Brucellosis meeting time change
December 12, 11 AM to 2 PM
by Cat Urbigkit
December 11, 2006
The Wyoming Livestock Board is holding a hearing on its proposed revisions to the state's brucellosis regulations on Tuesday, December 12 in the commercial building at the Sublette County Fairgrounds. The hearing will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Although the board had previously announced the meeting would begin at 9 a.m., it has been rescheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
In mid-September, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reclassified the State of Wyoming as Brucellosis Free, eliminating many of the federal testing requirements for Wyoming cattle when they are sold or move out of the state.
As a result, Chapter 2 Rules are now being amended to address this reclassification. Specifically, the rules have been amended to reduce testing requirements for Wyoming cattle prior to a change in ownership or an interstate movement.
However, six counties (Lincoln, Hot Springs, Fremont, Park, Sublette and Teton) are still subject to the testing requirements. According to the WLB, these six counties have been recognized by APHIS as being areas of concern for brucellosis and, at least for now, APHIS wants WLB to continue testing these cattle before they move across state lines or change ownership.
The WLB also added an amendment requiring testing if cattle leave the six-county area, “to ensure that animals are not moved out of the six county area and subsequently sold or moved out of state.”
WLB also added a subsection requiring (with two exceptions) testing of all cattle at sale barns. This was deemed necessary by APHIS to ensure some level of surveillance for the disease, according to WLB.
Lastly, WLB also added an exception to the testing requirement for cattle from herds with a valid herd plans in place. According to the rulemaking notice issued by WLB, herd plans will provide individual producers with the option of developing plans for their herds which would relieve some of the burden imposed on people in the six-county area.
Related Links:
Wyoming Livestock Board
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