(Bloomberg). American poultry farmers had already struggled with increasing production when avian flu began to strike.

The Covid-19 epidemic two years ago and the abnormally cold winter in 2021 have caused problems for chicken and turkey producers. This has led to a rise in prices and hampered egg production. The latest detection of bird flu was made at a Kentucky farm, which supplies the top U.S. poultry producer. Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE :).,) is the latest threat to poultry supply. 

“Once a flock gets it, it’s a death sentence,” said Russ Whitman, senior vice president at commodity researcher Urner Barry. “It’s all about the spread and we simply don’t know enough about that. It’s a wait and see.” 

”The buyers of the world are already keenly aware of the challenges they’re up against in 2022 in just getting the supply that they need.”

Tyson stated that it had increased biosecurity measures, including the restriction of visitors to farms nearby after discovering deadly bird flu. 

“Because the affected farm in Kentucky is only one of the thousands of farms that raise chickens for our company, the situation is not expected to impact our overall chicken production levels,” Tyson said in a statement.

Tyson, and other meat businesses have been subject to pressure by the Biden Administration in order to make huge profits despite consumers paying record-breaking meat prices. 

The weather isn’t helping: drought in Brazil is shrinking the soybean harvest and raising feed prices. Recent severe winters in Arkansas, Virginia and other states have also affected poultry production. This is similar to an unusual cold snap that decimated hundreds of thousands of birds a year earlier.

“There’s a lot of weather issues that have occurred,” Bob Brown, an independent market consultant in Edmond, Oklahoma, said by phone. 

In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced its production outlook this year for broiler birds due to higher feed prices. 

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