Calling bovine tuberculosis "a very, very serious issue for Minnesota cattle producers," U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said he's seeking a greater federal role in eradicating the disease from northwest Minnesota cattle herds.
Bovine TB has been detected in 11 herds in Beltrami and Roseau counties, mostly in the Skime area. The latest discovery last month has led the Minnesota Board of Animal Health to downgrade Minnesota's TB status to Modified Accredited, the third of five categories which has state producers adhering to stricter rules in testing and shipping cattle or bison.
"We've had a TB-free level for years and now we've had 11 herds with bovine TB," Coleman told Minnesota reporters Thursday in a telephone news conference. "We eradicated TB from seven, but still have four left with the latest."
Farmers and ranchers believe free-ranging deer and elk in the area are passing the disease to cattle herds and have called on the state Department of Natural Resources to cull deer. Some efforts have been underway to over-hunt those areas.
"We need more federal help, and I am seeking federal funding," Coleman said, adding that he met earlier Thursday with a Minnesota Farm Bureau delegation about the issue. That delegation, which includes John Gilbertson of Beltrami County, is in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with lawmakers on agricultural issues.
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"This is a serious issue for those in northwest Minnesota, but also for cattle producers across Minnesota," said Coleman, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Coleman said he supports efforts to isolate the problem by creating a split state, with the stricter rules applying to the area where bovine TB has been detected and a less restrictive area for the rest of the state.
"Hopefully zones can be set up, as this now affects everybody," he said. "It would give us greater flexibility."
In addition to seeking federal funds for bovine TB management and eradication, Coleman said a greater role is needed from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, whose mission includes wildlife damage management activities.
"In the event that a pest or disease of concern is detected, APHIS implements emergency protocols and partners with affected states to quickly manage or eradicate the outbreak," according to the agency's Web site. "This aggressive approach has enabled APHIS to successfully prevent and respond to potential pest and disease threats to U.S. agriculture."
Bovine TB is a contagious, infectious and communicable disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis, APHIS said. It affects cattle, bison, deer, elk, goats and other species, including humans, and can be fatal.
APHIS classifies each state according to its level of occurrence of bovine TB. There are five classification designations: Accredited Free; Modified Accredited Advanced; Modified Accredited, Accredited Preparatory and Non-accredited.
A Modified Accredited state is one in which bovine TB has been found in less than 0.1 percent of the total number of herds of cattle and bison in the state for the most recent year and complies with the provisions set forth federal rules. An Accreditation Preparatory state is one in which bovine TB has been found in less than 0.5 percent of the total number of herds of cattle and bison in the state for the most recent year.
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Coleman said his office has been in contact with the state veterinarian through the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, as well.
"We need to identify, manage and eradicate this disease," the Republican senator said. "It is important to the whole state, and we need to move very, very quickly."
A number of northwest Minnesota counties, including Beltrami County, have passed resolutions urging for a "significant reduction" in the local deer and elk which may be passing bovine TB from herd to herd, and that a lead agency take control of bovine TB management.
In another animal health issue, Coleman said producers should not be blamed for the failure of USDA to properly inspect cattle for slaughter.
A House panel heard testimony Thursday on the nation's largest beef recall, that of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., on the basis of cattle being abused and cows that couldn't walk being prodded to slaughter.
The allegations were discovered through an undercover video by the Humane Society of the United States which, after the video became public, resulted in a recall of 143 million pounds of beef. Minnesota school districts are among those purchasing meat from the packer.
Coleman said Congress needs "to measure twice and cut once" when it comes to making new laws in light of the incident, referring to calls from Democrats to ban "downer" cattle from being slaughtered. Currently, such cattle are prohibited from the meat supply consumed by humans.
The USDA failed in its role to properly inspect meat for slaughter, Coleman said, alluding it should have caught any abuse at Westland/Hallmark before needing to be told by the Humane Society of the United States.
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"And not all cattle that are 'downed' are dangerous to the food supply," he said, adding that while cattle which cannot walk may pose a higher risk of E. coli, salmonella and other illnesses some cattle may be down because sore foot or just plain tired.
"We need to ensure a safe food supply, but we don't want to burden our producers when the USDA failed in its oversight role."
The downer cattle rules might need modifying, he said, "but the government's failure to do its job shouldn't be put back on producers."
