HURON — With nearly three million turkeys already killed nationwide, the avian flu has reached an epidemic status for many growers and producers of poultry products nationwide.

According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, South Dakota has lost about one-third of the infected turkeys in the nation. With that in mind, it makes sense that business at Dakota Provisions in Huron would have to adapt as growers that supply the production side of the business found infections among their flocks.

Dakota Provisions President and CEO Jordan Woodbury mentioned that 29 of the company’s growers have had positive tests among their flocks, including 25 of the growers within the state of South Dakota. That requires some changes in production schedule going forward at the facility.

Beginning April 18, there will be no harvesting of live turkeys until May 13. At that point, Woodbury explained that the intention is to operate one harvest production day per week through August, when he hopes the growers’ flocks, which have to be re-populated to meet with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines post-infection, are ready to begin harvesting again, and more typical schedules can begin as the month of September begins.

The biggest worry for many is what will happen to employees at the plant.

“We will not have any layoffs to our full-time employees,” Woodbury explained. “We have other projects, other processing that we can do.”

He explained that the production side of the facility is staffed with full-time employees, so this will not impact any other workers as currently planned.

The “other projects” that Woodbury mentioned include processing other proteins, such as other turkey, beef, chicken, and pork products from other facilities. He’s also looking for other processing opportunities from USDA-inspected facilities to keep the plant busy throughout the summer season.

According to Woodbury, consumer concerns have not impacted sales with the online marketplace or Wyshbone Market in town. He did say that as the avian flu situation continues on, offerings for both may shift to more beef and pork offerings, but he is confident that both the market and online store will have plenty to offer consumers.

“We will simply shift to different products while we work through this,” Woodbury noted.