The Montana Board of Livestock (MBL) voted last week to withdraw a proposal that would have made it difficult, if not impossible, to import cattle from Mexico into the state. The issue came under discussion at the request of leaders of Montana’s House and Senate Agriculture Committees during the state’s last legislative session.
Because importing feeder cattle from Mexico to Montana can be cost-prohibitive due to transportation cost, much of the discussion involved “sporting” steers, or those that are used for rodeo team roping events.
Prior to the decision last week, concern was raised by Ty Yost, founder of National Team Roping Tour. Yost provides steers for roping events and was troubled that the new law would restrict him from keeping roping steers at his Montana property and from bringing animals into the state for roping events.
Yost told WLJ he felt the move to place additional restrictions on cattle from Mexico was essentially a ban. He explained that regulations requiring a herd health certificate for those cattle cannot be met, saying roping steers don’t originate from herds like breeding or feeder cattle, but instead are gathered a few at a time from independent ranchers in mountainous regions, often in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
Dr. Tahnee Szymanski, Montana assistant state veterinarian, told WLJ that following cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Canada and South Dakota there was a “sense by many that Montana needed to make sure that our industry was protected. The TB isolates from these cases as consistent with Mexican origin strains resulted in the question being raised of whether Mexican-origin cattle pose a risk to our domestic cattle herd.”
She went on to say that there have been no cases of TB in Montana that can be attributed to cattle originating in Mexico. The epidemiological investigation of both the Canada and South Dakota herd, likewise, show no contact with Mexican-origin cattle. Canada does not allow the importation of M-branded cattle and the South Dakota herd had no known contact with M-branded cattle, she explained. (Cattle originating in Mexico and imported to the U.S. must carry a distinct “M” brand)
Szymanski noted that she cannot speak fully to other cases but said, “I do know that TB is found in Mexican-origin feeder cattle at slaughter and there are no known documented cases of transmission from Mexican-origin feeders to domestic cattle. I cannot say if there is documented transmission from sporting-type bovines that originate in Mexico, but I do know that cases have been identified in these cattle. I hope that distinction is clear. We do find cases in Mexican-origin cattle—on average about 10-15 cases per year—but I am not aware of transmission to domestic cattle.”
Asked about the limited possibility of sporting cattle being exposed to domestic herds, Szymanski told WLJ, “I agree that sporting cattle remain in relatively defined channels with limited contact with our domestic beef herd. This ties back to the question of transmission. No documented cases of transmission from Mexican-origin feeder cattle.” She noted that she could not answer that same question for Mexican-origin sporting steers but would look into it. As of press time, no new information was available.
“I think that there is a risk from Mexican-origin cattle, I just don’t agree that the risk is sufficient to warrant such strict measures when there are other avenues of potential risk that would remain unaddressed,” Szymanski concluded.
Cattle from Mexico coming into the United States are required to have a TB test prior to entry. Montana requires an additional test before entry into the state. Speaking of the additional requirement of the herd health document, Yost commented, “You would think that the minimum of two USDA tests would prove the animal does not have TB. If the test results are not reliable, fix the tests.”
Yost said he believes the proposal was a “knee jerk” reaction by the MBL when presented with the question, “Do you want TB in the state?” He said the board responded, “no,” and moved to propose more restrictions. He noted he was disputing the rule on the fact that it would essentially ban an industry.
He also said he didn’t agree with the bureaucracy of the proposed rule, saying, “If they are going to ban an industry, that is a law. Let the legislature, the voted representatives make the decision. Then we can vote them out and get some new decision makers in there.” MBL members are appointed by Montana’s governor.
Asked if there might be a hidden agenda by animal rights groups wanting to ban rodeos behind the proposal, Yost said, he didn’t believe there is anything nefarious about it, but rather a lack of knowledge.
In addition to contracting cattle for roping events, Yost is also a Montana cow-calf producer, and said he has an interest in protecting the health of all cattle in the state. He said the proposed restriction on Mexican cattle probably would not have impacted his team roping events, which take place in numerous states, but he would have needed to keep those cattle at locations outside of Montana.
The discussion during the MBL meeting on Aug. 30 to rescind the proposed rule took less than 30 minutes, and included comments indicating the issue could be addressed again if there is an outbreak of TB in the future. A representative from the Montana Animal Health Board reported to MBL that from hearings and comments received at the office there were four comments in favor of implementing tougher regulations and 62 opposed.
In explaining her motion to withdraw the proposal, board member Lilya Taylor said, “The charge of the board is to keep the herd healthy. We were asked by the legislature to address this. We have, and I think now we can rescind the matter.”
Yost told WLJ, “I think it is a great win!” He also gave a hat-tip to members of the board for taking time to hold hearings and gather comments. “I think it is a very fair system—and having us in to argue again before they voted—I was very satisfied with the system.” — RAE PRICE
