Board of Livestock discusses OCV proposal, Designated Surveillance Area concerns

Board of Livestock discusses OCV proposal, Designated Surveillance Area concerns

MSGA attended the Board of Livestock (BOL) meeting May 17 in Bozeman at the Diagnostic Laboratory. The highlights of the meeting included discussions of the proposed mandatory statewide official calfhood vaccination (OCV) rule and responding to requests from the legislature’s Economic Affairs Interim Committee about the Designated Surveillance Area for brucellosis.

The Department of Livestock (DOL) compiled a list of comments from information sessions and the comment period held for the proposed OCV rule. The board reviewed the comments and discussed how to move forward. State Veterinarian Dr. Marty Zaluski emphasized that although there was a lot of discord in the comments he received, one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that the breeding herd should be vaccinated. He offered three ways to move forward, proceed with the proposal for mandatory statewide OCV, drop it entirely, or create a new proposal to ensure that the state’s breeding herd is 100% vaccinated. Dr. Zaluski said that the last objective could be accomplished by not allowing non-OCV females to enter the breeding herd. The board decided to move ahead with a new proposal to focus on the breeding herd. Dr. Zaluski will present a draft of the proposal at the BOL’s July 26-27 meeting in Helena.

The legislature’s Economic Affairs Interim Committee (EAIC) created a working group to address concerns from producers about the Designated Surveillance Area (DSA) order that the DOL implemented in January of this year. That group prepared a list of concerns that the committee asked the BOL to address and return to the committee on May 25. The board addressed the concerns of the working group one by one. First, the group requested a new order after a Montana Environmental Policy Act process had been conducted. The BOL’s executive officer, Christian Mackay, said that the Department’s attorney had stated that such a process is not necessary, and previous environmental reviews by the department were only done if actions impacted Yellowstone bison. Second, the group requested that the BOL and DOL adhere to the statutes to protect livestock, to which Mackay responded that he thinks the board and department are doing this. Third, the group requested that the DOL work with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to develop an action plan to address wildlife disease management. BOL chair, Jan French, stated that the BOL and FWP Commission hold joint board meetings and could discuss this in the future. Fourth, the group requested an implementation plan for the DSA to be presented to the committee meeting in May. Mackay stated that the plan was already implemented but that he’ll provide a status report. Fifth was a request for support for production of an oral vaccine for wildlife. Dr. Zaluski expressed his support for such efforts and Montana State University College of Agriculture Dean Jeff Jacobson discussed some of the current research. Sixth, the working group requested that the BOL provide and end date for the DSA in 2012. Dr. Zaluski said that he did not see how that would be possible given the coming changes in the federal rules for brucellosis. Dr. Zaluski also emphasized that without the DSA, other state veterinarians will enforce their own testing requirements, which will likely differ from state to state and cause a large degree of confusion and difficulty. Other suggestions the working group mentioned included allowing producers in the DSA who use Best Management Practices to be exempt from the requirements of the DSA. Dr. Zaluski said that surveillance is a part of Best Management Practices and gerrymandering of the DSA will cause it to lose its credibility to other state veterinarians. Funding issues for the increased testing requirements was also addressed by the working group. Zaluski stated that he is fully committed to keep seeking funds, but a lack of funding will not be reason to scrap the DSA altogether. The committee, at its last meeting, had also asked if beef checkoff dollars would be an option for funding the brucellosis testing. The board discussed this briefly, and due to the federal mandate of the checkoff, will explain to the committee that this is not an option.

The BOL also received a written opinion from the committee’s attorney that by law, local brand inspectors do not have the authority to withhold brand inspections for failure to comply with requirements of the DSA. The BOL discussed this letter and Mackay said that the Department’s attorney had reviewed the issue and had come to the conclusion that the local brand inspectors do have the authority to enforce the regulations of the DSA under the authority of the State Veterinarian. Mackay stated that if brand inspectors can’t enforce the DSA, a fall back option is that herds would be quarantined. The Department’s attorney will respond in writing to the committee accordingly. MSGA will continue to follow this issue closely.

Other items and discussions of note included:

The Brands Division has been working to address the Legislative Audit Committee’s recommendations on brands rerecord for upgrades and improvements to the process which is coming up in 2011. Brands is working on drafting administrative rules for rerecord, publishing policies to address conflicts, and creating a procedure manual for the DOL staff for the 2011 rerecord process, which they hope to have to the Board by their July meeting. State Senator John Brenden from Scobey has indicated to the DOL that he intends to introduce legislation next year to implement a rerecord procedure to process 1/10th of the brands each year. The BOL discussed this and discussed surveying brand owners during the next rerecord period to find out if current process is meeting their needs, but no action was taken.

John Grainger, head of the Brands Enforcement Division, also discussed his investigation of a complaint by Choteau County herd district members who said that cattle trespass and vandalism had been occurring and that the county brand inspector was not handling the issue appropriately under state law. Two of the herd district members attended the meeting and demanded a more thorough investigation that included discussions with producers in the area. Jan French agreed to visit with the president of the Choteau County Livestock Protection Association to set up a public meeting to discuss the issue.

The president of Montana State University, Waded Cruzado, also addressed the board and asked those in attendance for questions or comments about things they are most proud of when it comes to agriculture and Montana State.

The Board reconvened at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 18. MSGA was not in attendance at this session of the meeting. Agenda items included reports from the Centralized Services division, USDA Wildlife Services, the Milk and Egg Bureau and the Public Information Officer. The Board was scheduled to travel to Gardiner to tour some of the bison operations in the area after the morning session finished.

The next regularly scheduled Board of Livestock meeting is July 26-27 in Helena. Check back for more details as the meeting nears.