posted Friday that the person lives in the southwestern region of the state and was hospitalized, but didn’t provide additional information.

Emma Herrock, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Health, told States Newsroom in an email Wednesday the “patient is experiencing severe respiratory illness related to H5N1 infection and is currently hospitalized in critical condition.”

The patient, she said, “is reported to have underlying medical conditions and is over the age of 65.”

61 confirmed cases in humans

The CDC has confirmed 61 human cases of H5N1 throughout nine states this year, but the Louisiana patient is the first severe case of bird flu in someone within the United States. 

Daskalakis declined to say during the call why the Louisiana case is considered severe when a Missouri resident who was hospitalized due to bird flu was not classified the same way.

The Missouri patient, who was admitted to a hospital in August, had significant underlying medical conditions, according to public health officials. That person experienced “acute symptoms of chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and weakness,” according to the CDC.

The CDC declined to say Wednesday what symptoms the Louisiana patient was experiencing, citing privacy concerns.

Bird flu has affected wild birds and poultry flocks throughout the United States for years, but it wasn’t until March that dairy cattle began becoming infected with the virus.

The dairy outbreak has affected 865 herds through 16 states this year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There have been 315 new cases in dairy cattle during the last month, with the vast majority of those diagnoses in California, while one herd each tested positive in Nevada and Texas.

Bird flu has affected nearly 124 million poultry throughout 49 states, according to USDA.

Milk testing

Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at USDA, said on the call the nationwide milk testing strategy launched earlier this month has expanded to several states.

The program requires anyone responsible for a dairy farm — such as a bulk milk transporter, bulk milk transfer station, or dairy processing facility — to share unpasteurized or raw milk samples when requested.

California, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington are the 13 states currently enrolled in the program, he said.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proclaimed a state of emergency “to further enhance the state’s preparedness & accelerate the ongoing cross-agency response efforts,” the governor’s press office said. 

“These states represent a geographically conversant list of states, some of which have been affected by H5N1 in dairy cows, and some of which have never detected the disease,” Deeble said. “Additionally, these first two groups of states represent eight of the top 15 dairy-producing states in the country, accounting for nearly 50% of U.S. dairy production. We anticipate continuing to enroll additional states in the coming weeks.”

The USDA also continues to have a voluntary bulk milk testing program for any farms planning to ship dairy cattle across state lines to provide an easier pathway to establishing the herd is negative for H5N1, instead of having to test each cow individually.  

Wisconsin's federal lawmakers are blaming the other side of the aisle for getting in the way of extending the farm bill.

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Getty images

A case of avian influenza was identified in a Barron County commercial poultry flock, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) said Thursday in a news release. 

The flock where the infection was found will be depopulated and none of those birds will be used for food, according to the release. A control area of 10 kilometers has been established around the farm, stopping the movement of any poultry within that radius.

“DATCP continues to urge all livestock owners to implement strong biosecurity measures to protect their flocks and herds from the disease,” the release states. “This includes washing hands, disinfecting equipment, restricting access to animals, and separating new additions to the flock or herd for at least 30 days. Poultry owners are asked, when possible, to keep their birds indoors.”

Avian flu, or H5N1, has circulated among wild and domesticated birds in North America since 2021, the release states. Other animals, including dairy cows, have also been infected. The virus has been transmitted to a number of humans across the country through raw milk from infected cows. 

Wisconsin has not identified any cases of the virus in the state’s dairy herds.

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The virus has continued to circulate in wild birds and domestic poultry across the country since 2022.

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Cows in a western Wisconsin dairy farm. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner)

A Pierce County town of about 600 residents passed an ordinance requiring factory farms to obtain permits before moving into or expanding in the community. 

The decision follows a handful of other western Wisconsin communities in passing similar ordinances to limit the proliferation of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the region. Those other communities have faced legal challenges to their ordinances and one rescinded its regulation after a change in elected leadership. 

The town of Maiden Rock overlooks the Mississippi River’s Lake Pepin. On Monday, the town’s board unanimously passed the ordinance which will require any proposed CAFOs within the community to obtain a license to operate from the town board. When applying, CAFO operators must have a third-party engineer supply plan for how the farm will manage its waste, emissions and runoff.

