B.C. may have opened the door for Manitoba

The initial reaction in Manitoba was shock when British Columbia cattle producers received a payment this summer to offset costs associated with TB testing and quarantine, after the disease was discovered in a Vanderhoof herd last fall.

But thoughts here quickly turned optimistic - if 32 B.C. producers were eligible for a payment under the AgriRecovery program, then Manitoba cattlemen living in the Riding Mountain Eradication Area, should qualify as well. Producers there have been testing cattle on a regular basis, and at times faced quarantine, for nearly 20 years.

The MCPA immediately had a meeting with Ag Canada officials then with Selkirk-Interlake M.P., James Bezan to see what could be done.

“The door has been opened,” said Martin Unrau, MCPA president. “We have expectations that Manitoba will be treated the same way.”

Producers in the RMEA have grown weary having to carrying the burden of testing for TB. With another testing season approaching, producers want answers.

Meanwhile, Ray Armbruster, chairman of the Association’a Animal Health committee is focused on trying to get the TB Task Force back to holding meetings and functioning.

“The group has not met since February. We need to have updates and a review of last year’s management plan,” he said. “We need a review and to develop a new strategic management plan to move forward.”

Armbruster, who has been critical of the process in the past, says he hopes things may now begin to more forward.

“We really want to see the TB Task Force functional,” he said. “The group needs to restructure, re-focus, and get back to its basic task - removing TB from the RMEA.”
In the August 30 interview for Cattle Country, James Bezan said he is including the RMEA situation in his discussions with the Minister.