WEBVTT - Senator Chris Coons on How to Fix Our Response to Avian Flu 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:14.440 Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots Podcast. 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.040 I'm Joe Wisenthal and I'm Tracy Alloway. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.959 Last summer egg price has served. We had the avian flu. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:23.680 Egg prices have since come down, and I guess like 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:24.920 we've sort of forgotten about it. 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.440 I haven't. I have not forgotten about avian flu. Well, 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.440 it looms large in my mind as I continue to 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:33.800 daydream about becoming a small scale chicken ground. 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.560 Well, what is happening with that things have improved? 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.680 I was talking to ornithologist that I'm friendly with, and 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.640 he says a lot of the infestations in wild birds 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.640 seem to have subsided, and that was kind of the 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.519 vector for infection. But it is interesting if you look 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:53.559 at egg prices, egg prices now have basically normalized from 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.160 the record that we saw in sort of I think 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.560 it was actually December of last year, so at least 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:03.240 from a mar perspective, it has faded from recent memory. 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.240 Right, And so you know, while we do all these 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.480 episodes about various disruptions and things that happen, and then 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:11.800 it goes on and it's sort of like, okay, well, 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.160 like can we do it better in the future, right, like, 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.680 did we learn anything from this episode of sort of 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.720 major disruptions? Is there going to be a change in 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:22.960 the law, Is there going to be a change in logistics? 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:24.680 Is there going to be a change in supply chains? 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:24.800 Like? 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:28.479 Is there a way to avoid a disruption and an 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.800 outbreak the likes of which we saw in a twenty 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:32.040 twenty two Absolutely? 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.360 And I remember we recorded that episode with Glenn Hickman, 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:39.080 the president of Hickman Family Farms, which has a bunch 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.920 of chickens. It's a chicken producer and egg producer. And 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:46.480 I remember he was describing the existing system for handling 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:50.240 Avian flu and we got into some of the way 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.120 it works with him. So he was talking about compensation, 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.160 for instance, and from talking to him, it seems like 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.560 there is room for improvement. There's also a large question 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.160 over whether or not the US should start just vaccinating 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:05.760 commercial chicken flocks. 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.680 You know what I didn't know until preparing for this episode. 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.200 I didn't know Delaware was a huge chicken Did you 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.360 know that it's a huge chicken powerhouse state. 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.320 No, I had no idea. I've driven through Delaware a 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.160 few times, and I have I have to say, I 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:20.760 have not noticed a lot of chickens wandering around, but 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:22.720 of course they wouldn't just be wandering around, they would 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.480 be in big, sort of barn like structures. 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.040 I don't know what I would have guessed if someone says, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.880 what state do you think? You know what? I don't know, 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:35.160 like what I Maybe I would have said, like Arkansas, Yeah, Arkansas, right, 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.440 or maybe Texas or one of the southern states. But apparently, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.320 like Delaware is like this huge chicken power house. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.760 All right, well, we have to dig into why Delaware 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.400 is a chicken powerhouse and what we can do about 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:47.200 future avian flu outbreaks. 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.960 We do literally have the perfect guest for this episode, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:56.320 because we are speaking with Delaware Senator Chris Coons, who 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.240 is a and I didn't know this. He is the 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.919 co chair of the Senate Chicken Caucus, and he is 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.680 the co sponsor of a bill that they're trying to 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:08.919 move forward called the Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act, 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.600 which are trying to in some way improve upon the 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:17.880 existing system for compensating farmers affected by an avian flu outbreak. 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:19.760 Gotta love the Chicken Caucus. 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.640 Senator Coons, thank you so much for coming on Odlocks. 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.680 What happens now to farmers if they are in an 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.080 area under current law, in an area where avian flu 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.040 is discovered. 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.639 Well, the good news and the bad news is that 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:39.160 as a country, we're very good at identifying hipathogenic avian 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:44.440 influenza outbreaks or HPAI outbreaks. And what happens, frankly, is 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:48.200 that the farmer whose flock is infected promptly gets a 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:53.160 control order, has to depopulate, has to destroy his entire flock, 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:58.600 and is then compensated by USDA for that. However, under 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.600 current policy, all the other poultry farms in a six 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:06.840 mile radius or a ten kilometer radius around that HPAI 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:11.880 case are not allowed to bring new flocks until the 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:16.600 virus is deemed fully contained. So let's say you're a 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.320 poultry farmer and I live two three miles away, and 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:23.400 I'm a poultry farmer, and you tragically have an HPAI infection, 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:27.080 You destroy your whole flock, You get compensated for that, 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.680 But now I can't have any more turns in my 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.920 chicken house. I can't bring in any more new flocks 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.520 and be compensated. That's the current situation. