Economic Impacts from an On-Farm Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Event in Tennessee

In March of 2017, two outbreaks of avian influenza, one highly- and one low-pathogenic, were reported in Tennessee poultry breeding flocks. This study estimates the potential economic impacts of a larger hypothetical event, in particular, indicating the magnitude of effects for poultry producers, industry organizations, policymakers, and other industry stakeholders. The economic impacts are estimated both with and without reductions in forward-linked processing of broiler breeders and broiler operations with depopulation rates of 10 to 25 percent in a nine-county area in the south-central part of Tennessee. Estimated reductions in gross regional product ranged from $6.7 million to $16.8 million.