4-Hers, rejoice! The State is lifting its ban on poultry exhibitions

As of January 1st, the ban on all live bird exhibitions at county fairs and other events in Iowa will be lifted.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture is making the announcement--a sign that the problems caused by avian influenza are ending.

Said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, "We know the ban on exhibitions caused some real challenges for those anticipating showing or selling birds, but we appreciate everyone cooperating as we worked to stop the disease and then allow the industry to recover."

There have been no new cases of avian influenza in Iowa since June.  This past spring's bird flu epidemic affected 31.5 million birds in Iowa.