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Gold'n Plump executives say they were partly just lucky their Minnesota operations were not ravaged by avian flu and that chickens, their stock-in-trade, aren't as susceptible to the virus as turkeys.


 
But there was more than good fortune at play last spring. As avian flu swept across the state, St. Cloud-based Gold'n Plump managed to keep every one of its hundreds of central Minnesota chicken barns virus-free. 


A deeper look shows the company survived by sweating the small, but crucial details of biosecurity — constant cleaning and constant communication with workers — even as the virus infected the barns of other producers just a few miles away.

 
They're sharing their story now, hoping it offers lessons on defense should the virulent H5N2 strain returns. Poultry producers as far away as North Carolina are taking notice.

Avian flu in Minnesota

 
The secret to managing the virus was managing people, said Gold'n Plump Vice President Bill Lanners.

 
All employees were told they played a role in building an air tight biosecurity system. The belief was that even if just one person skipped a biosecurity step — like changing footwear just once — it could doom tens of thousands of dollars' worth of birds.

 
"Biosecurity really is pretty simple. The key is to do it every single time," said Lanners. "And that's really what we got to."

 
The avian flu walloped Minnesota's turkey and chicken industries last spring with more than $600 million in losses and sent shockwaves through the entire U.S. poultry industry. After it receded, Lanners says he got at least a call a week from people in the poultry industry across the U.S. who wanted to learn more about how they kept their birds virus free.

 
That system had to work at more than 300 farms raising the company's chickens. But they kept routines simple.

Bird flu quarantines lifted on all Minnesota farms

 
It was easy to follow Gold'n Plump's biosecurity rules, said Roy Schneider, whose family farm raises chickens for Gold'n Plump outside of Foley, Minn.

 
Schneider has a tremendous financial stake in his birds. He said when it came to the avian flu, he felt his family and professional reputation were at stake.

 
"I don't want to be the guy that makes the mistake," he said. "For us as a family, the bird health is the most important thing," said Schneider. "Without bird health there really is nothing."

 
That's a message Gold'n Plump officials say they emphasize every day. Although there's no known virus in the state right now, the company continues to disinfect its trucks and plans truck routes on roads not used by other poultry producers.  Workers continue to change footwear and outer clothes before entering a barn. 

 
In North Carolina, some producers are studying Gold'n Plump's experience. The southeast United States escaped last spring's bird flu outbreak, but poultry producers there can't help but wonder if they're next.

 
"We're scared to death," said Barry Cronic, a manager with North Carolina-based House of Raeford, the nation's eighth largest chicken producer. 

 
An outbreak there could be even worse than Minnesota's, since poultry barns are even more closely concentrated in that part of the country. Researchers believe barn-to-barn transmission contributed to the scale of the losses in Minnesota.

 
Cronic hopes Gold'n Plump offers a game plan on how the southeast can survive if the bird flu hits.

 
"When you got a Gold'n Plump that was right up there in the middle of the biggest outbreak we've ever seen, was able to protect themselves, their growers, their company," he said, it "just tells you that, yes, you can do it."

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As avian flu swept across Minnesota this spring, Gold'n Plump managed to keep every one of its hundreds of central Minnesota chicken barns virus-free. Now, poultry producers nationally are taking notice.

How one Minnesota chicken producer kept the bird flu out

Brian Foss washes the top of a Gold'n Plump truck.

Jackson Forderer for MPR News

Roy Schneider passes through a shoe wash.

A tank of disinfectant has cables to each tire.

How one Minnesota chicken producer kept the bird flu out

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