Pierce County has seen increased expansion of factory farms this year, with a dairy in the town of Salem announcing plans to expand from 1,700 to 6,500 cows. 

Once an application is received, the ordinance requires the board to send a letter to all residents within a three mile radius of the proposed farm informing them of a public hearing. The board will be able to grant or deny the license and if granted, impose conditions on how the CAFO must operate. 

The ordinance also requires the CAFO to fund third-party enforcement of the permit conditions. 

In the board’s materials about the ordinance, the board highlighted the enforcement mechanisms, noting that state regulations surrounding CAFOs in the state largely rely on self-reporting to the state Department of Natural Resources — a system that has resulted in large manure spills going unreported. The materials also note that a pending lawsuit from the state’s largest business lobby is attempting to strip the DNR of its authority to regulate CAFOs. 

The ordinance was drafted by a commission appointed by the board to study CAFOs. At a public hearing on the ordinance, nearly 100 residents attended and all spoke in favor of its passage. The first 23 pages of the ordinance document outline the threats CAFOs can pose to a community’s groundwater, air quality, public health, local agricultural economy and infrastructure. 

“Our town is blessed with a stunning mix of farmland, woods and bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River’s Lake Pepin,” a fact sheet about the ordinance states. “Rush River, a Class 1 trout fishing destination, is sustained by cool spring-fed streams. Everyone relies on private wells for human and animal consumption. CAFOs with thousands of animals are proposing to spread thousands of truckloads of waste in the Town. State and county laws have almost no control over these huge facilities. Without an ordinance, their impact on roads, wells, health and the economy are unknown.”

Western Wisconsin advocacy group, Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW) celebrated the ordinance’s passage, saying it’s a victory for communities standing up to protect themselves. 

“I think the town board heard loud and clear that the residents of the town wanted the ordinance,” Danny Akenson, a field organizer for GROWW, said in a statement. “It’s a result of the community banding together and sharing their stories and fears. We’ve heard it all. Landowners have had their land used for manure spreading without permission. Residents have had to call the Sheriff’s Department to escort them out of their own driveway due to heavy truck traffic on country roads. Families have had to live with poisoned water that causes sickness and cancer.”

“We know that one town standing up and protecting themselves isn’t enough,”  Akenson continued. “Everyone deserves to have access to clean water and safe roads. Across Wisconsin, whether you’re in Maiden Rock or Milwaukee, corporate greed gets in the way of that dream becoming reality. In 2025, we hope to see even more towns stand up and pass ordinances of their own.”

Several other communities in the region have passed similarly constructed ordinances and have faced opposition from industry groups. The town of Eureka in Polk County is currently fighting a lawsuit against its ordinance. A ruling in that case is expected in early January. 

The board’s fact sheet on the ordinance notes that at a state Senate hearing in March, a Wisconsin Farm Bureau representative testified that farm groups want the state government to preempt operations ordinances against CAFOs because state law currently allows them. 

Akenson told the Wisconsin Examiner that the ordinances are allowed under the state constitution. 

“Maiden Rock’s ordinance is backed up by both Wisconsin’s Constitution and our state statutes. We’re a state that values local control,” he said. “Corporate industry groups show up with lawsuits to try and bury small towns in legal costs and paperwork. Checks and balances threaten their profits and power to consolidate markets, and they hope to scare other communities from taking action.”

“In our view, that’s what’s happening in Eureka right now,” he added. “Despite these threats, more and more towns are taking steps to protect themselves by passing ordinances. People are tired of the intimidation tactics by industry representatives. The people on the ground in Pierce County and all across the state aren’t backing down.”

A committee studying management of the state’s growing sandhill crane population is recommending a bill that would allow hunting the birds and provide aid for corn growers experiencing damage from them.

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Photo by Gregory Conniff for Wisconsin Examiner

If President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to deport millions of immigrants, it could upend the economies of states where farming and other food-related industries are crucial — and where labor shortages abound.

Immigrants make up about two-thirds of the nation’s crop farmworkers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and roughly 2 in 5 of them are not legally authorized to work in the United States.

Agricultural industries such as meatpacking, dairy farms and poultry and livestock farms also rely heavily on immigrants.

“We have five to six employees that do the work that nobody else will do. We wouldn’t survive without them,” said Bruce Lampman, who owns Lampman Dairy Farm, in Bruneau, Idaho. His farm, which has been in the family three decades, has 350 cows producing some 26,000 pounds of milk a day.

