The project’s lead researcher is so excited she’s putting off retirement.

“I want the first experiment in a system like this. This is so exciting,” Karen Schwean-Lardner said in a University of Saskatchewan news release.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation announced $6.2 million in funding to build a state-of-the-art poultry laying facility at the University. The foundation is a federal government-created non-profit set up in 1997 to fund research infrastructure in Canada.

WHY IT MATTERS: The proposed facility will allow researchers to improve poultry barn lighting, housing and food systems for better animal welfare and egg production.

The Saskatchewan Egg Producers contributed $3 million while the university’s agriculture and bioresource department added $1 million.

“This will move us so far forward in poultry research,” said Schwean-Lardner in the release. Schwean-Lardner is a professor in the university’s department of animal and poultry science.

The nearly 24,000-square-foot facility is set to include three types of hen housing: enriched, free run and free-range. Ten individual housing rooms will have controls for lighting, temperature and other environmental factors.

“Each one is like a little mini-barn,” Schwean-Larder told media.

“Big data is getting more attention these days. We have a lot of data that can be gathered over time, and this unit is going to allow us to manage that data and collect it over a long period of time,” assistant professor Deborah Adewole said. “There are going to be a lot of new things that we can do for poultry research.”

The facility will also include viewing rooms so public groups — for example, schoolchildren — can see the chickens and housing systems while reducing biosecurity risks.

“We can control the environment. Right now, we cannot do that in the same way,” said Adewole. “This facility is one of its kind in Canada. There are other universities that have built new facilities, but this one is encompassing all systems and has space for public viewing systems as well — which is a first in Canada.”

Schwean-Larder said her first experiment would look at the effects of light on the hens and will involve researchers from the U.S.

“To be able to do that kind of research with an international perspective, I can’t stand it. I’m losing my voice because I’m excited.”

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Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is a seasonal disease spread by migratory birds. It has led to the culling of tens of millions of poultry worldwide in recent years, disrupting production and raising fears of human transmission.

“This decree … was issued following evidence of infection among migratory wild birds in Europe, including France, and the confirmation of several outbreaks in poultry farms,” the agriculture ministry said in the government’s official journal.

So far, two bird flu outbreaks have been detected on poultry farms and three in backyard flocks, the ministry said in the decree. A first case had been detected in mid-October at a pheasant and partridge breeding farm in northern France.

The change in status will take effect on Wednesday, Oct, 22.

The upgrade to risk status in the seasonal assessment is kicking in earlier than previous years, taking effect in October compared to November last year and December in 2023.

— Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Sybille de La Hamaide

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All Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence holders who are slaughtering poultry are expected to implement the pre-chill microbiological monitoring program by Dec. 1, 2025. Currently, the scope of this program is limited to poultry carcasses.

WHY IT MATTERS: The CFIA’s new policy comes into force Dec. 1, 2025, for Canada’s poultry sector.

Live birds bring a load of pathogens in the intestine to the slaughter process. Every stage from the hanging of the carcass in live receiving to its entrance into the chiller has the potential to influence the microbial load on the final product.

Monitoring the microbial load at a defined point before carcasses are in their pre-chill mode allows for a more precise evaluation of contamination control measures applied during the dressing and evisceration stages.

Data generated through the pre-chill microbiological monitoring program is intended to drive science-based decisions within an operator’s food safety system to optimize interventions and enhance food safety. This information will empower license holders to verify the effectiveness of their control measures, validate the impact of process changes and optimize interventions, including microbial interventions, equipment sanitation protocols and adjustments to evisceration techniques. License holders will also be able to demonstrate ongoing compliance with the Preventive Control Plan requirements under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. When operators establish their internal performance baseline using pre-chill microbiological monitoring data, they will be able to allow businesses to track their own performance over time, identify shifts in process control and pursue improvement initiatives.

Pre-chill or early-stage microbiological monitoring can be integral components of comprehensive poultry safety management systems. Authorities like the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) incorporate requirements for microbiological monitoring at various stages, including consideration of pre-chill data, to verify process control in poultry slaughter establishments.

