By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Cattle ranchers got some good news last week with the announcement that the state’s high risk bovine tuberculosis (TB) zone may shrink by several counties.

The high-risk area, called the modified accredited zone, is currently made up of 11 counties in the northern Lower Peninsula, plus sections of two other counties.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) is proposing to take six of those counties out of the high-risk area, which are all in the western portion of the zone. These include Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet and Otsego.

The remaining counties, which would stay in the high-risk area, are Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, Oscoda and Presque Isle, plus sections of Ogemaw and Iosco.

Since 1995 there have been 40 infected cattle and 614 infected wild deer in the eastern section of the zone. According to Steven Halstead, the state’s chief veterinarian, 2002 was the last time an infected deer was found in one of the six western counties. He said this period of time is “pretty much the standard” the USDA uses when determining whether or not an area should be considered high-risk.

Officials from the MDA, Community Health and Natural Resources are set to meet with federal officials this week so that something can be decided.

The state and federal governments already have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding Bovine TB in Michigan.
Over the past several years state officials have sometimes expressed frustration over the USDA’s handling of the matter, believing it to be too stringent. Last week, though, Halstead sounded upbeat.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into (the surveillance),” he said. “We’re pretty optimistic about it. We revisit the TB MOU every year. This year there are some significant changes. This is a pretty big, significant difference this year.”

The changes would make life a little easier for cattle ranchers. Instead of random testing, cattle would be tested based on a farm risk assessment. Cattle ranchers in this new area would have to participate in a wildlife risk management plan (WRMP).
“Determining what needs to be done is a farm-by-farm thing,” Halstead said.

The basic idea is to keep deer from getting into stored feed and water that cattle are using and to keep cattle away from deer habitat.

The MDA is opening up its proposal to public comment until Aug. 21. It’s also scheduled meetings to discuss the proposed changes, at the following times and locations:

•West Branch, July 7 from 2-3 p.m., at the Ogemaw County extension office, 205 South Eighth
•Tawas City, July 7 from 7-8 p.m., at the Iosco County Annex Building, 420 West Lake Street
•Alpena, July 8 from 10-11 a.m., at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 West Fletcher Street
•Atlanta/Hillman, July 8 from 2-3 p.m., at the MDA’s Atlanta Field office, 16860 M-32 East; the field office is 4.5 miles east of the post office in Atlanta