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45 producers in TB zone accept herd buyout contracts Tuesday, July 29, 2008
By Heather Thorstensen
Agri News
ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has announced that 45 herd buyout contracts have been signed by cattle producers in the bovine tuberculosis Management Zone.
As a result it's estimated that 6,800 cattle will be removed from the area. They will be moved with specific testing requirements or slaughtered by Jan. 31, 2009.
This represents about 70 percent of cattle in the area, said BAH district veterinarian Brad Peterson.
All 67 cattle producers in the Management Zone were eligible for the buyout and had until July 15 to sign a contract.
Peterson said the program is one effort to eliminate TB transmission between cattle and deer.
"The idea behind it is to decrease the amount of cattle that could get it from the amount of deer in the area," he said.
The Department of Natural Resources also has efforts to control TB transmission through a deer feeding ban and has worked to reduce the deer population through hunting and shooting.
In return for their buyout participation, producers will receive $500 per animal plus $75 per animal each year until Minnesota recovers its TB-free status.
It will take at least three and a half years for that to happen, Peterson said. The most recent TB-infected herd was detected in February. Since then all infected herds have been depopulated. In order to advance from Modified Accredited to Modified Accredited Advanced status, two years must pass with no TB-detections after identifying an infected herd. It will then take another two years of TB-free test results before the state can apply for TB-free status.
Producers in the buyout program won't be allowed to keep livestock in the proposed Modified Accredited Zone.
"The removal of cattle from this area is a significant step toward eradicating bovine TB from northwest Minnesota," stated bovine TB coordinator Joe Martin in a press release. "However, it is a bittersweet step, knowing that many of these producers may not re-enter the cattle business."
Once the state is classified as TB-free, producers can choose to bring cattle back to their operations at their own cost.
The buyout program was authorized by legislation signed into law this year. The legislation appoints the animal health board as the program administrator and expands the board's authorities and funding to eradicate the disease.
Producers in the Management Zone who chose not to participate in the buyout, including the area's two dairy herds, will be required to put up 10-foot high woven wire fencing to prevent deer and cattle interactions.
The state will cover 90 percent of the fencing costs; producers are responsible for the remaining 10 percent.
In addition to eliminating TB transmission, efforts continue to obtain split-state status and to test for TB in the northwest region and around the state.
For more information, visit the bovine TB Web site at www.mntbfree.com or call the bovine TB hotline, 1-877-668-2373. |
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