The CFIA developed the following microbiological sampling measures to help food businesses comply with section 47 and 89 (1)(c) of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. The implementation of the pre-chill microbiological monitoring program supports direct compliance with hazard identification and analysis, which requires operators to identify and analyze biological hazards such as indicator organisms that reflect potential fecal or environmental contamination, which can pose a risk to the contamination of food.

Operators are also required to follow hazard control measures to prevent, eliminate and reduce identified hazards to an acceptable level using control measures shown by evidence to be effective. The pre-chill microbiological monitoring program is a tool to generate such evidence for controls applied during evisceration and dressing.

The Preventative Control Plan must be written and include a description of identified biological hazards, the control measures used to address them and evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of those control measures. The pre-chill microbiological monitoring program results contribute directly to fulfilling this evidence.

The microbiological monitoring of poultry carcasses at pre-chill locations and comparison with post-chill locations will specifically help demonstrate that contamination is effectively minimized through evisceration and dressing process.

Operators can use sampling and testing procedures developed by provincial counterparts, industry associations, international partners or academic bodies if they can achieve the same outcome. The guidance must be tailored to a particular business, product or products and market requirements. The process must also meet foreign country requirements.

The pre-chill microbiological monitoring program should be integrated to the Preventative Control Plan supporting the Process Verification Monitoring Program for general E.coli- Biotype I for raw poultry as a complement, not a duplicate. The implementation of the pre-chill microbiological monitoring program should leverage the Process Verification Monitoring Program including processes such as random sampling principles, record-keeping systems or corrective action framework. This will ensure consistency and efficiency and avoid unnecessary duplication.

There’s a distinction in the sampling point and primary focus; the Primary Verification Monitoring Program assesses the overall process outcome by testing carcasses after chilling, which shows the effects of slaughter, dressing and chilling interventions. In contrast, the pre-chill microbiological monitoring program provides specific verification data on the controls applied during evisceration and dressing by sampling before chilling. This paired sampling approach (pre-chill and post-chill) allows for a direct assessment of the microbial change occurring between these two important points.

Food businesses must comply with the law. They demonstrate compliance by ensuring commodities and processes they are responsible for demonstrate compliance. If a written Preventative Control Plan is required, the food business develops a Preventative Control Plan with supporting documents, monitors and maintains evidence of its implementation and verifies that all control measures are effective.

CFIA verifies the compliance of food businesses by inspection and sampling.

For producers who want to learn how to use the pre-chill microbiological monitoring program, they can learn more on the CFIA’s website.

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Party leader Yves-Francois Blanchet introduced Bill C-202 May 29, and on June 5 it was sent to the Senate without any debate. It follows Bill C-282 in the last Parliament and C-216 in the one before that. Neither of those bills made it fully through the parliamentary process.

The bill would amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to protect supply managed industries in future trade negotiations. Exporters don’t like that idea, while supply management proponents say they’ve given up enough.

Blanchet said he promised during the campaign to introduce the bill because it is important to Quebec’s economy and reminded MPs that all political parties say they support supply management.

“Once again, I note that all of the political parties in the House have indicated that they will support this initiative. I therefore hope that we can move forward quickly with the support of all members,” he said when introducing the bill.

He said the amendment deserved urgent attention.

The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance urged the Commons and the Senate to reject it.

“As with previous iterations of this bill, C-202 would undermine Canada’s agri-food sector, damage our trade relationships and harm the thousands of farmers, ranchers, processors and agri-food exporters who rely on open access to global markets to make a living,” said president Greg Northey in a news release.

CAFTA said the bill would have implications for all sectors of the economy, not just agriculture, and that sectoral carveouts in trade negotiations would put objectives at risk at a time when Canada should be more ambitious.

The organization urged MPs to not bypass parliamentary procedure and send it directly to the Senate, but they did.

The debate over supply management also continues outside of politics.

University of Saskatchewan agricultural economics professor professor Stuart Smyth called for the system to be phased out “for the greater good of the country.”

In a June 3 commentary for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Smyth said that would lower the cost of dairy and poultry products for consumers. He called supply management “an outdated, flawed and costly system” and an anti-competitive production model.

Dairy Farmers of Canada begged to differ.