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:43.839 So I remember when we spoke to Glenn Hickman mid sized, 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.960 well fairly large to mid sized poultry farmer. He was 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.920 saying that the other thing that isn't covered is if 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.640 you need to buy new chickens, for instance, to restock 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:59.960 your flock. Are there other associated costs that poultry farmers 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:01.480 just aren't compensated for it. 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:08.040 Yes, my sense is that growers undergo significant financial struggles, 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.599 but there is a real gap between those who have 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:16.200 a positive HPI case and those who aren't compensated in 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:20.960 the same area. And I am optimistic that, working with 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:25.120 my friend and partner, Senator Wicker and the other fifteen 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:29.600 members from across the country of our bipartisan Senate Chicken Caucus, 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.560 that we're going to be successful in adding additional compensation 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:35.719 through the farm build this year. 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.080 Can I say, I am already a fan of the 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.000 Chicken Caucus, and I think a lot of people when 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.400 they hear that name are sort of tickled by it. 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.400 But what does the Chicken Caucus actually do well? 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:51.200 The Chicken Caucus recognizes that chicken is a really important 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.600 agricultural product for all of the United States. It's critical 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:58.800 to my home state of Delaware, but across the country 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.800 there's three hundred thousand people who work in the poultry industry. 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.800 It generates about forty five billion dollars a year, and 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:10.560 there's major operations in about thirty states. But instead of 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.679 our having a common and cohesive voice in the Senate 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.640 when I got here thirteen years ago, there really wasn't that. 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.400 And so my dear friend, our late colleague, Senator Johnny 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:25.880 Isaacson of Georgia, Johnny and I launched the Chicken Caucus 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.159 in twenty thirteen. Part of this is just good old 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:33.800 home state interests. For me, Delaware has two hundred times 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:38.279 more chickens than people. It generates about seven billion a 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.960 year in economic activity for my state. It really defines 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.919 agriculture in Delaware. And in fact, this year we're celebrating 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.960 the century of the broiler chicken industry in Delaware, which 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:55.719 began with an accident. A missus Cecil Steele ordered a 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.840 small number of chickens through a mail order company and 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:02.760 got hundreds of them, and then ended up actually discovering 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.920 that because we are so close to New York and 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.480 Philadelphia and Baltimore and Washington, that she could really make 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.560 a successful business out of raising thousands of chickens a year. 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.920 And now there are millions in Delaware and around the country. 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.800 I view it as, in many ways the most important 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.480 animal protein in our country. And the Chicken Caucus focuses 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:27.120 on the opportunities and challenges for export and domestically of 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:28.480 the American chicken industry. 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:30.760 Joe, did you know that you can still send baby 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:31.960 chicks through the US mail? 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.360 I did not know that, Can I just say so? 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:39.160 We were recording this episode a little differently, just full disclosure. 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.280 Were recording the interview first, and we're going to do 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.040 the intro after. And this was going to be the 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.160 story that I was going to tell on the intro, 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.960 because while doing some prep I read about the story 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.400 of the woman who meant to order fifty chickens and 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:57.520 accidentally got five hundred chickens and then started a huge industry. 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.840 And I was going to ask Tracy if this. 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:02.360 So. 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:07.320 What happened to Delaware last year during the worst of 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:08.480 the AVM flu outbreak. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:14.160 Well, we had some significant losses. There were poultry growers 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.120 who weren't able to earn the same kind of income 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.440 they historically had. We did manage to get quick and 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:27.200 effective control of the outbreak. The University of Delaware's Agriculture 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:32.680 School has dedicated programs and trained extension agents. The del 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.760 Marva Chicken Association and our Farm Bureau have worked very 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.880 closely together to make sure that everyone in our agricultural 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.319 community is well aware of the risks of HPAI and 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:45.280 how to deal with it. 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.800 And it can have a real impact. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.560 Both directly in terms of the loss of chickens and 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:55.000 revenue and indirectly in terms of socializing people visiting from 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:55.960 one farm to another. 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:58.040 But we've got it well underhand. 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.920 We have a very talented State Sectionctary of Agriculture who 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.000 is well grounded in our culture industry, and in the end, 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:06.920 we've come through it, I think stronger than ever. 