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Nebraska sees egg expansion opportunities

eggsExpansion of Nebraska’s livestock industry is a top priority of Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and his director of agriculture Greg Ibach.

Ibach tells Brownfield that egg production is one potential area of growth. He says the rapid spread of avian influenza in Iowa and other states earlier this year may cause some egg producers to look at Nebraska.

“As the Midwest was impacted by avian influenza this spring, we saw some of those states with a lot denser poultry population struggle with that density as it spread between production facilities,” Ibach says. “That ‘closeness’ caused that biosecurity risk to turn into avian influenza cases.”

Ibach says that creates an opportunity for Nebraska.

“I think our lack of density of egg production in major areas of our state really gives us the opportunity to talk to some of those companies that are thinking about expanding their production, to take a look at Nebraska,” he says.

Nebraska currently ranks 10th in nation in commercial egg production.  The state’s nine million birds produce over two billion eggs annually.

AUDIO: Greg Ibach

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