“My business and every agriculture business in the U.S. will be crippled if they want to get rid of everybody who does the work,” said Lampman, adding that his workers are worried about what’s to come.

Anita Alves Pena, a Colorado State University professor of economics who studies immigration, noted that many agricultural employers already can’t find enough laborers. Without farm subsidies or other protections to make up for the loss of immigrant workers, she said, the harm to state economies could be significant.

“Farmers across the country, producers in a lot of different parts, are often talking about labor shortages — and that’s even with the current status quo of having a fairly high percentage of unauthorized individuals in the workforce,” Pena said. “A policy like this, if it was not coupled with something else, would exacerbate that.”

Employers have a hard time hiring enough farm laborers because such workers generally are paid low wages for arduous work.

In addition to hiring immigrant laborers who are in the country illegally, agricultural employers rely on the federal H-2A visa program. H-2A visas usually are for seasonal work, often for about six to 10 months. However, they can be extended for up to three years before a worker must return to their home country.

Employers must pay H-2A workers a state-specific minimum wage and provide no-cost transportation and housing. Still, employers’ applications for H-2A visas have soared in the past 18 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a trend reflecting the shortage of U.S.-born laborers willing to do the work. The number of H-2A positions has surged from just over 48,000 in 2005 to more than 378,000 in 2023.

But agricultural employers that operate year-round, such as poultry, dairy and livestock producers, can’t use the seasonal visa to fill gaps, according to the USDA.

Farmers also employ foreign nationals who have “temporary protected status” under a 1990 law that allows immigrants to remain if the U.S. has determined their home countries are unsafe because of violence or other reasons. There are about 1.2 million people in the U.S. under the program or eligible for it, from countries including El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon and Ukraine. Many have been here for decades, and Trump has threatened to end the program.

Support for the program

Immigration advocates want a pathway for H-2A workers to gain permanent legal status, and agricultural trade organizations are pushing for an expansion of the H-2A program to include year-round operations.

The National Milk Producers Federation says it’s too early to say how it would cope with mass deportations under the Trump administration. But the group states it “strongly supports efforts to pass agriculture labor reform that provides permanent legal status to current workers and their families and gives dairy farmers access to a workable guestworker program.”

Immigrants make up 51% of labor at dairy farms across states, and farms that employ immigrants produce nearly 80% of the nation’s milk supply, according to the organization.

“Foreign workers are important to the success of U.S. dairy, and we will work closely with members of Congress and federal officials to show the importance of foreign workers to the dairy industry and farm communities,” Jaime Castaneda, the group’s executive vice president for policy development and strategy, wrote in an email.

Adam Croissant, the former vice president of research and development at yogurt company Chobani, which has manufacturing plants in Idaho and New York, said he’s seen a lot of misinformation around immigrants’ workforce contributions.

“The dairy industry as a whole understands that without immigrant labor, the dairy industry doesn’t exist. It’s as simple as that,” said Croissant.

Tom Super, a spokesperson for the National Chicken Council, lambasted U.S. immigration policy and said the poultry industry “wants a stable, legal, and permanent workforce.”

“The chicken industry is heavily affected by our nation’s immigration policy or, more pointedly, lack thereof. … The system is broken, and Washington has done nothing to fix it,” Super wrote in an email.

Changes ahead?

But major changes to the H-2A visa program are unlikely to happen before deportations begin. In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” over the weekend, Trump repeated his promise to start deporting some immigrants almost immediately.

He said he plans to begin with convicted criminals, but would then move to other immigrants. “We’re starting with the criminals, and we’ve got to do it. And then we’re starting with the others, and we’re going to see how it goes.”

Some farmers still hope that Trump’s actions won’t match his rhetoric. But “hoping isn’t a great business plan,” said Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. “Our ability to feed ourselves as a country is completely jeopardized if you do see the mass deportations.”

If the deportations do happen, agricultural workers will disappear faster than they can be replaced, experts say.

“The H-2A program will not expand instantly to fill the gap. So, that’s going to be a problem,” said Jeffrey Dorfman, a professor of agricultural economics at North Carolina State University who was Georgia’s state economist from 2019 to 2023.

