Glenn Hickman on egg shortage in Arizona

With the outbreak of avian flu, over 30 million laying chickens have been euthanized nationwide.

Glenn Hickman, President and CEO of Hickman’s Family Farms, joined “Arizona Horizon” to talk about the impact of avian flu, the egg shortage and what is happening in Arizona.

Hickman’s Family Farms is the largest producer of eggs in the Southwest. Hickman explained more than 1 million of their chickens at Hickman’s Family Farms in Maricopa had to be euthanized. This has caused egg supply shortages and an increase in egg prices.

Hickman said the national flock is about 10 to 15% below what is needed to keep up with demand. Hickman also said his farms have taken all safety precautions but added that in order to eradicate the avian flu, a vaccine is needed.

“It’s been very difficult, our business is 81-years-old this year and we’ve built our business on service and customers and it’s been very difficult to maintain that record of supply,” Hickman said.

Although Hickman’s Family Farms is one egg producer in the United States, they impact the deficiency of supply in the national egg market. To try and push through the effects of flu, Hickman said that the company has done everything they can think to do including washing vehicles multiple times a day, having their employees park at a far lot and transporting them on site.

The people who work with the birds have to bathe and change into company clothes before entering the barn area. The site is also an enclosed facility which decreases the chances for wild birds to enter and spread the avian flu.

“I will tell you that although the Department of Agriculture disagrees, this virus is airborne. There is no way that we’ve tracked it in mechanically. And I am not just saying that for Hickman’s egg ranch, I’m saying that for the rest of the industry, we are really good stewards of biosecurity,” Hickman said.

Hickman’s Family Farms have been implementing all precautions against the avian flu since the outbreak in 2015 however now they have increased the intensity of the protocols.