NEW FEDERAL RULE CHANGE

I just tried to sell some deer and already a State agency is using a new proposed Federal rule as they understand it.  This rule is that all game farms will have to be TB and Brucellosis accredited to sell out of State from there interpretation.  This new rule will actually go into effect in April if it goes through.  In my State there has only been one farm in 1990 when we started tested for disease that had TB.  To my knowledge there has not been another TB case in Montana.  As far as brucellosis I don't believe there has been a case in deer or elk in the State.  I do know the wild deer and elk of Montana have a 33% Brucellosis infection rate in areas around Yellowstone.  As I understand it any State on the Yellowstone park boundary has about the same brucellosis rate.


If this is true in other States then this is just another excessive rule being placed on this industry.


I know here in Montana there have been cases in cattle on both these diseases but they don't force total testing of all cattle.  They just slaughter any animal that is tested positive and most of these animals end up in the food chain.


Question is why is this deer and elk industry being over regulated if we don't have this TB and Brucellosis running ramped in our herds?  Why are we not treated like cattle that freely run with our wild deer and elk herds as the disease is the same?  When a cow is found to have a disease it is killed or slaughtered but the rest of the herd left to run with wildlife.  This just doesn't make much since.


 


I understand we will have an opportunity to respond in a public hearing before this becomes a new Federal rule so we better get information so we can protect our industry from unnecessary regulation.

Great questions for NADEFA. They keep failing to protect us in my opinion. Why more regs instead of giving farms credit for all these years of previous testing!

Many years ago I asked the WI Dept Ag state vet his opinion on Bruc testing. I said to him I was Bruc Cert and did he think it was worth the cost to keep doing that voluntarily. He said to me, "There has never been a case of Bruc in deer. I see no reason for the testing. That said if a Bruc shows up somewhere I will be forced to start requiring it."

The industry (for most of us anyway) have done the testing as a matter of ease during interstate shipping to farms currently Bruc Cert. Also because of that ease it opened up markets to us that we otherwise might not have had because buyers wouldn't want the extra work involved buying from a herd that wasn't Bruc Cert. And after all these years not a single Bruc positive.

What has all this proved and where is the relief???

Roger,


I have been is the CWD program since 2000 and in that fifteen years nothing has had any relief in it.  The fact is it had become more restrictive.  I'll bet I have tested over 5000 head to move them out of State for TB and bangs over the years and not one has had the disease.  Yet some States have had a problem with me shipping because I have missed a few whitetail over the years in summer and found them with my nose so they couldn't test them.  Any moron would expect that when they are in alfalfa fields which are 18 plus inch's high.  Unrealistic people in the disease agencies felt you should be able to find 100% of animals that die from natural causes.  I guess they feel we should follow them around every day cause we have nothing better to do.  When we had the 2500 acre place working hunting facility it was a impossible request for sure.


I still have 180 head of deer and elk and if I'm forced to become accredited to sell out of State I think this will be the last straw for me and I will quit whitetail as I have them more for my pleasure than profit.


The anti industry people pushed by the Fish and Game in every State are winning in the fight to shut our industry down by making it cost to much to stay in business with over regulation of this industry and they know it. 


We all know our animals are healthier than wild deer and elk.  In Montana 30% of the wild elk around Yellowstone have brucellosis and that is a fact.  We also know there were 17000 head of elk and now there are around 3500 the other elk have become wolf crap.  One out of one hundred elk calves now survive to a year old in that area. We all know our animals are better taken care of than a wild deer or elk because we protect them from predation and give good feed 365 days a year and they are tested for disease wild one get none of this.  I consider my deer and elk as democrats because they always come around for hand outs.  Just kidding any of my democrat friends.


Most of us should know these diseases came from cattle but there is no push to stop the cattle from freely living with wildlife.  Why because it is private property and cattle people have more power than Fish and Game people or critics and I'm glad they do because they have been able to protect their property rights and private owned livestock.  I have loved this industry for 40 years but to have watched it slowly get reduced to what it is today is dishearting.

My State indicates the interruption by this other State is wrong and they are not forcing anyone to become certified on TB or Bangs to sell out of State.  You would just have to TB two ninety days apart TB tests and have them quarantined for that period to move them.  A few of the guys that protect use from abuse are looking into it.  My thoughts are if one State Agency thinks they can stop movement with this new rule the new rule isn't clear enough.

The industry is all but dead. But don't say that out loud or you will get slammed by those who are trying to keep the secret.

IndependenceRanch1059681451947132



The industry is all but dead. But don't say that out loud or you will get slammed by those who are trying to keep the secret.




LOL..Roger the Top 30 is coming up and the other day i read on Facebook that the Top 30 is the standard to show where the deer industry is today.  I myself have never seen or used the Top 30 as a marker as to how the 'Real' deer industry is. Now the Top 30 is a great thing for the most part..Still not sure what it take to get an invite into that as i always thought it was top farms with longevity selling great stock and such but it seems you can spend a pile of cash and be in the following year. Now Marks sale or the chupps are pretty good thermometer as to where the real deer industry stands. Of course those are just my thoughts but as a whole i think the DEC/DNR's of states are killing the wild deer off in many states because of farms and Ins companies and i believe this is going to help the high fence hunting industry. If we can just hold on!

Mike you are right several states are not adjusting their limits to the numbers of deer in the wild, therefore, several states wild herd populations are really in a world of hurt.  I see this as a double edged sword though.  It can be good for this industry today but where does that hunter recruitment come from in the long run generations on down the line.  If we lose people going to the woods we will lose people coming to ours.  IMO  I dont care how the declining herd helps us today it will doom us in the future. 

jerrilee cave1059731451972834



Mike you are right several states are not adjusting their limits to the numbers of deer in the wild, therefore, several states wild herd populations are really in a world of hurt.  I see this as a double edged sword though.  It can be good for this industry today but where does that hunter recruitment come from in the long run generations on down the line.  If we lose people going to the woods we will lose people coming to ours.  IMO  I dont care how the declining herd helps us today it will doom us in the future. 




I agree. I also do not see me passing my herd on to my children. Sucks but it looks like this will just be me until retirement. I will sell the whole herd off when that day comes,down come the fences, sell the property and move to Texas where they have an industry, its warm,,work on a farm while raising a few animals of my own.


 


Sounds like a plan to me.       I think the warm is what i will seek out the most. lol

Totally understand your viewpoint. We are not having a problem here in our state, would love to see a follow-up to your situation? Thanks for sharing.
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thank you all to share your viewpoints on this topic.
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It makes sense why they're doing this, but why they do it before it is even passed by the state, remains a question. They have recently started doing in my state and just wanted to see how it was handled. Thanks for the input.

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