In Georgia, agriculture is an $83.6 billion industry that supports more than 323,000 jobs. It is one of the five states most reliant on the federal H-2A visa program, depending on those workers to fill about 60% of agricultural jobs.

Dorfman argued that even the fear of deportation will have an impact on the workforce.

“When farmworkers hear about ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids on a nearby farm, lots of them disappear. Even the legal ones often disappear for a few days. So, if everybody just gets scared and self-deports, just goes back home, I think that would be the worst disruption,” said Dorfman, adding that even more jobs would need to be filled if the administration revokes temporary protected status.

Antonio De Loera-Brust, communications director for the farmworker labor union United Farm Workers, said the nation’s focus should be on protecting workers, no matter their legal status.

“They deserve a lot better than just not getting deported,” he said. “They deserve better wages, they deserve labor rights, they deserve citizenship.”

And though economists and the agriculture industry have said that mass deportations could raise grocery store prices, De Loera-Brust called that particular argument a sign of “moral weakness.”

“As if the worst thing about hundreds of thousands of people getting separated from their families was going to be that consumers would have to pay more for a bag of strawberries or a bag of baby carrots,” De Loera-Brust said. “There’s a moral gap there.”

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

The return of the sandhill crane to Wisconsin is a conservation success, but now the state needs to manage the population and the crop damage the birds can cause. (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)

In a vote that divided Republicans together with with hunting and agricultural interests on one side against Democrats and conservationists on the other, the Wisconsin legislative council study committee on sandhill cranes approved proposing legislation that would allow for a hunt of the birds and cover costs for corn farmers to have their seeds treated with a chemical that limits crop destruction by the birds. 

The committee held its final meeting Tuesday morning, with much of the debate surrounding the committee’s decision to combine both aspects of the legislation into one bill. Standalone bills that would individually cover the agricultural issues and hunting were considered but not advanced. 

Sandhill cranes were once nearly driven entirely out of Wisconsin, but the bird has rebounded here. It’s a major conservation success story in the state and in the eastern flyway — the region of the continent covering Wisconsin through which migratory birds travel as they move north and south each year. 

With the bird’s resurgence has come increased conflicts with humans. Much of the sandhill crane’s historical range covers the wetlands and marshes of south central Wisconsin that are prime areas for growing corn. Cranes are estimated to cause about $1 million in crop damage each year. 

Sandhill cranes are also territorial, with breeding pairs returning to the same area to lay their eggs every year. 

Migratory birds are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and if a farm has a problem with cranes damaging crops, that farmer must work with the agency to attempt to drive the birds off the property, using  methods that include killing the birds. 

Federal law requires that birds killed through that process not be eaten or used in any other way and the farmer must prove they’ve exhausted all other measures first. 

The solution promoted by interest groups such as the International Crane Foundation is the use of Avipel, a chemical compound that is applied to corn seed that makes it unappetizing to the birds, who eventually learn the corn isn’t food and — even though they remain on the property — stop damaging the crops. 

Under the legislation proposed by the committee, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection would establish a program that reimburses farmers up to 50% of the cost to purchase Avipel treated seed. 

For years, hunting groups and Republicans have been trying to establish a sandhill crane hunt in the state. Some advocates for the hunt say the population has grown enough that it can manage a hunt while not damaging the population. Others say the hunt could bring down the population and reduce the amount of crop damage — a claim that bird biologists disagree with. 

Under the proposed legislation, the Department of Natural Resources would work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to get a hunt approved and then issue permits for the hunt every year. 

Conservationists and crane experts say that the federal government hasn’t updated its crane management plan in 15 years, leaving the state without much guidance for holding a hunt. 

“There’s nothing biologically that would prohibit a hunt,” Meleesa Johnson, executive director of Wisconsin’s Green Fire, said. “There’s nothing biologically that would say we need a hunt. So from my perspective, and what I’m hearing from my members is, yeah, you could do a hunt. We know how to do that. But what is that solving? Is that solving the problem we’re trying to fix?”

Republican lawmakers on the committee said that the combined bill, including both a hunt and farmer reimbursements, had the best chance of getting passed by both houses of the Legislature — which are both controlled by Republicans. 

