Make testing for VD mandatory, says official

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Published: March 24, 1994

REGINA (Staff) — Bovine trichomoniasis should be met head on, says a board member of the Saskatchewan Beef Cattle Performance Association.

The association operates the Saskatchewan Livestock Centre north of Regina, where testing for the reproductive disease is voluntary.

Dave Grajczyk, of Graychar Charolais at Mortlach, Sask., said testing should be mandatory.

“You don’t try to hide it,” he said of the disease. But some members of the association don’t feel the same way.

Grajczyk said “political reasons” are why mandatory testing is not in place. The board has been “pressured even by individual breed associations not to test.

“I don’t know what their reasons are,” he said.

The cost of a test, $23 at the centre including diagnosis and veterinarian costs, is all in the price of doing business, Grajczyk said.

Livestock centre manager Layton Bezan said if a bull tests positive for trichomoniasis, every bull in the pen will be re-tested up to three times.

About the author

Karen Briere

Karen Briere

Karen Briere grew up in Canora, Sask. where her family had a grain and cattle operation. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Regina and has spent more than 30 years covering agriculture from the Western Producer’s Regina bureau.

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