Iowa officials are disappointed that President Obama has denied their request for a disaster declaration in the state due to the outbreak this year of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa could not believe the denial in the face of the losses for Iowa poultry producers:

“After yesterday’s Agriculture Committee hearing and listening to testimony from producers who were affected, it’s very clear that this outbreak caused a significant magnitude of damage throughout the state. The Administration’s own veterinarian said that it was the largest animal health emergency in the country’s history. We heard from one Iowa producer who lost two-thirds of his birds to the disease, and he is not alone.

“Granting a disaster declaration would have made several forms of federal assistance available to these producers. Iowa has suffered great losses from this catastrophic outbreak, and I’m very disappointed that a disaster declaration wasn’t granted to help deal with the impact.”

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey also couldn’t believe Iowa poultry producers would not get the declaration, considering the size of the loss, more than 32 million birds that have been impacted by the disease, and how the state had worked with federal officials.

“The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has worked hand-in-hand with the USDA throughout this outbreak. It is disappointing that the Obama Administration denied the Governor’s request that would allow much needed federal resources to come into the state to assist farmers and others who have been impacted. Our Department will continue to work close with the farmers impacted, local officials, other state agencies and our federal partners as farms continue to the cleaning and disinfection process and move towards repopulation of these facilities.”