The Nebraska farms that raise poultry for the giant food retailer have slaughtered more than 500,000 birds to contain an outbreak of the killer germ.
hickens, many of them destined for the spit, have vastly outnumbered humans in Nebraska’s Butler County since Costco spent half a billion dollars on poultry production in the state a few years ago. Now that a highly contagious virus called avian flu has infected flocks in the area, neighboring farmers are realizing they may have a Costco problem.
“They could start to have out-of-stocks on chicken,” said Michael Baker, a managing director at investment bank D.A. Davidson & Co. who follows the retailer. “But what Costco has proven, through Covid, is that they have the ability to make up for out-of-stocks in other parts of the stores.” Private equity firm Gallus Capital came in to raise some chickens, initially filing permits to build more than 130 chicken houses holding as many as 47,000 chickens in each.
Community groups protested the Fremont operation when it opened, citing health risks that included the potential spread of avian flu because it’s commonly associated with factory farms. Biosecurity is aimed at decreasing the likelihood of further contagion. Measures include limiting visitors and avoiding contact with the fowl; no equipment sharing; taking foot baths before entering chicken facilities; care not to transport the flu bug on vehicle tires; and covering food and water sources.
“It’s scary because it doesn’t seem to be going away,” said FAIRR executive director Maria Lettini. “Outbreaks continue to occur. A lot of that is because we rely on current approaches to try to tackle some of those diseases.”
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