Herbruck’s to lay off 400 employees, citing bird flu outbreak
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch, Michigan’s largest egg producer, says it will lay off hundreds of employees in Ionia County as it deals with an outbreak of bird flu.
In a notice filed with the state on Wednesday, Herbruck’s said it plans to lay off an estimated 400 employees at five of its farms — three in Saranac and two in Lake Odessa. The move will affect hourly and salaried employees as well as contractors.
Neighbors report smell, hazmat suits after bird flu outbreak
The company cited an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, as the reason behind the layoffs.
“The company’s hen population in some of its Ionia county farms have been unexpectedly impacted by avian influenza, which is highly contagious to hens and deadly to hem,” Herbruck’s wrote in the notice.
In a statement released to News 8, CEO Greg Herbruck said work is “not available” at the affected facilities. He went on to say the layoffs are expected to be “temporary” and that the company plans to rehire many workers as it recovers from the effects of the outbreak.
“In the face of ongoing efforts to address the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza alongside state and federal regulators, Herbruck’s has reached the difficult decision to conduct layoffs at the affected facilities where work is not available. We expect this to largely be temporary, as we plan to rehire many positions as we work to repopulate our facilities and continue egg production as safely and quickly as possible. We understand this is a stressful situation for our team members, and we are working with our state partners to provide them with resources, answer questions and assist in their individual family situations.”
Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch CEO Greg Herbruck
NATIONWIDE BIRD FLU OUTBREAK
Michigan and the nation are dealing with an HPAI outbreak that sparked two years ago and has now affected some 90 million birds across the country. The virus was detected last month at Herbruck’s near Saranac. The poultry ranch responded with measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, among them stopping the flow of birds in and out of the facility.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Tim Boring said when HPAI is detected, there are procedures and policies that must be followed, including “preemptive depopulation of flocks.”
On Wednesday, Saranac-area neighbors told News 8 they have seen a lot of activity around Herbruck’s in recent weeks, describing “lots of traffic” and workers in hazmat suits, as well as noting it has been “very smelly.”
Boring said composting of the birds can cause a smell.
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MDARD says there have been avian flu detections in poultry flocks in Newaygo and Ionia counties. Bird flu can cause flu-like symptoms in poultry like lack of energy, appetite and coordination. It can also cause swelling, coughing and reduced egg production. It is very contagious among birds and can be spread through contact with infected poultry, equipment and on the clothing and shoes of caretakers. The state has said the public health risk remains low and no birds or bird products infected with bird flu will enter the commercial food chain.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE PRICE OF EGGS?
Last summer, the average price of a dozen eggs nearly reached $5 nationwide following a similar outbreak. While Paul Isely, a professor of economics at Grand Valley State University, doesn’t anticipate this year’s bird flu to push prices that high, he said the Ionia County outbreak continues to have a ripple effect.
“We have fewer and fewer and fewer birds to produce the eggs that we’re eating. And so just like anything that becomes scarce, we then have to bid up the price to ration those eggs to the people who are willing to pay the price,” Isely said. “It will be unlikely that we see the large spike that we saw last time. But we could see elevated prices now through the rest of summer.”
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The Michigan egg and poultry industry generates about $1 billion each year and employs around 2,500 workers. The 400 people being laid off by Herbruck’s account for about a fifth of that.
“We’re seeing about two-thirds of the impact of the avian flu right now that’s happening in the United States here in Michigan. It will have a material effect on many communities,” he said. “A quarter-of-a-billion-dollar industry shutting down — that has a lot of effect on tax revenues, it has a lot of effect on people’s incomes.”
Local grocery stores have been left with the tough decision to either increase sale prices or, if possible, rely more on other suppliers.
“Pricing is very volatile right now,” Andrew Hartline, a manager at Kingma’s Market in Grand Rapids, said. “For the most part, we have taken a margin hit. To remain competitive, we’ve kept the (sale price) as is.”
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