USDA proposes TB compensation rule

Aug. 1, 2008 - - Owners of cattle herds infected with bovine tuberculosis may be required to develop disease-prevention plans to be compensated for destroyed cattle. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service proposed a rule on July 24 that would withhold federal indemnity payments to affected producers until they develop herd management plans approved by state and federal veterinarians. Producers would receive 90 percent of the payment once their plans were approved, and the remaining 10 percent, once they showed the plans had been implemented. Failure to abide by the plans would disqualify producers from claiming compensation in the event of a re-infection.
“We believe these proposed changes would further tuberculosis eradication efforts in the United States and protect livestock not affected with tuberculosis from the disease,” reads an APHIS summary of the proposed rule.
In the past decade, 78 herds have been infected with tuberculosis, and at least 5 percent of the infections occurred on previously affected premises, according to the summary. The agency has paid producers about $91 million in compensation for destroyed cattle from tuberculosis-infected herds since 2001, with payments ranging from about $1,000 to $2,300 per head, according to the summary.