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:11.280 So walk us through the legislation that you're introducing, what 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.960 it actually does, and how it would differ from the 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.800 existing form of compensation which you laid out earlier. 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:21.240 It essentially says, if you undergo the same financial struggles 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.040 because of the Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Inspection 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.800 Service the APHIS rules in terms of how you deal 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:33.480 with HPAI, you'll get the same compensation if you're within 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:38.280 that six mile radius and your economic activity is harmed 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:42.280 than you would if you actually had a positive outbreak 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:44.280 if you had an infection in your flock. 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.079 It also simplifies the. 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.920 Way that you calculate the indemnated payments so that growers 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:55.439 have greater security. And I'm very excited about Senator John Boseman, 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.559 the most senior Republican on the Agriculture Committee, coming to 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.000 visit a in Delaware two fridays from now. He's going 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.959 to spend the day visit with some of our producers 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.000 and growers and talk to leaders in our egg industry, 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.360 and we're going to be talking through exactly what this 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:17.280 last HPAI outbreak meant for growers in Delaware and what 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.880 this legislation would do for us and for all the 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.560 chicken industry in the country. I am hopeful that with 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.120 Senator Boseman's leadership, it will get included in the farm. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:28.800 Bill later this year. 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:48.760 Does the bill differentiate at all between large and small farmers, 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.000 because I think a lot of people will think maybe 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.560 small scale farmers need additional support, but a large company 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.839 like say a Pilgrim's Pride, I mean, they seem to 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.840 be doing okay just looking at their share price. Tyson 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.680 Tyson isn't. But I think there are some other issues there, 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:06.960 but does it differentiate it. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:12.240 Briefly, No, And let me briefly be clear, the integrated 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:17.160 business model for growers is quite different. So the vast 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.920 majority of the farmers in Delaware who are raising chicken 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:25.120 have other jobs and they have one or two or 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:30.000 three chicken houses on their property, and a company like 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:34.800 Purdue or Tysons brings the chicks to the farm, provides 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:40.120 them with feed, with antibiotics, with support and monitoring, and 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:44.400 then whenever they've grown fast enough to then be taken 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.520 back to be processed, they come to the farm and 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:51.000 take them away. And so as the poultry grower, as 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.120 the chicken farmer, what you really own is the house, 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:59.360 and you provide the supervision, the labor, the active maintenance 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:00.240 of the house. 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:01.600 And you tend the flock. 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.040 That's why part of the focus of this bill is 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:08.400 on the economic harm of not being able to have 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.199 more flocks come through your houses. But there are hundreds 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:16.480 of Delawareans who own one, two or three chicken houses 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.840 and these are assets that are you know, thirty fifty 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:24.200 thousand dollars, So this is really aimed at them. It 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.160 is really aimed at reducing the economic harm suffered by 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.440 lots of middle class working families who are chicken farmers 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.680 but who often also have other income, but where the 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.040 impact to them and their family of being shut down 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.760 for months at a time can be significant. 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.000 Tracy, you really could do this. I did not realize 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:47.720 that for a lot of chickens are produced as someone's 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:49.480 like sort of second or third form of income. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.800 Yeah, I can supplement my Bloomberg salary. Senator, is just 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.120 remind me that model that you just described, is that 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:56.920 called contract poultry farming. 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.640 Yes, the integrated model where you have large processors like 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:06.439 Tysons or Purdue, and then hundreds and hundreds of farmers 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:13.400 who are on contract with particular processors has worked fairly well. 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:14.240 In del Marbo. 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.000 We've got a system where the growers have options, they 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:22.000 can switch between the five big companies in our region 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:28.520 if they want, and the integrators are responsible for the larger, messier, 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.959 more challenging, more capital intensive parts of the process, both 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:37.800 the hatchery, the delivery, the trucking, and the processing of 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:38.280 the chicken. 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.079 And the chicken growers really. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.240 Are responsible for what's in their backyard for their chicken house, 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.600 how it's operated, and how it's maintained and it's worked 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.800 in our region, and it's worked relatively well for a 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:51.480 century now. 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.200 So just to be clear in terms of the upgrades 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.720 that your bill would propose, what is the name again, sorry, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:59.400 of your new bill. 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.040 I think it's literally called the HBAI. 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:02.280 Oh. