The removal of testing and treatment requirements for bluetongue and anaplasmosis in feeder cattle imported from the United States offers sheep producers little benefit and great risk, says Randy Eros of the Canadian Sheep Federation.
The diseases are not hazardous to humans, but bluetongue can kill sheep and anaplasmosis can make them sick.
“For us, it’s a high risk, low reward. For beef, it’s low risk, high reward,” he said of the changes that federal agriculture minister Bob Speller announced March 10.
Effective April 1, U.S. feeder cattle from 39 states considered to have a low incidence of bluetongue will be able to enter Canada directly without being tested.
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Feeder cattle from the 11 states that are considered to have a high incidence of bluetongue will also not be tested if they have lived in a low-risk state for at least 60 days before being shipped to Canada.
Eros, who raises sheep near Ste. Anne, Man., said he was sympathetic to the plight of cattle producers who have been hurt by BSE and are looking to ease trade barriers to help get the border reopened. However, he said closed borders have also affected sheep, leading to an oversupply of lambs and prices that have been cut in half.
Not all cattle producers agree with Speller’s decision.
Bob Prestage, an Angus breeder, cattle exporter and vice-president of Canada Livestock Services, does not think opening the border to anaplasmosis and bluetongue will result in the favour being returned for Canadian cattle. He thinks concessions should be negotiated for both sides.
“Why give that up without getting something back in return for us?”
Under the new rules, American cattle will go directly into Canadian feedlots en route to slaughterhouses to mitigate disease risk, said George Luterbach of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“These animals would not come in contact with the national herd,” he said.
“By keeping them in feedlots, they do not pose a risk to breeding herds of cattle, sheep, goats and wildlife in Canada.”
In the past, cattle imports into western Canadian feedlots were restricted to the winter and only allowed from nine low-risk states.
Canada is free of both insect-borne diseases, although bluetongue has occasionally been detected in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
The recent spread of bluetongue into Europe and the detection of new strains in Australia have scientists in that island country seeking more information about how the virus spreads. There is no effective treatment for bluetongue, which produces nasal discharges and hemorrhaging and fever in sheep.
Anaplasmosis, which can cause anemia and respiratory distress, can be treated with antibiotics or prevented with vaccines.