Sen. Romaine Quinn (R-Cameron) said that the interest groups affected by the bill would likely be opposed to doing a standalone bill to subsidize the use of Avipel and that combining it with the hunting bill makes it more likely to pass. 

“I think our best shot threading this needle between all our constituencies that we try to represent not only on this committee, but ourselves as legislators, is to try to marry these issues together,” Quinn said. “I don’t think it’s complicated. I think the combined bill is not that hard. So I think politically, our best opportunity for any movement, for any group, is a combined bill.” 

But Sen. Mark Spreizer (D-Beloit) said that any proposed legislation not only has to get through the Republican Legislature, but be signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and he doesn’t think it’s likely that Evers would sign a bill to hold a sandhill crane hunt — meaning the hunt wouldn’t happen and farmers would again be left with no recourse to address the crop damage problem. 

By only advancing the combined bill, Spreitzer said the committee was preemptively cutting off all avenues for it to achieve action on the crane issue. 

“There are a number of winnowing points that any bill that comes out of here, or any other bill that any of us might introduce have to go through,” he said. “If Republican leadership in the Legislature, which is in the majority in the Assembly, and the Senate, doesn’t like it, it’s not going anywhere. If the Democratic governor doesn’t like it, it’s not going anywhere. And there are multiple stages in the process where that happens. And so I think folks here could strategically decide, ‘Hey, let’s put all our eggs in one basket and only support the combined Avipel-hunting bill,’ and hope that that creates enough political pressure that it means that it gets through all of those choke points.” 

“Or it could be the exact opposite,” Spreitzer added, “that because you’ve got too much going on” Republicans could decide the Avipel program spends too much money or the governor could decide he won’t support a hunt. 

Spreitzer also said that it felt like the Democrats and conservationists on the committee had been “railroaded” by the committee’s chair, Rep. Paul Tittl (R-Manitowoc), to support the combined bill rather than finding consensus. 

“So nothing gets done, so I guess my advice is, don’t try to game out the politics too much. We’re going to have three votes on three different bills,” he said of the committee’s votes on the combined and standalone proposals. “If you like this bill, you should vote for it. If you like the next bill, you should vote for that, too. If you like the third one, you should vote for that, too. If there’s one you don’t like, vote against it. And the more votes that each thing gets coming out of here, the stronger chance it’s going to have.”

Wisconsin dairy producers and processors will soon be required to test raw milk for avian flu virus as part of a national effort to eradicate the disease from U.S. dairy cows.

The post New national milk testing plan aims to eliminate avian flu virus from dairy industry appeared first on WPR.

Holstein milking cows at an Idaho dairy on July 20, 2012. (Photo by Kirsten Strough/USDA)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday it will require dairy farms to share samples of unpasteurized milk when requested, in an effort to gather more information about the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Public health officials have tracked the spread of bird flu or H5N1 in domestic poultry flocks for years before the virus began showing up in the country’s dairy herds this March, raising concerns.

While the risk to the general public remains low and there is no evidence to suggest bird flu can spread from person to person, nearly 60 people, mostly farmworkers, have contracted the virus this year.

The new milk testing requirements from USDA will apply nationally but will begin first in California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania, the week of Dec. 16. 

“Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement.

Unpasteurized milk

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly tested pasteurized milk on store shelves throughout the country to reaffirm it’s safe to drink. Other dairy products, like cheese and ice cream, have also been found safe.

But the FDA continues to urge people against consuming unpasteurized milk, since it doesn’t go through the heating process that kills off viruses and bacteria.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a written statement the new milk “testing strategy is a critical part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of individuals and communities nationwide.”

“Our primary responsibility at HHS is to protect public health and the safety of the food supply, and we continue to work closely with USDA and all stakeholders on continued testing for H5N1 in retail milk and dairy samples from across the country to ensure the safety of the commercial pasteurized milk supply,” Becerra said. “We will continue this work with USDA for as long and as far as necessary.”

The USDA began a voluntary bulk tank testing program for milk this summer in an attempt to make it easier for farmers to move their cattle across state lines without having to test each cow. The department also began a year-long study in August to test for bird flu in dairy cattle moved into meat production, seeking to confirm prior studies that found it safe to eat.

The bird flu outbreak has affected 720 dairy herds throughout 15 states so far this year, though California became the epicenter during the last month, according to data from the USDA.