For one thing, farmers don’t set retail prices, the organization said after reviewing the commentary.

“The prices of supply managed products have remained stable and generally in line or below inflationary trends in Canada,” it said in an emailed statement.

“In 2024, the average retail price of milk was almost equal to that of the United States at $1.64 per litre in Canada versus $1.44 per litre in the U.S.”

At the same time, the average prices of yogurt, natural cheese blocks and butter were similar or lower.

DFC said American and other dairy systems receive direct financial production subsidies, which means consumers pay twice — through taxes and at the store.

Smyth said farms would be larger and more efficient without the supply managed system. DFC said Canadian dairies are smaller than those in the U.S. but that doesn’t make them inefficient.

Smyth said the new government should phase out supply management by removing 10 percentage points of total quota each year for the next 10 years. He also said the government should reduce tariffs by the same amount in the same time frame to encourage competition.

“Allowing new and existing producers to increase production based on free market signals will greatly reduce the waste and inefficiencies that have long existed in supply management production systems, such as the practice of dumping excess milk,” Smyth wrote.

DFC has disputed a study earlier this year that estimated Canadian dairy farms dumped 6.8 billion litres of milk between 2012 and 2024.

Smyth also argued that dairy production could and should move to the Prairies because herds are already twice as large as the average Quebec herd and water is plentiful.

“Canadian dairy consumers are paying higher prices to subsidize small, inefficient Quebec dairies, while other dairies across Canada are dumping milk as they do not have enough quota to sell the full volume of milk they produce,” he said.

Smyth suggested four policies government could enact:

• Quota licences should be available nationally, rather than provincially.

• There should be a time-limited guarantee backstop for younger farmers who have used their quota as collateral.

• Financial institutions recognize the value of quota licences while the system is dismantled and not demand immediate repayment.

• The government should also provide a 10-year guarantee to farmers who demonstrate economic efficiencies and increase operating equity, thereby reducing their financial risk, before the system is officially dismantled.

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The outbreak in southern Brazil was identified at a farm supplying Vibra Foods, a Brazilian operation backed by Tyson Foods, according to two people familiar with the matter.

WHY IT MATTERS: Brazil is the largest chicken exporter in the world

Vibra and Tyson did not immediately respond to questions. Vibra has 15 processing plants in Brazil and exports to over 60 countries, according to its website.

Brazil exported $10 billion of chicken meat in 2024, accounting for about 35 per cent of global trade. Much of that came from meat processors BRF and JBS, which ship to some 150 countries.

China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the main destinations for Brazil’s chicken exports.

Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said on Friday China had banned poultry imports from the country for 60 days. Under agreements with Japan, UAE and Saudi Arabia, he said a trade ban would only restrict shipments from the affected state and, eventually, just the municipality in question.

The outbreak occurred in the city of Montenegro in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, the farm ministry said. The state accounts for 15 per cent of Brazilian poultry production and exports, national pork and poultry group ABPA said in July 2024.

BRF has five processing plants operating in the state. JBS has also invested in local chicken processing plants under its Seara brand.

State officials said the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu is already responsible for the death of 17,000 farm chickens, either directly from the disease or due to cautionary culling.

Veterinary officials are isolating the area of the outbreak in Montenegro and hunting for more cases in an initial 10 km radius, the state agricultural secretariat said.

Favaro, the farm minister, said Brazil was working to contain the outbreak and negotiate a loosening of trade restrictions faster than the two months agreed in protocols.

“If we manage to eliminate the outbreak, we think it’s possible to re-establish a normal trade flow before the 60 days are up, including with China” Favaro said in an interview aired on CNN Brasil.

Chicken products shipped by Thursday will not be affected by trade restrictions, he added.

The ministry said in a statement that it was officially notifying the World Organization for Animal Health.

U.S. FLOCK DEVASTATED

Bird flu has swept through the U.S. poultry industry since 2022, killing around 170 million chickens, turkeys and other birds, severely affecting production of meat and eggs.

Bird flu has also infected nearly 70 people in the U.S., with one death, since 2024. Most of those infections have been among farmworkers exposed to infected poultry or cows.

The further spread of the disease raises the risk that bird flu could become more transmissible to humans.

