Miller reverses ban on cattle tick treatment
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has agreed to temporarily allow cattle fever tick spray boxes after his decision to halt their use drew outcry from the state’s leading cattle industry group and the Texas Farm Bureau.
Miller on Thursday said ranchers could resume use for 45 days while he worked with federal and state agencies to make sure the boxes were better ventilated.
Miller during a visit to a South Texas ranch last week shut down the state’s 16 spray box operations, saying he’d gotten complaints of cattle dying from overexposure to Co-Ral, a Texas Department of Agriculture-regulated pesticide manufactured by Bayer-Monsanto.
Miller said the insecticide was being administered at seven times the recommended rate by Texas Animal and Health Commission personnel not authorized to apply the chemical. He said only officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were authorized to use the treatment and none were on the premises.
Reaction was swift and loud, as cattle producers who have for years been battling a resurgence of the tick said the boxes had been in operation since the 1970s with no evidence that they killed cattle. Since the boxes can be trailered, they are a preferred treatment for ranchers who would otherwise have to haul
their cattle to distant dipping vats.
The tick carries a disease known as bovine babesiosis, which destroys red blood cells resulting in cattle anemia, fever and death. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it spread north with longhorn cattle drives and nearly wiped out the U.S. cattle herd.
The pest was declared eradicated from the U.S. in 1943, save for a narrow quarantine zone hugging the Texas-Mexico border as the ticks have been known to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico. But in recent years the ticks have increasingly been making their way into the Texas interior, forcing the cattle industry to double down on efforts to contain them. According to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, there are now nearly 1.4 million acres under some level of quarantine, compared to what had been 226,803 acres in the permanent quarantine area.
Following the backlash, Miller called a meeting on Tuesday of the producers’ groups along with the Texas Animal Health Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and APHIS. He said it was to “resolve the issue so Texas cattle ranchers can get back to business.”
“I appreciate the quick
and professional response from USDA Undersecretary (Greg) Ibach and I look forward to working with him to find a more permanent solution to this issue,” Miller said in a news release. “I also appreciate the patience and input of our friends in the Texas cattle industry. I sincerely hope together we can find that solution that will protect Texas cattle, serve the public interest and strengthen the position of the Texas beef industry as a world leader.”
TCRA President Robert McKnight Jr. and Texas Farm Bureau spokesman Gene Hall said ranchers applaud the decision.
“We are pleased to report that as a result of that meeting and further collaboration with state and federal agencies, a compromise has been reached that will allow the spray boxes to reopen temporarily,” McKnight said. “This crucial step will allow Texas cattle raisers to continue to protect and care
for their livestock and prevent the spread of cattle fever ticks while a permanent solution is implemented.”
“It is regarded as a short-term solution while working on a long-term agreement,” Hall said. “This solution will allow Texas cattlemen and women to care for their livestock and prevent the spread of fever ticks until a permanent solution can be implemented.”