The answer to this question is an emphatic “yes.” Avian Influenza (AI) poses a serious threat to both gamebird producers and the hunt clubs they sell to. You’ll learn how to protect and prepare your hunting club at the NAGA Hunting Club Conference on July 18-20 in Mt. Sterling, Ohio.
It’s been seven years since the last time AI posed a threat to the gamebird business. In the aftermath, producers scrambled to install new biosecurity protocols and plans for the future, while NAGA coordinated the effort to create a Secure Upland Gamebird Supply Plan to ensure the movement of birds the next time this crisis occurred.
That time is now, and in many ways, the latest outbreaks pose a much more significant threat to gamebird farms and bird hunting businesses. Unlike the 2014-2015 outbreaks, this latest bug has been found across the country, including hunting preserves in New York and Pennsylvania.
NAGA’s Health Committee has been working diligently to provide resources to affected farms and preserves and has been greatly aided by some of the nation’s top veterinary health experts. One of these people will be a featured speaker. Abby Schuft is an Extension Educator specializing in poultry at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Animal Science. She is also a Ph.D. candidate and has an excellent gift for boiling science down into terms that folks outside of animal science can understand and put to work.
Abby will be talking to attendees of the Hunting Club Conference about:
- What you can do to prevent AI from spreading to your preserve
- What you need to prepare if it does
- What you must do if the worst does occur, and you need to take action
You won’t want to miss these invaluable presentations and the chance to network with other hunting preserve owners. Visit northamericangamebird.com to register for the conference.
