Ranchers: Proposed brucellosis vaccination plan seems unworkable

It looked like sale day at the Glasgow Stockyards last Wednesday, but it wasn't. The seats were filled with ranchers and others interested in the Department of Livestock's preliminary proposal on statewide vaccination for brucellosis. There were four tall chairs set out on a clean layer of chips in the sales ring. The speakers were Christian Mackay, executive officer of the Department of Livestock, and Dr. Eric Liska, the DOL veterinarian who specializes in brucellosis.
Emphasizing that the rule printed on one sheet of green paper was a"very draft" draft proposal, Mackay said there were no time deadlines on it and it has not been approved by the Board of Livestock. The meeting in Glasgow was one of six held in the state in the information gathering phase.
Montana endured the loss of its brucellosis class free status in 2008, when eight cattle that tested positive caused the quarantine of 1.7 million head of cattle. Montana regained it in 2009, with the establishment of a Designated Surveillance Area (DSA) in parts of four counties that border Yellowstone National Park, where cattle can mingle with elk and buffalo, the only reservoir of brucellosis remaining in the United States. While the DSA is largely accepted by other states and is supported by the Montana Veterinary Medical Association, it is not a perfect situation, Mackay said.
"Montana needs a regulatory framework that allows producers to stay in business and allows our trading partners the security to know that they are not importing brucellosis," he said. "Most of our cattle go out of state. We need to assure our trading partners that we're doing everything we can to have a marketable product."
Mackay said the proposal is modeled after the one in Wyoming, where there are 26 winter feeding stations for elk, a practice criticized because it concentrates the animals and facilitates the spread of the disease.
"We made it as stringent as we could," Mackay said. "We can always dial it back."
The proposed solution is to vaccinate all sexually intact female cattle and bison except those going to slaughter. It is called Official Calfhood Vaccination – OCV.  Currently, the state does not require cattle to be vaccinated against brucellosis except for those in the DSA.
The DOL estimates that producers voluntarily vaccinate about 70 percent of their heifers, while the stockyard's vet, Dr. Jim Curtis of Malta, estimates maybe 30 percent in this area are vaccinated. He said, and many at the meeting nodded in agreement, that the majority of heifers here are shipped as feeder cattle and the replacement heifers kept on the ranch are vaccinated.
Various objections were raised to a mandatory program.
The DOL requires that the shot be administered by a vet, and there aren't enough of them to do the job during the narrow window of time between weaning and shipping. In a letter to the DOL, Curtis said there are about 12 veterinarians to cover about 10 counties in northeastern Montana containing nearly a half million head of cattle. Rancher Lee Cornwell stated that there are 25,000 heifers born in Valley County every year.
"Veterinarians can not do the work due to time or distance," Curtis wrote.
Another objection was raised by rancher Steve Page, who pointed out that the regulation would set up vaccinations at a less than ideal time for the young heifers. He said he was trained that vaccination after weaning causes less stress.
"I don't think you've considered the marketing pattern in the state and the logistical difficulties with getting a vet. Many cattle are sold in the country and taken to rural scales. These rules will effectively reduce the value of a heifer calf significantly. I wouldn't buy a heifer knowing she had to go through a chute and be vaccinated. She's stressed. There are unintended consequences you can't even imagine."
The vaccination can legally be given between the ages of 4 and 12 months, with 12 months being the most effective time. Heifers over the age of 12 months are not supposed to be vaccinated, but Dr. Liska said there is hope that this rule could be changed to a four-to-18-month range.
While some said extending the age range would not help them, Curtis said he would support it. He said it would get animals on the reservations and "guys who don't corral their cows."
Mackay noted that state regulations don't apply to Indian reservations, but they do apply when cattle come off the reservation.
Cost of the program is a factor. One rancher estimated that vaccinations cost $25 to $30 a head.
A man said that no other states have export requirements, only import requirements. Mackay said this is rule is an effort to avoid a patchwork of regulations. When Montana was reduced to Class A brucellosis status, there were different requirements in 13 importing states.
"We need to remove the rule that they must be vaccinated before exporting," said Lee Cornwell. "You should say retained calves for breeding must be vaccinated."
At the request of Linda Nielsen, co-owner of the Glasgow Stockyards and a member of the Board of Livestock, Mackay asked for a show of hands on the proposal. When he asked if there was anyone who supported the concept of vaccinating every female, there were no hands.
When he asked if there was support for a mandatory process for retained females, there was a large show of hands. No vaccination for brucellosis? One hand. That rancher said he actually did vaccinate because it was an economic advantage to him.
"Throw that green thing away and start over," said Lee Cornwell.
"When was the last case in northeastern Montana?" a man inquired. "We don't have a problem. Focus where there is a problem. We're being punished for something that's not here."
"Let's concentrate on the problem, which is Yellowstone Park," said rancher Cody Cornwell.
"And Wyoming. Don't forget Wyoming," Mackay said.
After the session, Mackay said, "This is kind of what I felt the opinion of producers in Glasgow was going to be. This is big country. A lot of people don't handle their cattle a lot. I expect to see differences regionally."
Public comment can be mailed to Montana Department of Livestock, ATTN: OCV Comments/Animal Health Division, P.O. Box 200201, Helena, MT 59620-2001. Or e-mail ocv_comments@mt.gov.