Feedlots adjust to new biosecurity challenges
Illnesses are easy to spread, could endanger beef herds
Dec. 12, 2006
Kristen Waggener
The Garden City Telegram
Daily inspections of cattle are routine at Seller's Feedlot in Lyons. They're a staple at J O Cattle Co. in Holcomb, too, and at Cattle Empire in Satanta.
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| A worker at Cattle Empire LLC vaccinates a steer against a variety of diseases at the processing piortion of the feedlot. Laurie Sisk/Garden City Telegram |
"Our cowboy crew goes through every pen every day," said Kevin Dwyer, general manager at Seller's.
Such inspections are an attempt to ensure the biological security of the state's cattle industry, a concern heightened by the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
It's a daunting task. Kansas has 260 feedyards with 1,000 or more head of cattle. Some feedlots contain as many as 200,000.
Kansas Livestock Commissioner George Teagarden said those animals might never be fully secure.
"To secure a feedlot in the manner to where you would guarantee no one could get in would be like building a prison," he said, "and that's not practical."
Nonetheless, he said, feedyards in Kansas are taking steps to protect the beef supply.
Outside many feedyards, signs are posted at each entrance advising visitors to report to the office. Employees watch for unauthorized people on the lots or even on nearby roads.
"Any employee that sees someone they don't recognize is instructed to flag the person down," Dwyer said. "We want to definitely make sure we know who they are and what they are here for."
Roy Brown, chief executive officer of Cattle Empire, said that after 9-11, the Kansas Livestock Association issued advisories for feedyards to heighten security, discourage visitors and talk to those parked on roads near their perimeters.
Of chief concern is the risk that someone could release disease spores, such as those containing the most contagious cattle disease -- foot-and-mouth disease -- at or near a cattle lot. Disease spores can travel great distances, Brown said.
"Someone could release (foot-and-mouth) spores on the perimeter road, which could then contaminate the whole feedyard," he said.
Foot-and-mouth disease causes a loss of appetite and lameness in cattle, which leads to weight loss and reduced production of milk and meat.
Foot-and-mouth disease is not currently found in the United States. Cooked meat from animals that had the disease is not considered a threat to humans. But the virus remains alive in raw meat, and the transportation of that infected raw meat poses a risk to the international markets.
"The minute we found out we had foot-and-mouth, all the international markets would close ... for a year, at least, Teagarden said.
The effect of closed markets was made evident in 2003 when the United States found its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, in a dairy cow in Washington state.
The cow, which had been bought from a farm in Canada, prompted Japan to ban U.S. beef imports. That country had been the No. 1 U.S. beef importer.
That ban was in place until July, when Japan agreed to allow meat from cattle 20 months old or younger to be imported.
The illness seen as the most likely risk for cattle fatalities in feedyards is bovine viral diarrhea, which damages a cow's digestive and immune systems and causes calf deformities.
"Many die from something else, but it started with BVD," Brown said.
Kansas has guidelines in place should the state's cattle industry be threatened by contagious disease. Those call for a halt to the movement of cattle until the problem can be confined.
Assessing risks
Researchers at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine are working on a computer program to help feedlot managers assess the risks they face.
Aric Brandt and three other K-State researchers are working with funding granted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Health Department to develop a Bio-security Risk Impact Calculator.
The calculator will pose questions about feedyard practices regarding feed, cattle and security and generate a report of risks found.
With the report, Brandt said, feedlot operators might decide to change practices, provide training or take other steps to reduce risks.
The research team is collecting data from 100 feedyards in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska. The project is to be completed in June.