By contrast, Argentina was able to isolate a February 2023 outbreak and start resuming exports slowly the next month.

“All necessary measures to control the situation were quickly adopted, and the situation is under control and being monitored by government agencies,” Brazil’s poultry industry group ABPA said in a statement.

JBS referred questions about the outbreak to ABPA.

BRF CEO Miguel Gularte told analysts on an earnings call that he was confident Brazilian health protocols were robust and the situation would be quickly overcome.

Brazil, which exported more than five million metric tons of chicken products last year, first confirmed outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian flu among wild birds in May 2023 in at least seven states.

The disease is not transmitted through the consumption of poultry meat or eggs, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

“The Brazilian and world population can rest assured about the safety of inspected products, and there are no restrictions on their consumption,” the ministry said.

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The virus has wiped out more than 156 million chickens, turkeys and other birds nationwide since an outbreak in poultry began in 2022. Losses of laying hens have slashed egg supplies, sending prices soaring and prompting restaurants to raise prices.

Bird flu has also infected about two-thirds of the dairy herds in California, the biggest milk-producing state, and nearly 70 people since April.

In New York state, the five-day closure of live poultry markets in New York City and three counties —Westchester, Suffolk and Nassau — will allow them to be cleaned and disinfected to help prevent spread of the disease, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

Authorities found avian flu at poultry markets in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn since January 31, according to the statement.

“I have directed our state agencies to use all available resources to ensure we are taking every measure necessary to keep the risk to the public low,” Hochul said.

Wild birds often carry the virus during migration periods and can transmit it to poultry through direct contact or through contaminated feces or feathers. To contain the virus, poultry are culled when even one bird in a flock tests positive.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture for the first time this week confirmed a second strain of bird flu in U.S. dairy cattle, a discovery that ramped up concerns about its spread.

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For Belmont, Manitoba first-generation farmers Lydia Carpenter and her husband Wian Prinsloo, it’s that type of unlimited, outside-the-box thinking that has become their regular way of thinking. Over the years, they’ve leveraged multiple income streams, a direct-to-consumer marketing beef business, unconventional loans and land rental arrangements, and unique payback agreements.

They were among the first to demonstrate that land acquisition is not the only way to determine a farm business’s worth. And in another 10 years, they will likely complete a farm transition, but from a family they’re not related to at all.

You might remember them from previous issues. Country Guide has followed Carpenter and Prinsloo on and off for the last decade and since Luna Field Farm has changed considerably over the last five years, we thought it was a good time to connect and catch up.

They continue to raise and direct market between 60 and 100 weanling pigs and manage a few hundred laying hens. Since we last heard from the couple, they said goodbye to their 300 sheep and 1,000 broilers in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

• RELATED: Following the farming dream

Today, their client base is a solid mixture of urban and rural. Beyond Winnipeg and Brandon, they make weekly beef deliveries to Winkler, Morden, Killarney, Boissevain, Pelican Lake, Ninette, Shilo and Wawanesa. Some customers even travel from northern Ontario to seek out their farm’s products.

The initial 80 acres of rented land that Carpenter and Prinsloo managed has morphed into a half-section of deeded land and an additional rented section from another entity. Their 120 Luing breed cattle are co-run with neighbour and mentor Iain Aitken. “We’re not large scale, but we’re not small anymore for sure,” says Carpenter.

They weathered COVID-19 and came out bigger, better and with a stronger conviction to be a tortoise and not a hare in their slow-and-steady journey toward achieving their goals. The pandemic changed some people’s eating habits and food awareness, driving Luna Field beef sales ever upwards and teaching Carpenter and Prinsloo to play the long game even more than they already were.

Evolving transition

Iain Aitken and his wife Rowena bought nine quarters when they moved to Manitoba from Alberta in 2015. He sold the first quarter of land to Carpenter and Prinsloo in 2017, followed by a second in 2023. Both quarters were sold to Carpenter and Prinsloo for what the Aitkens paid for them in 2015.

“It was my way of giving them a kind of foot up because the real estate evaluation is an ongoing thing,” said Aitken, 58. “Land has gone up, certainly.”

