Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 6, 1994                   TAG: 9410060011
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CATTLE FARMERS EXPECT LOSSES

How states that buy Virginia's 600,000 head of cattle will react probably won't be known before November, when an official notice is published. But one thing is certain: It isn't going to make the state's already distressed farmers any richer, officials said Wednesday.

The impending loss of a TB-free status adds to the larger concern of lower prices farmers are getting for their animals, said Jim Johnson, a field agent with the Virginia Cattlemen's Association, based in Botetourt County. With a glut of beef coming to the market this year, cattle are selling for $12 to $20 less per hundred pounds than they were a year ago, he said.

"They're going to use it as another stick to beat us with in a depressed market," lamented Albert Epperly, manager of the Springlake Livestock Market in Moneta.

The concern about TB status arose when the disease was found in a herd of Floyd County beef cattle this summer. That herd was destroyed, but further testing found TB on another Floyd County farm.

That farmer, Douglas Belcher of Willis, has 430 cattle, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Belcher, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, is trying to decide whether to have his herd destroyed or go through a time-consuming testing procedure that could keep Virginia from regaining its status for longer than the minimum of two years.

If he chooses to go the testing route, Belcher will have to test his cattle once every two months until two consecutive months' testing shows no trace of the disease, said Toni Radler, spokeswoman with the department. Then he will have to test the cows again, six and 12 months later. Only then, if the tests remain negative, will the two-year timetable - the length of time Virginia must remain TB-free statewide - begin for the state to regain its status.

Virginia agriculture officials have been contacting states, mostly in the Midwest, that buy Virginia's beef cattle, but Radler said officials in those states indicated they will wait a few months until the Federal Register publishes a notice of Virginia's change in status before making decisions on what additional regulations to impose.

Some states may require individual testing of cattle 30 to 60 days before they're sold. Others could continue to require only the standard health papers and keep Virginia cattle quarantined from TB-free cattle.

Until then, farmers are worried that Midwestern feedlot operators may choose to shop for cattle elsewhere, reducing the demand for Virginia beef and driving down prices further.

"Anything that puts a little bit more uncertainty is causing [buyers] to pull back," Epperly said. "It just doesn't look like it's going to be good for us."