www.FarmProgress.com January 2011 / 63
Michigan Farmer
■
Livestock
Indemnification discrepancy lasts year
F
POSITIVE TWICE: Herb Trader’s farm
in Curran tested positive for bovine TB
twice and depopulated. He says USDA
indemnification the second time wasn’t
enough, and he’s still paying off debt.
EXTENDED FRUSTRATION: Alfred
Dove of Posen appealed USDA’s
appraisal, and despite an independent
appraisal and yearlong haggle involving
paperwork and attorneys, he ultimately
was forced to surrender his animals for
what USDA originally offered.
TB positive — not once but twice
H
ERB Trader, who farms 500 acres in nearby Curran, can sympathize firsthand
with cattleman Ervin Alexander’s fears. Trader ran a 300-head cow-calf operation until 2000 when two of his animals tested TB positive. His situation was highly
publicized, and after appealing USDA’s appraisal, “I made out OK and was paid
what they were worth,” he says. However, seven years later, Trader’s cow-calf herd
again tested positive. “USDA sent out an auctioneer for dairy sales,” Trader says.
“He put all 120 animals through the chute, but my worst calf he called the best
because it looked like a black Holstein.”
Trader appealed and hired Bill Sheridan of Sheridan Auction to complete an
appraisal. According to Sheridan, USDA was offering Trader about 75% of the
herd’s value. Two months of negotiations stalled. Trader fed the animals for almost
four months before finally surrendering them for what USDA offered.
OR Alfred Dove, finding out his 84-head cow-calf operation was TB positive
was a life-changing event and a yearlong struggle. Dove pastured cattle on
425 acres, some rented. In October 2009, three suspect animals were taken for
necropsy and one was confirmed positive. In December of that year, USDA appraised his animals. Dove appealed and asked Frank Leist, owner of Gaylord
Stock Yards, to write an appraisal. “His appraisal was about 25% higher than
USDA’s,” Dove says. “But I was told that it did not follow the guidelines. I resubmitted it, and it was appealed to the Washington office and again turned down. I
asked them to call Frank, but I was told it really doesn’t matter if I’ve done everything they asked, they weren’t going to accept it.”
Now into early February, Dove explored the “test and remove” option for TB,
which would allow him to keep the animals. “But because any buyer would have
to transport separately under seal and also house them separately, it was just too
many restrictions for anyone to bother with,” he says. Negotiations were halted.
Several months went by. In October, “I was threatened the sheriff would come and
seize the animals,” Dove says.
Under Michigan’s Animal Industry Act, the Michigan Department of Agriculture
does have the authority to take animals off the farm for disease purposes. “But
no one was threatened with the sheriff,” says James Averill, MDA Bovine TB
Eradication program coordinator.
The animals were removed in October. Dove received USDA’s original offer,
minus 10% for clean and disinfection and 10% for developing a herd plan (including risk mitigation) that will be reimbursed when completed. The farm can
then have animals again after it has been subject to two hot months in the
summer to kill any residual bacteria. Since this interview, Dove has been told he
will be allowed to repopulate this spring — bypassing the rule. “That’s part of the
problem with this TB program; the rules are always changing,” Dove says. “This
time it’s to my advantage, but many more haven’t been.”
Dove has two years to reinvest his payoff to avoid capital gains taxes. “I’m
semi-retired now,” he says. “I hope to have cattle again and raise hay.”
For right now, Dove continues to pay rent on 160 acres of pastureland he can’t
use. Another 80 acres he fenced is also vacant. He’s also subject to reclassification of his farmland to recreational use, which would strip his 18-mill exemption.
Averill says reclassification by some assessors was an unintended consequence
of risk mitigation.
MDA is working to inform and educate assessors. While legislation is in the
works to prevent reclassification, MDA is providing information on how to appeal if
it does happen and what documentation to provide.
LIVESTOCK CALENDAR
Still paying off cattle
“I’m still paying off cattle,” Trader says. “What’s really sad is that for 106 years
this land has been farmed as a livestock operation, now I can’t raise cattle here
because I’m not able to complete a risk mitigation plan. I have many cat-tail holes
cattle use as a source of water that MDA wants me to fence off. I can’t do that,
and I don’t have the resources to put in a watering system.”
James Averill, coordinator for the Bovine TB Eradication Program for the
Michigan Department of Agriculture, disagrees. Averill says 700 producers are
engaged in mitigation, 625 have been verified, and “very few, if anyone, has lost
watering sources,” he says.
About 120 acres on Trader’s farm is not suitable for cattle because “it’s too
good of habitat for deer,” he says he was told.
Many farmers have lost the use of woods for overwintering and 100 yards surrounding it. While risk mitigation is a voluntary program, farmers say no one will
buy cattle if the buyers are subject to whole-herd TB testing, which is required if
the animals come from a non-verified farm.
Trader’s farm, which now includes horses and few cows for freezer beef, has
been reduced to not much more than a hobby, he says.
JANUARY
8-23
22
National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO
Nichols Superior Genetics Open House Sale,
Bridgewater, IA
Jauer Dependable Genetics Angus Bull Sale,
Hinton, IA
29
FEBRUARY
1
5
11
12
12
13-20
14
17
26
Hoover Angus Production Sale, Creston, IA
Loonan Stock Farms, Corning, IA
CTPI Sale, Lebanon, PA
Heart of the Ozarks Sale, West Plaines, MO
Werner Angus Bull Sale, Cordova, IL
Iowa Beef Expo, Des Moines, IA
Iowa Simmental Assn. Expo Sale, Des Moines,
IA
Iowa Angus Assn. Expo Sale, Des Moines, IA
Pine View Angus Bull Sale, Colesburg, IA
Reaching
the cattlemen
important
to you!
HOOP STORAGE: The risk mitigation program focuses on feeding cattle away from
deer, storing feed to prevent deer access and providing water that is not shared by
deer. Ervin Alexander was eligible for cost-share money for this hoop barn, with the
MIchigan Department of Agriculture paying $15,000 of its $25,000 price tag. He
says, some might say that’s a good deal, but he contends it cost him $10,000 for a
barn he wouldn’t normally have put up.
MARCH
5
5
8
12
16
16
18
18
19
19
25
26
26
Held’s Angus Production Sale, Moville, IA
Flying H Genetics Annual Gelbvieh, Balancers,
Simmental, SimAngus, Black & Red Angus
Sale, Arapahoe, NE
Styles Angus Production Sale, Brentford, SD
J Bar M Gelbvieh and J&K Farms, Springfield,
MO
Iowa Angus Bull Test Sale, Lamoni, IA
Roma Acres Dispersal, Fond du Lac, WI
Summitcrest Bull Sale, Fremont, IA
Vision-Gen and Partners Elite Offerings,
Intercourse, PA
Circle A Ranch Annual Angus Bull Sale, Iberia,
MO
Flying H Genetics Annual Gelbvieh, Balancers,
Simmental, SimAngus, Black & Red Angus
Sale, Joplin, MO
Wulf Limousin Production Sale, Morris, MN
Sauk Valley Angus Bull Sale, Rock Falls, IL
Waukaru Polled Shorthorns, Rensselaer, IN
Your Livestock
Sales Representative
TERRI BLOOM
255 38th Ave., Ste. P
St. Charles, IL 60174-5410
Phone: (402) 540-0673
Fax: (402) 783-9000
[email protected]
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