In the South-West, a duck-free winter month to fight against avian flu

An unprecedented initiative in France, producers of ducks and geese in the South-West will empty their farms for a month in winter to prevent avian flu from spreading again, but are organizing to be “Ready for Christmas”. The production of foie gras is a must in the Southwest, but since November, avian flu has continued to worry waterfowl breeders, who are experiencing their fourth crisis since 2015.

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“We are tired of living this”says Chantal Brethes, president of Palso, the organization of the foie gras sector IGP (Protected Geographical Identification) and Label Rouge du Sud-Ouest. “In 68 municipalities where there are the highest densities of livestock, there will be no animals on the farms from December 15 to January 15”, she continues. The initiative located in the area which encompasses the east of the Landes, the west of the Gers and the north of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques concerns an area which has a high livestock density.

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Above all, this area represents a quarter of French foie gras, when the South-West, more generally, provides 40% of the country’s foie gras. As the initiative is limited in time, the Palso estimates that this represents approximately 500,000 ducks that will be missing from national production, i.e. the production of a “hundred breeders”.

“We will go further if necessary»

“Stopping on December 15 means being ready for Christmas 15 days before, it’s still a very strong measure”she underlines, and if avian flu still threatens farms in January, “we will go further if necessary”. On her farm, she will only make two batches out of three, i.e. a loss “between 6,000 and 7,000 euros for geese and 12,000 euros for ducks”explains Ms. Brethes. “It’s a test, we’ll see if it works”, says Bernard Tauzia, president of Airvol, the regional association of poultry in the South-West. For poultry, breeders agree to reduce production volumes by 40% in the same area.

“The profession wants to anticipate a new crisis and this is a proposal made to the State. We are waiting for the ministry’s response., says Philippe Everlet, head of the poultry service at the Gers Chamber of Agriculture. The initiative will represent a total loss of “12 million euros” for the breeders, estimate the Palso and Airvol, who ask the State to allocate this amount to the compensation of the downstream companies, that is, those which slaughter, cut, transform, condition… “When we see that we are going to approach the billion for the total compensation of the avian flu, it is nothing 12 millionsays Mrs. Brethes. Since November, France has identified more than 1,300 outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry farms, resulting in the slaughter of 19.2 million poultry on the territory.