They all share a similar philosophy of systems agriculture and a belief that “unconventional” can be as good, if not better, than conventional. The couple say they are lucky to be where they are and to know Aitken.

Aitken counts himself lucky, as well, especially in today’s farm business climate. It didn’t take long for him to see that the couple could be a viable option to continue his Luing cattle business after he retires. He plans to fully transition his business to the couple by about 2036.

“They’re very knowledgeable and I’ve increasingly seen more of that as I’ve spent more time with them,” says Aitken. “They’re very outside-the-box thinkers. We certainly have very similar values in terms of land management and just the way we do things. We’re very much like-minded in that aspect. They’re the best prospects I’ve ever encountered.”

The young couple understand that this isn’t simply a succession. It’s two healthy, thriving businesses that will, assumedly, become one in time.

“We have run a profitable farm for many years which is one reason that this transition is working and why we decided to work together,” says Carpenter. “Over time, we are purchasing assets from the Aitkens to bring into and grow our business. A key component of our success is that we built the business first, and then we were given the opportunity to build equity in land and cattle [payments we were able to cash flow from the business] and work with Iain.”

The land Aitken sold to Carpenter and Prinsloo provided the security the couple needed to invest in infrastructure and stay in business.

“We needed an opportunity as we needed security and Aitken provided that,” Carpenter says. “We are building equity that will give us additional borrowing power that will serve the transition moving forward as we will be able to cash-flow additional asset transfer. We are moving in a direction that feels good, and we have the security … about the business we have grown and are growing, and the working relationship we have with Aitken. Not everybody gets this opportunity and I think that being able to engage in a farm transition with someone that’s not even your family is a real opportunity.

“I think we all have achieved a greater sense of clarity in terms of what’s going to happen in future or what we want to happen in future.”

Opportunity cost

The couple cautions that as with everything in life, there’s no free lunch. An opportunity will always have a catch, so think it through. Don’t let a Trojan horse into your farmyard.

“Some things will present as an opportunity but they’re not. It might be there, but it’s usually hidden under a bunch of work,” Carpenter says.

For example, Carpenter and Prinsloo had an opportunity to buy neighbouring acreage, but they turned it down. The cost of the opportunity was too high. It’s not always purely about the numbers.

“What is the real cost of that? The real cost might be family time. When you sense that there’s an opportunity, really explore what it is. That’s not just a financial question,” Carpenter says. “We have been really consistent in our business, and I think that part of that consistency is because we have created some limits around what we can’t do.”

They’ve accepted the fact that they cannot say yes to everything. Sometimes a door must close, and that’s okay, as was the case with their sheep and broilers. It provided an opportunity to focus on building their cattle numbers, professional development, and spending more time with their son.

Without an inter-generational backstop, which most farm families have, this wide-open decision-making has helped them develop a resilience all their own.

For Prinsloo, the cliché of “one day at a time” epitomizes his family. They knew years ago that this is where they wanted to be, so they kept working away at their goal, determined to achieve it and not be distracted by the proverbial shiny objects along the way.

“The overarching theme is incremental progress towards our goals and establish ourselves a bit more to own a bit more land,” he says of their increasingly clear vision. “There are some people that believe in continued expansion forever, but that’s certainly not the case for us. We’re about refining value, finding efficiencies and doing more with less. One of our goals is definitely to stay nimble and adaptable.”

Prinsloo underscores the paramount need to stay open to change. If not, he says, prepare to be steamrolled by the economy, especially regarding production practices.

“I don’t know how a young person would succeed now without being open to change. That’s what coming from outside of agriculture has given us. I think that naïveté opens you up to possibility.”

Considering the family is working through a true rarity — a business transition of a non-family member — it’s clear their naïveté is a strength, not a weakness.

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Tests confirmed the H7N6 subtype of bird flu at a rural chicken farm in the Otago region, Biosecurity New Zealand said in a statement. It is different to the H5N1 strain that has spread globally and raised fears of human transmission.

“Until we’ve cleaned up the situation on this farm, and assuming no other issues pop anywhere else, then we will be able to export again,” Biosecurity and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard told Radio New Zealand after the announcement.

