interview. Avian flu: “We could have vaccinated earlier”, says the president of the duck producers of Turn-et-Geronne

The Tarn-et-Garonne Poultry and Pampiped Producers Association (AVP 82), chaired by Tristan Cordier, brings together about sixty breeders from the 230 farms listed in the department. One based in Monclar-de-Quercy takes stock of the compulsory vaccination against avian flu introduced this year for ducks.

For three months, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty has launched a major duck vaccination campaign. Where is Tarn-et-Garonne Farms?

We are in the middle of this vaccination against highly pathogenic avian influenza. It is mandatory for farms to keep more than 250 ducks whose products are intended for marketing.

Also Read:
“We’re going to force-feed the first vaccinated ducks”: Winter-proof avian flu vaccine

Is this your case?

Absolutely! All my ducklings were born after 1^er Effective October 2023. We have a veterinary consultant with us and we give the first dose and then the booster injection. The whole campaign is closely controlled by the state services.

Who pays for vaccinations?

A state that has an envelope of 95 million euros to vaccinate 64 million ducks. The experiment will run until next October and we do not know if it will be renewed in 2025 or not.

Do you want it to be?

Yes, this vaccination is a good thing that should have been done earlier. The teams of Jean-Luc Guerin, Professor of Avian Pathology at the National Veterinary School of Toulouse, have been ready for 6 years! But granting international health authorization took a long time. France is the first country in the world to be able to experiment with this vaccination. Started earlier, we could have avoided the last three waves of highly pathogenic avian influenza that destroyed many farms.

Also Read:
Avian flu: 7 million ducks to be vaccinated in Gers from October

Tarn-et-Garonne, however, was little affected by this flus…

That’s right, after all we’ve only had two or three outbreaks, the last of which was in the spring of 2022. But we were indirectly affected: between May 2022 and March 2023, I could not get a single duck because all the hatcheries were closed. health reasons. This indicates the year of loss of activity.

Are you back to normal marketing today?

Sales were very good during the holidays, especially foie gras, slightly less for festive poultry. We very clearly feel that there is a strong increase in activity with a strong demand for carcasses. We are definitely riding the post-Covid lockdown wave. Customers trust us and favor short circuit. Traditions of making ducks as a family are resuming with a desire to preserve the know-how. I am optimistic for our region.