Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says indemnity payments for high path bird flu are adding up quickly and USDA is requesting additional funding. Total losses exceed 12 million birds and so with indemnity payments and the cost for the agency response, they have exceeded their budget.

Vilsack says with another six million plus chickens infected in Iowa on Monday they will likely need to go back to the well again.

He says the other budget challenge will be for bird flu research. Vilsack is not ready to call the outbreak an epidemic, but acknowledges the spread of the virus is a concern, especially with the ability for it to mutate.