The current outbreak of bird flu is so great that the sector’s noose pot intended for five years has already been exhausted after two and a half years, de Volkskrant writes. That while two more years should have been drawn from the pot to fight the virus.
So far, 4.9 million chickens, ducks and turkeys have been killed in the past year. At the end of September, 200,000 broilers were culled in Nieuw-Weerdinge after an outbreak. Several infections have also been detected just across the provincial border with Groningen in recent weeks, after which it had to be cleared.
Three years ago, a maximum cost item of EUR 30 million was set for the poultry sector to combat bird flu outbreaks for the period 2020-2024. That money is coughed up by all poultry farms together; the exact contribution depends on the number of chickens or eggs of a company.
The ceiling has now been amply exceeded, says Erik de Jonge of industry association Avined in the newspaper. Some stakeholders estimate that 60 million euros have already been spent on combating (2.8 million in 2020, 5.7 million in 2021, and an unknown, but extremely higher amount this year). And there is still more than two years to go.