The Golden State holds nearly all of the 273 herds diagnosed, with just four found in Utah during the last 30 days.

California also holds the bulk of bird flu infections in people, with 32 of the 58 diagnosed cases this year, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Colorado accounts for another 10 human cases and Washington state confirmed 11 people infected with H5N1. Michigan has had two cases this year, while Missouri, Oregon and Texas have each had one positive human case.

USDA order

The USDA federal order announced Friday will require anyone responsible for a dairy farm — such as a bulk milk transporter, bulk milk transfer station, or dairy processing facility — to share unpasteurized or raw milk samples when requested.

Any farm owners whose dairy herds test positive for H5N1 will be required to share epidemiological information that would allow public health officials to perform contact tracing and other types of disease surveillance. 

Additionally, private laboratories and state veterinarians must alert USDA to positive samples that were collected as part of this National Milk Testing Strategy.

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A new report from Union of Concerned Scientists pushes for wetland protections in a new Farm Bill. (Photo courtesy of USDA)

A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists found wetlands in the Upper Midwest region are “in peril” due to recent legal challenges and a lack of state-level regulation. The report looks to a new farm bill as a vessel to protect wetlands.

The report, authored by Stacy Woods, the research director for the Food & Environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said industrial agriculture has inflicted “devastating damage” on wetlands across the country and that Iowa has more than 640,000 acres of wetland.

These wetlands, along with those in states across the Upper Midwest region, act as “natural barriers” to flooding. The report found this flood protection equates to nearly $23 billion in annual residential flood protection. Iowa’s wetlands alone could mitigate $477 million worth of flood damage to residential areas.

These estimates in the report are extrapolated from a 2022 study that found one acre of wetland was the equivalent to $745 in benefits from prevented flood damage.

The report alleges the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “stripped” Clean Water Act protections from wetlands that are not connected to federally recognized bodies of water.

The new interpretation of the law, combined with the “absence of state-level wetland protections” in Iowa and other Upper Midwestern states makes wetlands “particularly vulnerable” to pollution or drainage, the report found.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2020, the Conservation Reserve Program had restored more than 3 million wetland acres across the country since the program started in 1985.  The same program has restored over 118,000 acres of wetland in Iowa and enrolled 66,000 acres as “buffer” in farmable wetlands, according to data collected by Environmental Working Group.

A hope for Farm Bill protections

The report looks at the Farm Bill as a place to implement wetland regulations to stop “large-scale commodity growers and corporate agribusiness interests” that “exploit wetlands for agricultural expansion.”

Farm bills in the past have established protections for wetlands, including the Conservation Reserve Program and the “swampbuster” provision that linked a landowner’s eligibility for USDA incentive programs to their preservation of wetlands.

An Iowa landowner recently sued the USDA over the provision and several groups including Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Dakota Rural Action and Food & Water Watch, sought to intervene in the lawsuit, which a federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa approved Tuesday.

The lawsuit alleges swampbusters created an unconstitutional condition for a farmer to receive USDA benefits, while the now-approved intervenors say without the law, there would be little to no protections for wetlands from farmers seeking to expand their croplands.

In addition to swampbuster, the report details other Farm Bill provisions that have protected wetlands, including conservation and wetland easement programs and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, which “enhance(s) wetlands” by promoting soil and water conservation.

The report calls for the next Farm Bill, which Congress has been unable to agree on and pass for more than two sessions now, to “enhance” existing conservation programs and implement new incentives that “foster soil and water health.”

These suggestions include: increasing the Conservation Reserve Program acres to 45 million acres; increasing funding for the Conservation Stewardship Program from $1 billion to $4 billion annually; expanding funding to historically underserved, disadvantaged and new farmers, and to link the Federal Crop Insurance Program to a farmer’s participation in conservation practices.

According to the report, investments from these recommendations constitute “only a fraction of the significant annual value wetlands deliver.”

“Integrating these initiatives into the next food and Farm Bill will fortify USDA programs that safeguard wetlands from industrial agriculture, ensuring these vital ecosystems thrive and continue to mitigate flooding, purify water, and support our communities and our climate,” the report said.

Groups across the country and political parties, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin have urged Congress to reauthorize the Farm Bill, rather than extend the 2018 bill for a second time.

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and X.

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