March 21, 2023

 

Montana, US sets up fund to support ranchers facing livestock losses due to diseases

 

 

Ranchers in Montana, the United States, will now have a state-level fund to support livestock losses to certain diseases.

 

House Bill 51, sponsored by Rep. Joe Read, R-Polson, sets aside US$10,000 a year for the Department of Livestock to pay ranchers indemnity for animals lost to disease. The fund is capped at US$100,000 and paid for by livestock head fees.

 

Montana Govenor Greg Gianforte has signed the bill into law.

 

The Department of Livestock requested the bill, saying it's needed to update outdated language, ease the burden of regulatory testing for producers and reimburse for diseases that are not indemnified federally.

 

Marty Zaluski, the livestock department's veterinarian, said the bill would allow payment to ranchers for any livestock that state employees accidentally injure during required regulatory testing. The legislation would also indemnify for diseases that the federal government doesn't pay for, like brucellosis.

 

"It's pretty limited in scope, because US$10,000 a year doesn't go very far," Zaluski told the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation committee in February. "This bill is not intended to cover the kind of catastrophic loss events where we expect the federal government to step up and assist."

 

Losses not covered by the state include diseases like bovine tuberculosis and avian influenza, which have both been found in Montana this decade.

 

Still, having a state-level indemnity fund is important for Montana, Zaluski said. The existing fund doesn't have any money in it as no producers have bothered to file a claim with the rates so low.

 

Prior Montana law said state indemnity payments must cover 75% of the animal's market value — but the claims can't exceed US$100 for a registered purebred livestock or US$50 for a grade animal.

 

Those rates are from the 1920s and need updating, Zaluski said.

 

HB 51 bumps the indemnity from 75% to 100% of the market value. The legislation is set to take effect on July 1, and producers wanting to file a claim would go through the Department of Livestock.

 

"I think this is a good modernisation of the law and it will be good for herd health," Joe Read, the bill's sponsor, said to the Senate committee.

 

Zaluski acknowledged the US$10,000 annual allocation was low after legislators asked about the amount.

 

If the money proves insufficient, the livestock department will come back with a further request down the road, Zaluski said.

 

He added that injuries by state employees during testing are rare, and that most of that testing is done by private veterinarians anyway.

 

The Montana Farm Bureau Federation and Montana Farmers Union both supported the bill, saying that indemnity payments are an important part of keeping ranchers in business.

 

- Bozeman Daily Chronicle