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:06.880 Yeah, So it would compensate farmers who didn't who were 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.520 affected because they couldn't introduce new chickens in the area, 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.559 even if they didn't have a positive test. It would 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:17.520 simplify the payout on the payout, how big is the 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.080 pot of money total is there? Is it caped or 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.480 is it just However, much like if there were a 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:26.600 big national outbreak, is there a cap on how much 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.960 would be paid out from the USDA budget? 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:31.600 I don't know that. 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.960 I don't think so, but I also, frankly, within the 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.920 scope of the USDA budget would expect this would be 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.600 a relatively small line it so. 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:42.280 I know. 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:46.200 Traditionally in the US the way we've handled avian flu 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:50.480 outbreaks is basically by trying to isolate the cases, destroy 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.960 the affected flock, and stamp it out that way. But 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:58.640 there's some discussion of maybe moving to a vaccine based model, 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.120 and there are other countries that have started to do this, 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:05.680 China being a notable example, is that a viable option 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:10.520 for America. Should we instead of compensating farmers for millions 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:15.160 of dead chickens, should we perhaps be looking at mass vaccinations. 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.120 Well, that is something that the USDA is currently considering. 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:25.160 They are running HPAI vaccine trials, but there are no 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:30.240 currently approved HPAI vaccines, and we have to be careful 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.840 with this and make sure that there is a global 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.720 decision about whether or not to move forward with vaccination 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.280 as the means of addressing HPAI, because it's a truly 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:45.080 global market, and it's a significant portion of Delaware's chicken 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.000 production and of our US chicken production is for the 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:52.400 global market. So the EU, for example, is slated to 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:57.720 start vaccinations for poultry soon, whereas the UK prohibits vaccinations 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:01.520 of poultry. And I think it's that efforts to vaccinate 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:06.320 American flocks don't have the unintended adverse impact of shutting 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.800 off key export markets for US around the world. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:13.160 So there are trade relationships that we have that stipulate 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:17.040 certain nature of the chickens that get exported, etc. And 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.720 so depending on what happens with the vaccination, that could 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.040 be in violation theoretically, is that the idea that's right. 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:29.400 So there are countries that I think are inappropriately using 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:35.440 HPAI as an excuse to stop importing American chicken. We 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.320 have long been barred from the Chinese market, for example, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:43.120 which is had been one of our largest, most profitable markets, 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.520 actually ironically less for the chicken meat than for the pause. 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.640 It's something that often surprises audiences when I tell them that, 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.760 in some ways the most profitable part of chicken grown 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.760 in Delaware is the export of their pause to the 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.640 Chinese market that's been shut off US for a number 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:04.479 of years under the flimsy excuse that HBAI if there 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:08.720 are outbreaks in other parts of the United States justifies 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:14.720 barring exports from Delaware. We've tried to get regionalization understood 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:19.080 and accepted. If there's an HBII outbreak in Washington State, 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.439 for example, to use that as an excuse to prevent 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.320 del Marva chicken from being exported into a market around 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.720 the world, I think is unjustified. But we also have 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:33.639 some countries that have said, if you begin vaccinations, we 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.600 will bar your chickens from being exported into our country. 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:39.040 On that icens Tracy. 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.000 I'm a big fan of chicken feed, by the way, 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:41.639 I so am I. 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:44.560 They're supposed to be good for your skin too, lots 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:48.400 of collagen. They're delicious, Senator. Just on the vaccination point, 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:52.240 I believe there are also medical concerns. So the worry 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.080 is that if you were to vaccinate flocks that you 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:01.160 might still get infections, but they would just be less noticeable. 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.560 The chickens wouldn't get sick, and then they would sort of, 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:09.200 I guess, become silent spreaders of the disease to unvaccinated birds. 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:10.600 That's right. 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.520 That's a concern with any vaccine is that if it's 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.959 not sufficiently efficacious, if it doesn't have the impact of 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.720 stomping out the infection, it can simply lead to it 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:28.440 spreading more broadly, not being noticed because the carriers are asymptomatic, 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.080 and then the long term of public health consequences can 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:36.679 be significant. So I think it's important that the current 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.960 vaccine trials that USDA is undergoing be allowed to be 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.119 thorough and complete. It would be a big change in 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:51.440 our policy to deal with HPAI through vaccination, and if 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:53.240 that comes to pass, we want to make sure that 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.640 it's medically sound, that it sound as a matter of 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.040 public health, and that it sound as a matter of 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:01.640 its potent impact on our poultry industry. 