Manitoba will launch a five-year, $150,000 project to better monitor bovine tuberculosis (TB) by linking on farm data to traceability tools throughout the beef processing system. This announcement was made by Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn.
“As a cattle farmer, I know that stronger traceability programs for bovine TB support the long-term sustainability of Manitoba’s beef industry,” said Minister Kostyshyn. “Manitoba’s status as a TB-free province comes at a significant cost to a relatively small group of producers, but allows the entire industry to access valuable marketing opportunities in other countries. We will help move the industry to a new approach to improve accuracy and reduce costs to beef producers.”
Producers in the Riding Mountain TB Eradication Area (RMEA) will receive support to conduct risk assessments, ensure all necessary information about their livestock is available to an existing traceability system and follow up on any testing results related to their herd.
Once filled with site- and animal-specific details, the system will link information from animal ear tags to the farm premises identification and throughout the beef processing chain. If the presence of bovine TB is found at a slaughterhouse or abattoir as part of routine monitoring, it can then be traced back to an individual farm.
This information will be used to monitor the prevalence of bovine TB and the location of infected animals. All of this factors into Manitoba’s TB-free status, which affects domestic and international marketing opportunities, the minister said.
For more than 12 years, producers in the RMEA have had to regularly conduct herd-wide bovine TB testing. Routine testing requires the entire herd to be gathered twice over two days, which places extra demands on producers and stress on the animals. The minister noted that a strengthened traceability system may also help reduce the number of on-farm bovine TB tests required in the future, which would help to reduce costs for producers living in the RMEA.
Manitoba will work with Manitoba Beef Producers to finalize details on how funding will be provided to producers, to ensure the program aligns with current industry initiatives related to traceability, said Minister Kostyshyn, adding more information on how individual producers in the RMEA can access funding will be available soon.
“For years Manitoba’s beef producers have worked diligently towards the goal of bovine TB eradication, often at substantial cost to their operations,” said Heinz Reimer, president of the Manitoba Beef Producers. “Today’s announcement helps recognize their efforts and it offers additional support as we work collaboratively to achieve this important goal. We appreciate the provincial government’s support of important projects like this.”
