August 4, 2000

USDA: Depopulate El Paso dairies

By Lana Robinson
Field Editor

After 10 to 15 years of fighting bovine tuberculosis in El Paso County, USDA concluded that depopulation is the only way to eliminate the problem. Earlier this spring, agency representatives approached the owners of nine dairies and got them to agree to accept $44 million, or $2,000 each, for their 22,100 head of dairy cattle.

Under the terms of the depopulation agreement, the dairies will have 18 months to liquidate their herds, once money is appropriated for the buyout. Dairymen will not be allowed to repopulate the premise. A fiscal inventory will be done on Jan. 1, 2001. Each producer will receive additional remuneration for relocation of facilities, disposal of property, purchase of new property, construction of new facilities and six months severance pay for their employees.

“USDA-APHIS-VS (United States Department of Agriculture-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service-Veterinary Service) is trying to appropriate this money at this time,” said Jon Johnson, associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities for the Texas Farm Bureau. “Hopefully, they will get it this fall.”

Johnson was one of about 100 people attending a meeting at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in El Paso, July 18, in which Texas Animal Health Commission officials presented an update on depopulation plans. Dr. Terry Beals, state veterinarian, Carla Everett, TAHC information officer and Dr. Dan Baca, TAHC TB epidemiologist, explained how the USDA Domestic TB Rule would affect cattle and dairy producers in the El Paso area. Everett outlined the history of testing for TB in the U.S. since 1891. Baca explained the epidemiology of TB and the problems encountered in trying to end the presence of TB in the El Paso-area dairies.

“Dr. Baca explained that they did not have a full-blown epidemic on their hands, but a chronic re-infection in the dairies. Currently, there are two herds under quarantine with only one reactor in each herd. These two herds are comprised of approximately 8,000 and 3,000 cows and replacement heifers,” Johnson reported. “Forty-seven states have an accredited free status for bovine tuberculosis. Texas and Michigan have herds under quarantine and New Mexico has gone three years without a TB case in their dairy herds north of El Paso. There are 23 herds and 35,300 cows in these herds. They were reviewed by USDA in June and received a favorable report and should move to free status sometime this fall.”

Baca, who indicated the new rule should be in effect by early August, also outlined some of the new regulations that would affect Texas producers. The five status ratings which will affect the export of cattle from the state are as follows:

a) Accredited Free—Zero herds quarantined, no movement restrictions.

b) Modified Accredited Advanced—One to three herds quarantined, one per 10,000 herds. Requires one negative TB test prior to movement for breeding cattle. No test for feeder cattle (steers and spayed heifers), but must have an eartag. Accredited free herds—no test required.
* To have an accredited free herd, you must test every year between 10-14 months.

c) Modified Accredited—Four to 10 herds quarantined per 1,000 herds. Requires two negative tests prior to movement of breeding cattle. One negative test and eartags for feeder cattle. Accredited free herd—no test required.

d) Accredited Preparatory (<5 percent)—One herd quarantined per 200 herds. Requires whole herd test and two negative tests prior to movement. Two negative tests and eartags for feeder animals. Accredited free herd—no test required.

e) Non-Accredited free herd—no test required.
The Texas Animal Health Commission has requested that USDA pay for all the testing.

“Since Texas has two herds under quarantine, our status could be either Modified Accredited Advanced or Modified Accredited,” Johnson explained. “This may require some lobbying of our senators and congressmen to get USDA to place us in the Advanced status. The Texas Animal Health Commission is currently applying for ‘split state status,’ because if we don’t, all 254 counties will have to comply with the new rules. With split state status, only El Paso and part of Hudspeth counties will have to comply with the new rule.”

According to Johnson, the affected zone will be in El Paso County, from Loop 375 south to the Hudspeth County line and the area between the Rio Grande River and Interstate 10. The surveillance zone (buffer area) will be the rest of El Paso County and part of Hudspeth County, between I-10 and the river south of the El Paso County line to Fort Hancock.

“The direct cost to producers would be $260 million and the indirect cost an additional $890 million. The dairy buyout would not affect Texas’ status for three to five years,” Johnson added.

Johnson said some beef cattle producers present at the July 18 meeting did not think it was fair that they were being penalized when the problem is in the dairy herds.

“USDA does not differentiate between species,” Johnson noted. “As far as they are concerned, cows are cows. Bovine TB could get into a beef herd. Until they find the vector bringing it across the Rio Grande River, or until Mexico cleans up their herds, all cattle will have to be tested until Texas receives free status.”

Others wondered how the procedures will affect the sale of cattle through the local auction barn, which is located in the affected zone. Johnson said TAHC officials indicated that cattle from each zone will have to be separated at the auction barn by a space that won’t allow “nose to nose” contact.

Still, others worried that their cattle coming from the affected zone might be discounted, even though they test negative.

Johnson said movement of Texas cattle into Mexico is unaffected, unless Mexico changes their rules.

When producers get ready to ship their cattle, eartags must be certified by USDA, TAHC or a certified veterinarian.

“Producers are going to have to realize that standard operating procedures will have to be changed until we work our way out of this status,” said Johnson.

“Producers along the tick zone in South Texas have had to call an inspector to scratch and dip their cattle for years before moving them out of the zone.”

Earlier in July, at the Dairy Commodity Meeting during the TFB Summer Commodity Conference in Kerrville, G.H. Cain, director of membership services for Dairy Farmers of America, told producers, “USDA is very concerned and interested in getting bovine TB eradicated from the U.S. They have concerns over NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs), that the U.S. might get blacklisted, or that it will be used against us as a reason to not import your product. That is why there is such a strong interest in going ahead and getting eradicated.

“Texas has a modified status,” Cain continued. “El Paso County has been partitioned off and the rest of the state is TB free. If they’re not convinced we’re making progress with that TB problem out there, the rest of the state has the potential to lose its free status. If we were to lose our TB free status, if you sell breeding stock, it would severely impact you on that. It is very much in our interest to make sure that doesn’t happen. You may want to consider this in your Farm Bureau policy.”

At that time, Cain said USDA was working closely with Michigan, committing $34 million to raise the indemnity price for animals and pay for some tests in that state.

“Altogether, they’re asking for $100 million—$44 million for El Paso County and $33 million in Michigan. The balance is for the rest of the U.S.,” he said.

Cain said the El Paso dairies produce 22.5 million pounds of milk per month.

“Two independents operate there. One bottles his own milk and sells in the area. One makes cheese, four are members of Select Milk producers and the balance are DFA members,” Cain noted. “If approved and the money is appropriated for that, they’re wanting them out of the business by the end of 2002. It will take some of them that long to work through their feed inventory. Producers all had to agree to do this. If all did not agree, they would not do it with any of them. They are only interested in complete depopulation. Those individuals would not be precluded from going into the dairy business in another location. It’s not a buyout like 1976. They are depopulating a county.”

Cain thought there would be coordination for orderly marketing of the animals, which he suspects will go to a rendering plant.