Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 21, 1994 TAG: 9405230148
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We really don't know what we're going to be up against," said Reggie Reynolds, executive director of the Virginia Cattlemen's Association, based in Botetourt County.
The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced Wednesday that it had quarantined the herd in April after TB discovered at a Pennsylvania meat-packing plant was traced to the farm. Tests due back next month will show whether the herd is infected. If so, the state could lose its TB-free status, which allows the easy shipment of cattle across state lines.
What that could mean to cattle dealers will depend on how other states react to the change. Most of Virginia's beef cattle are sold at local livestock markets, then shipped to Midwest feeder lots to be fattened up before slaughter. Virginia shipped 600,000 cattle out of state last year.
Wayne Shifflett, a Harrisonburg dealer who moves 25,000 to 28,000 head of cattle a year, said he's not worried, because cattle could be shipped to designated quarantined lots as long as they had the proper health papers from the state veterinarian's office. But getting proper papers could become more of a headache.
"By being a free state, it's a whole lot less red tape to go through," said Reynolds. A dealer would have to be more aware of the requirements of the feed-lot states, whether they require TB tests or for cattle merely to be identified. "It's hard to tell what they may require us to do." It would cause enough confusion, he said, that some buyers may just deal in other TB-free states.
If TB is found in the Floyd County herd, but can be shown to be isolated, the state might lose its free status only for the summer, then gain it back by the time cattle are more heavily traded in the fall.
"It could be worse," Reynolds said. "They could find more out there."
For now, many seem content to wait and see.
"I'm sure [farmers in the county] are concerned," said Floyd County Extension Agent David Gardner, but "they know the veterinarians are on top of it and it's being taken care of." Like others who know the Floyd County farmer whose herd has been quarantined, he would not identify him Friday, saying he should be left alone, at least until it is determined whether his cattle actually are infected.
"He's got a whole lot on him right now," Gardner said. "He told me, 'People look at you like you're a criminal. We didn't know we had it. We're trying to do the best we can.'"
"Just have to wait and see what happens," said Robert Mitchell, a Floyd County farmer with a 500-head herd of beef cattle.
But at the Narrows Livestock Market, five miles from the West Virginia border, the possible loss of TB-free status is causing a bit more worry. The simple transfer of cattle between Virginia farms and nearby farms across the border would become more of a problem, said Phillip Morris, manager of the stock market.
"It would affect us greatly," he said . "You couldn't take them five miles down the road."
by CNB