Rio Arriba County ranchers are expecting to take an economic hit now that the federal Agricultural Department has downgraded the state’s bovine tuberculosis status.
Under the new designation, which was implemented Sept. 11, New Mexico ranchers must test any breeding cattle over six months old that they plan to ship out of state for bovine tuberculosis. Prior to the downgrade, only cattle in parts of Curry and Roosevelt counties in eastern New Mexico had to be tested for the disease.
Rancher David Sanchez, of Hernandez, said he estimates testing will cost up to $50 or $60 per animal, including transportation costs and a mandatory three-day holdover for cattle during the test.
“The timing couldn’t be worse,” he said. “If there aren’t some timely fixes, you’re gonna ruin a lot of people in Northern New Mexico.”
Sanchez said ranchers are now getting ready to send their cattle out of state after they spent the summer in New Meixco. He said he sends more than 200 pair of cattle across the Colorado border every spring to spend the summer out-of-state, but many ranchers have to worry about moving their animals this fall.
“The traffic’s about to begin. There’s a lot of Colorado guys who come to New Mexico for the summer,” he said. “They’re gonna be captured by this ruling.”
The Department started discussing the downgrade in the spring after a second cow tested positive for the disease in a feedlot in the eastern part of the state just outside the testing zone. A release from the Department states that due to this positive test the entire state of New Mexico has been designated “modified accredited advanced,” a status that states are given when a tuberculosis outbreak is determined to be a threat and one the entire state had until 2005. Minnesota and parts of Michigan have been given this designation or worse, and the Department is considering downgrading Texas and California, too.
Assistant State Veterinarian Tim Hanosh, of the New Mexico Livestock Board, said the Department revokes a state’s “tuberculosis-free” status if two cases are found in a 48-month period. He said even though it can’t be proven the second cow contracted tuberculosis in New Mexico, the Board could not dissuade Department officials from making the designation.
“It’s like they have blinders on,” Hanosh said.
Bovine tuberculosis causes lesions to form on the organs of cattle, and it is possible for the disease to be transmitted to other animals and humans, according to the Department
Hanosh said, because the positive tests occurred just outside the modified accredited advanced zone, the Board requested an expansion of the zone, but the Department required the Board put in an entirely new application.
“We had to start from scratch,” he said.
He said all breeding cattle older than six months will now have to test negative for tuberculosis before leaving the state. He said both beef and dairy cattle will be affected, despite dairy cattle being the only animals that have tested positive for the disease.
“That’s a fight that we’re fighting,” Hanosh said.
Hanosh said the Board is attempting to designate another “zone” in parts of Curry and Roosevelt counties to receive the downgraded status while sparing the rest of the state from increased testing and regulation. He said it could be a matter of months or years before most of the state is upgraded again, but it is difficult at this point to tell how long it will take.
“They may change the rules mid-stream on us,” he said.
Hanosh said the state’s best hope for minimal impact is for the Department to expedite the granting of the zone and upgrading the rest of the state’s status.
Sanchez said he thinks Rio Arriba County will be disproportionately affected because of a lack of large-animal veterinarians qualified to administer the required tests. He said when the state’s status was downgraded a few years ago, he couldn’t find a veterinarian anywhere.
“I think it’s gonna be a huge, huge wreck,” he said.
Sanchez said he is worried the downgrade in status will give buyers an excuse for offering New Mexico producers lower prices for their cattle.
“Marketing and cattle prices are gonna be affected by this,” he said. “Who’s gonna endure those costs?”
Mary Thronas, of Chamita, said she thinks the economic impacts of the move will reach her family. She said they keep a “closed herd” to prevent their cattle from contracting diseases, and any bulls they bring in from Texas undergo veterinary checks. But because all cattle in the state will need to be tested, she worries the cost of her family’s operation is about to rise.
“I think it’s going to be detrimental,” she said.
Victor Salazar, of Tierra Amarilla, said he knows a number of ranchers in the northern part of the state whose businesses will be hurt by the designation. He said people in northern Rio Arriba depend on being able to winter their cattle out-of-state and offer the use of their land to ranchers from Colorado and elsewhere during the summer. Salazar said the added cost of testing, combined with sales being delayed by the need for tests, will also take its toll.
“We’ll end up paying more money for it,” he said.
Salazar said he thinks at least 15 of his cattle will have to undergo tests now before leaving the state. He said he thinks some smaller producers may give up the business altogether.
“I think people are gonna get out,” he said. “They nickel and dime you to death.”
According to a Department agricultural census, in 2002 there were 412 farms containing 22,500 cattle in the County. More than 15,000 of those were beef cattle.
Sanchez said the Board’s plans to designate a zone don’t make him very hopeful, as it took two years for the previous zone to be defined. He said the Board’s independence is a liability when it comes to dealing with the Department, causing delays and misunderstandings that could be avoided if it were under the Department’s purview.
“They kind of wait ‘til the disaster’s at hand,” he said.
A letter from Governor Bill Richardson to the Secretary of Agriculture estimates the economic impact of the downgrade at $6 million annually. Richardson has urged the Department to grant the state’s request for a zone so resources can be concentrated on the main area of concern.