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:06.080 Forgive me for asking what maybe sort of a politics question, 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:08.399 but you know, you talk about your work with the 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:13.280 late Senator Johnny Isaacson. In this case, you're working alongside 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.119 the senator from Mississippi, Senator Wicker. 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:17.440 You know, we were. 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:20.199 Used to as consumers of news hearing about these like 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.040 huge pitched battles in DC that always come down to 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:27.840 the last second in areas like this, chicken farming, something 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.600 like this. Is there more of this activity, bipartisan consensus 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.320 activity than maybe the general public realizes. 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:36.320 Yes, Joe, there is. 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.919 And frankly, that's one of the reasons I was attracted 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.760 to forming the Chicken Caucus with Johnny and to continuing 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:45.840 to sustain it and lead it is that it's something 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.960 that helps pull together senators from across the country and 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:51.040 from different backgrounds. 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:51.840 And look, that's. 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.320 Part of the history of the Farm bill is that 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:58.320 the Farm Bill has long been broadly bipartisan. The Farm 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:02.720 Bell in twenty eighteen got eight votes. And my hope 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:06.600 is that a chair stabinaw and ranking Member Boseman will 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.760 get that strong a support with this legislation this year, 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.440 and adding this piece, the HPAI Act to the Farm 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:17.280 Bill would help secure some additional support from around the 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:21.120 country within my own state. I'm really struck at how 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:25.760 organizations that don't necessarily or always support every legislative initiative 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:30.399 I take, like the American Farm Bureau Federation, or Egg 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:35.200 Producers or the Del Marve Chicken Association, they're enthusiastically in support. 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:35.760 Of this legislation. 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:38.280 At the end of the day, each of us as 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:42.159 Senators comes here to advance the interests and concerns of 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:48.040 our constituents, and comes here with some ideological or philosophical bands. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:53.560 I have enjoyed and benefited from finding core concerns of 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:57.720 my constituents, like the vibrancy of our poultry industry that 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.920 really aren't ideological, that really don't have a Republican or 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.440 democratic attinge to them, and then finding friends and partners 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.879 I can work with on things like this. Roger and I, 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.119 Senator Wicker and I have worked on a range of 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:15.960 different things, from national service to neglected tropical diseases to 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:19.640 the Chicken Caucus, and that has helped us to find 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.200 our way towards legislating together on other topics. 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.720 Since Joe asked about bipartisan support, let me ask the 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:46.280 devil's advocate question, which is, why do farmers get extra 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:51.200 support from this type of crop or poultry or animal loss. 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:54.560 I mean, other people start businesses, if there's an act 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:57.560 of God of some sort, maybe they have insurance for it, 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:02.360 maybe they don't. They have to take on those costs themselves. 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:04.679 Why do farmers deserve government support? 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:08.960 Tracy, your question presumes that we don't provide billions and 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:14.360 subsidies for coastlines that frankly, we have to pay out 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:16.440 every time there's a hurricane season, or that we don't 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:20.120 provide billions in disaster relief every time there's a tornado 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:22.200 or a wildfire or a drought. 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:23.760 And the reality is that we do. 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:28.840 Farming is very difficult, It is unpredictable, it is dependent 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:32.000 on the weather, it's dependent on the markets. And as 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:36.080 you well know, we have the most productive agricultural sector 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.520 on the planet. And as I have spent time in 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:43.280 the developing world, in the Global South, visiting with smallholder 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:47.200 farmers whose yields are a tenth of what ours are. 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:52.000 I have come to appreciate the broad and the deep 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:57.200 history and the infrastructure here around supporting agriculture, crop insurance 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:01.879 programs for youth like Future Farmers of America, for h 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:08.680 financing access to credit, infrastructure investments and hybrids, and developing 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:14.680 new seeds and new strains. Our support federally for agriculture 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.760 is really remarkable, and that's why we have the safest, 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:23.399 most secure, most productive agricultural system in the world. And 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.320 it's why we not only have enough to feed every American, 0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:30.280 but we send commodity agricultural products from the United States 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:33.560 to feed the hungry and the starving around the world. 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:36.360 Just a few weeks ago, I was with a bipartisan 0:23:36.400 --> 0:23:40.600 delegation through the Aspen Institute in Kenya and we visited 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:44.880 both a refugee camp in the far Northwest, a remote 0:23:44.880 --> 0:23:48.080 and difficult and harsh place where there's a quarter million 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:51.680 refugees from Sudan being sustained and fed through the World 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:54.600 Food Program. And I got to visit a new factory 0:23:55.200 --> 0:24:00.879 in Nairobi where they're manufacturing something that really was initially 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:03.640 piloted here in the United States, and factories in Georgia 0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:07.680 Andian Rhode island that takes peanuts and milk solids and 0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:11.920