PIC Update – July 2012

The PIC Spring Symposium, formerly known as Research Day, was “bookended” by two talks: the first on the impact and costs of disease at the macro (industry/economy) and micro (farm) levels, and the last from a producer who has been through a disease problem on his farm. Although not a massive, catastrophic event, it was nevertheless inexplicable to him, damaging to his confidence and placing considerable strain on his farm business and personal life.

His account was a story we never hear. Yet there would be few poultry farmers who haven’t at some stage felt the added pressure of a disease outbreak on their farm and gone through a similar experience. This personal experience is what I call the “intangible-substantial” cost of poultry disease.

We hear and talk about disease in a strikingly clinical manner; disease strikes the farm, production drops, vaccination and culling occur, productivity drops, profit is reduced and biological and financial losse are incurred. Between flocks, extra money is spent cleaning and sanitizing trying to address the problem.

Throughout, you continually ask yourself the obvious question – how did this happen to me? You followed recommended biosecurity protocols, clean and disinfect and dry the barn before new litter, have a rodent and insect control program, check feed bins, sanitize the water and medicate as required. What else is there?

In meetings we talk about the financial costs and control measures as if they’re absolutes, certainties that will prevent the problem. Producers ask the experts what they should and shouldn’t do and the experts tell them that, to the best of their knowledge, if everything is being done correctly it should be OK. But what if it’s not?

If when the next flock arrives and the same problem is encountered when insidious self-doubt about one’s own practices can start to creep in.

Our Spring Symposium producer speaker, Len Jewitt (see page 29), described having a disease organism found on his farm that he couldn’t get rid of as, akin to having a “stain” on his professionalism, as if everything he’d done in the past, the way he’d managed his business, was suddenly brought into question. He felt the birds he’d brought into his business to care for and grow had been put at risk by him and, worse still, everything he’d worked for his entire career, was suddenly being put at risk by his actions. He felt a sense of shame, a stigma, at having a problem that he, a professional farmer, was struggling with. He also felt as if he was the only producer going through this.

His self-doubt was normal, and all in his head, as he is probably one of the best operators in the business. But when you own your own business, it’s natural to wonder whose fault can it be, if not yours?

We’ve all heard about (some firsthand), the human toll from catastrophic disease outbreaks such as those witnessed in British Columbia. In such times it’s a credit to our industry and affected communities that rally to support affected families.

And, thanks to the professionalism of our producers and the biosecurity systems we have in place in Canada, such catastrophic events are rare. But equally rare are discussions about the psychological pressure and personal impact of farmers coping alone with a “minor” isolated disease outbreak on their farm.

When there is a disease outbreak on a farm, we rightly isolate that farm in order to control the disease. But when it is over, we continue to treat the incident as isolated instead of acknowledging that there are many other farmers who have had similar issues working through the process and aftermath of dealing with disease.

It is acknowledged and completely reasonable that anyone wanting to sell stock (chicks, pullets) from that property does not want to broadcast the fact that they have had a disease on farm. But the majority of farmers don’t sell pullets or chicks and many farmers are putting up with low levels of financially and psychologically damaging disease and feeling just like our speaker did: alone and too ashamed to seek help.

We have high hopes that Mr. Jewitt’s talk will start a long overdue conversation about the human impact of disease that we can help facilitate. Anyone who heard his talk could not fail to have been moved by the personal disclosure about his experience and the passion with which he spoke.

But do we in poultry (in fact, in all of agriculture) ever really share information about disease and how we are coping with it in different ways? And if not – then how do we exchange ideas and learn from each other about how to cope? We get technical bulletins, hold workshops, read factsheets – all produced by “experts” but I don’t think we ever really have a conversation between farmers about disease. So we never get an opportunity to “learn” that we’re not alone in facing disease challenges.

Here’s an example: There are some discussion groups happening in the dairy industry at the moment and they’re talking about disease. At one of these meetings, one farmer told the group that he thought that 96 per cent scouring in his calves was normal and acceptable. It was only by having a conversation with other farmers that it became apparent to him that his “normal” was not the industry “normal.”

If we had a conversation in the poultry industry about how we individually adapt and adopt the technologies and science to our farming systems, would it be, as the Biosecurity Calendar puts it, “spread the terms not the germs?” Would we not be better informed? Would we not be able to identify gaps in our knowledge that we can then ask the technocrats to fill? I think we would benefit from this.

So how do we get the conversation going? If more producers who’ve been through a disease cycle (or two), and who are willing to talk about the impact it had on their farm, their life and their family in a facilitated session/workshop style, came forward, that would be a powerful start. We would immediately get a more realistic idea of how widespread poultry disease really is across our industry and what impact it’s having.

Secondly, we could discuss how each coped financially, physically and psychologically, compare stories and start building a bank of ideas containing technologies, farm management tips and smart ideas that will help other producers get on top of disease faster and cope with the stress.

The PIC would be very pleased to hear from producers who think that such an initiative would prove valuable, and any who might be interested in offering their story through which we could get the conversation going and together build better flock and producer health and reduce the cost of disease. Interested producers may contact me at tnelson@poultryindustrycouncil.ca.