PALMYRA, Wis. — Truck after truck has been rolling past Dustin Sudbrink's home in the Town of Palmyra for the past few days, some hauling composting materials and others hauling dead birds.
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Around 3 million dead birds will come to a composting site just a short walk from where he lives, all due to an avian flu outbreak that's drawing similarities to what happened in 2022.
"A lot of the truck traffic is once the birds have started. It stinks. It just plain and simple stinks," Sudbrink said.
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Depending on which way the wind is blowing, you can smell it from a distance, and it's much different from what a typical farm smells like in Jefferson County.
While the sights and smells are upsetting to Sudbrink, it's the risk bird flu can pose to the surrounding area that concerns him most.
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"Why isn't there more communication on that? It's out there, and what we need to be looking for. I mean, where this gets down into our household cats, it can get into our dogs. This isn't just a chicken problem. This is an animal problem, and even into us humans," Sudbrink said.
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He believes communication needs to be provided directly to all residents who live nearby and surrounding areas, and that it should come from both the state and federal agencies overseeing the process.
"We're not getting any information on what we need to be looking at, as far as residents, as far as any other signs and symptoms for when it would transfer to any of our animals, or us as humans ourselves," Sudbrink said.
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Daybreak Foods is working with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the USDA to carry out this process.
State agencies insist that this is the best and most environmentally friendly way of handling the situation.
At Monday's town board meeting, the director of operations for Daybreak Foods provided an update.
"We're 45% of the way through the process," Barrett Rehm said.
Rehm says trucking activity will slow down a bit and could be done as soon as the middle of next week. Concerns over water monitoring and securing testing kits were also made aware to Rehm, who told the board he will bring that up in their daily meetings.
But with now a second outbreak of avian flu at another flock in Jefferson County, Sudbrink is very concerned about how these potentially hazardous remains could impact the things he loves.
"This is not just our problem. It's not a small community problem. This isn't just a United States problem. This is worldwide," Sudbrink said.
This story was reported on-air by Mike Beiermeister and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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