“The incubation period is a maximum of 21 days, so we’ll know at that point what the situation is.”

Biosecurity New Zealand said there were no reports of other sick or dead birds on other poultry farms, and no human health or food safety concerns. It added it was safe to consume thoroughly cooked egg and poultry products.

“We are taking the find seriously … our testing shows it is unrelated to a H7 strain that was identified in Australia earlier this year,” Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson said in a statement.

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There are 10 premises infected with H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in B.C. and one in Saskatchewan. The nation estimates 11,099,000 birds are affected, according to the latest data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. All B.C. cases are in Chilliwack and Abbotsford.

“I think there’s definitely worry and apprehension in the industry, because in the last two years in a row – and this is the third year – the growers have seen HPAI cases around this time,” said Natalie Veles, executive director of British Columbia Turkey.

Why it matters: Avian flu poses a serious risk to Canada’s poultry supply, and migratory birds that land in the Fraser Valley make B.C. farms particularly vulnerable.

Culprits for the new cases are migratory birds, Veles said. Dr. Theresa Burns, B.C.’s chief veterinary officer, agreed. Waterfowl carry avian influenza viruses north to south and they love to rest in standing water in the Fraser Valley, especially during wet years.

“We get large numbers of waterfowl in the Fraser Valley specifically, and they’re shedding the avian influenza virus into the environment,” Burns said.

This particular strain has been infecting farms in the area for three years. Industry groups and the provincial and federal governments have helped producers prepare for and reduce the risk of avian influenza.

“We’ve seen our poultry industry really step up,” Burns said.

Different orders are in place for infected premises under the Animal Health Act. British Columbia Turkey and other poultry groups in the province are working with the CFIA to ensure infected premises are quarantined and quickly managed.

“We’re also sharing a lot of good information as we go through the outbreak,” Veles said. “The industry is handling it the best we can.”

When HPAI is confirmed in poultry through lab testing, the CFIA designates the affected area as an infected premises and places it under quarantine. It may also establish a primary control zone around an infected premises.

Movement of poultry, related products and equipment is restricted within this 10-kilometre radius. Locations of active primary control zones can be viewed on CFIA’s website.

If a flock is located within an active primary control zone, producers must obtain a permit to transport birds, their products or byproducts. Permits apply to both small and commercial flocks.

“We’ve regulated poultry types – broilers, breeders, layers, turkeys, and also on the non-regulated side, with ducks,” Veles said. “And those are the things that we are really trying to work with the CFIA to understand.”

On poultry farms, biosecurity measures include ensuring birds come only from reputable sources and that any sick birds are promptly isolated from the main flock. Introducing new birds should be done sparingly, and newcomers, as well as those returning from exhibitions, should be isolated before integration. Implementing an all-in, all-out movement for flock management is advisable where feasible, the sector has been told.

Good biosecurity protocols require regular cleaning and disinfection of poultry houses, equipment, clothing and footwear used by handlers. A specific area should be designated for cleaning vehicles and equipment. Dead birds and damaged eggs should be promptly disposed of, and plastic crates should be used for bird transport, protocols indicate.

Such protocols also require restricted access for visitors, and measures to prevent other birds, rodents, pets or wildlife from interacting with the flock. Accurate records of people, animals and equipment moving on and off the premises should be kept.

Veles said she hopes that, in working with producers, the CFIA and other groups, they may discover other risk factors that will allow better control of future outbreaks.

“We need to know what those risk factors are to be able to respond better,” she said.

The CFIA is working with the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food and industry groups to respond to current infections, a spokesperson for the CFIA wrote in an Oct. 30 email.

Around 145,000 birds have been affected by HPIA at the six premises in B.C. All have been humanely killed and disposed of, the CFIA said. Manure, feathers and other material that could spread the disease are disposed of as well, and all premises go through cleaning and disinfection overseen by the CFIA.

“The continued detections of HPAI in both wild and domestic birds in Canada is a strong reminder for anyone raising birds to remain vigilant of HPAI and ensure they have effective biosecurity measures in place,” the spokesperson wrote.

If this year follows the same pattern as the previous two, Burns is hopeful that cases of HPAI will drop off in December.

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