Congress is working on some type of risk management or disaster program to assist poultry producers hit by avian influenza. House Ag Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson of Minnesota says this was the worst animal disease outbreak the U.S. has ever experienced and the virus may reemerge this fall. That is why some type disaster program is needed. However, he says catastrophic poultry insurance may not be the best option.

Instead Peterson says a better option may be to look at insuring the lost income from the time the flock is depopulated until producers go through sanitation, certification and get birds back to market.

He says the Ag Committees tried to include poultry insurance in the recent farm bill, but it was stripped out for budgetary reasons.