Preparation is the best way to prevent African Swine Fever from entering the U.S. The Board of Animal Health (BAH) has been busy building outreach materials to inform the public, producers, veterinarians and markets about how they can prevent this and other swine diseases. The new market-specific flyers are available in multiple languages, and provide a background on ASF, how to prevent it with biosecurity, and how it relates to the Board's oversight of swine programs. Click here to access the ASF two-page flyer.

Another new flyer from the BAH is being distributed at select feed stores across the state. The "Know the Signs of Foreign Animal Diseases" flyer is designed for hobby or backyard swine owners. It not only depicts examples of ASF clinical signs they should look for in their animals, it also outlines foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever. All of those diseases are reportable to the Board and the intent of the flyer is to raise awareness and encourage swine owners to contact a veterinarian if they suspect anything is amiss with their animals. Click here for the "Know the Signs of Foreign Animal Diseases" flyer.

The Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association Summer Beef Tour July 8 featured livestock and other industries in the Morris area. Hosted locally by the West Central Cattlemen's Association, the tour visited some of the state's most innovative beef and dairy farming operations. Photo right: Lloyd Fehr (left) and Lauren Carlson chat over lunch. Fehr is a founder of Riverview Farms; Carlson is a past cattlemen's association president and founder of the summer tours, which started in the early 1970s.

Tour stops:

• Moore Calves: Riverview LLP’s Stevens County calf depot.  
• Tegrity Feedlot: Cattle to finish weights (formerly Leonard Wulf & Sons location). 
•  JMF Herefords and Sim Angus: Purebred operation hosting on farm bull sale each spring. 
• Dennis Feuchtenberger: Monoslope slat barn. 
• Bonanza Bean: Edible bean processor. Cleaning, drying, packaging a variety of edible beans. 
• Blackwelder Dairy: Robotic milking units and feed pusher. 
• Bruce Sperr: Covered feedlot system. 
• Wally Kill: Antique oil memorabilia.  Restored gasoline pumps, signage, and filling station collector’s items.

Once again the Soil Health Academy will be conducting an intensive three-day workshop Aug. 13-15 at the Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz' Stoney Creek Farm  (photo) west of Redwood Falls. It will examine all aspects of regenerative farming and ranching, soil health, plant health, and animal health. Hands-on experience will be emphasized.

Taught by highly experienced and regenerative farmers, participants will work in teams to solve real-world grazing problems and sharpen their skills. Topics will include: Principles of soil health and adaptive stewardship, restoring vibrant ecosystems through adaptive grazing, making grazing highly profitable and desirable, successful marketing, strategies for enhanced net margins, nutrient management, designing cover crop mixes, farm economics and whole farm planning.

"We are very proud to have found our way to improving soil health," says Grant. "We see the increased wildlife, biological life in the soil, improved grain yields, and the improved health of our livestock. We have eliminated erosion and improved water infiltration, which means we now keep the water where it's supposed to be. What could be better than that?"  For more information and to register online.

On June 24, 2019, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (BAH) published a notice of intent to adopt rules governing poultry and Mycoplasma requirements in turkeys. Due to an email notification issue, the BAH republished the notice of intent on July 22, 2019 and extending the original comment period to ensure all parties affected by the proposed rules have been notified and given an opportunity to comment.

Under the current rules, testing for Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae is required for all turkey hatcheries and breeding flocks. Similar rules also apply to poultry dealers, those attending community sales and exhibitions, and those importing turkeys into Minnesota. The rule amendments would restrict the Mycoplasma testing and/or Mycoplasma clean classification requirement to commercial turkey producers, consistent with the requirements for commercial egg-type chicken and commercial meat-type chicken hatcheries and breeding flocks.

With the amendment the rules will continue to focus the Mycoplasma surveillance and control programs on high-risk, high-consequence commercial premises while allowing small backyard/exhibition turkey producers to obtain unusual or rare breeds of birds from flocks that may not be participating in similar Mycoplasma surveillance programs. The amended rules would also better align with the testing expectations for backyard/exhibition turkeys in other states.

The proposed rules are available for viewing, along with the statement of need and reasonableness (SONAR), on the BAH rulemaking webpage: https://www.bah.state.mn.us/public-rule-making/. The SONAR contains a summary of the justification for the proposed rules, including a description of who will be affected by the proposed rules and an estimate of the probable cost of the proposed rules. You may obtain copies of the SONAR for the cost of reproduction by contacting the agency contact person.

You may submit written comments on the proposed rules and may also submit a written request that a hearing be held on the rules until 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2019. Written and oral comments, questions and requests for more information on these possible rules should be directed to:

Dr. Shauna Voss Minnesota Board of Animal Health, Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory 622 Business Hwy 71 NE, P.O. Box 126 Willmar, MN 56201

Phone: 320-231-5170 Fax: 320-231-6071 Email: shauna.voss@state.mn.us

You may also review the proposed rule and submit written comments via the Office of Administrative Hearings Rulemaking e-comments website at https://minnesotaoah.granicusideas.com/discussions.

The BAH is required to submit to the judge only those written comments received in response to the rules after they are proposed. If you submitted comments during the development of the rules and you want to ensure that the Administrative Law Judge reviews the comments, you should resubmit the comments after the rules are formally proposed. If you would like to be included on the Board’s official rulemaking mailing list, please sign up at: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNBAH/subscriber/new.

USDA has announced a proposal to phase out visual-only official identification (ID) ear tags in an effort to move towards official radio frequency ID (RFID) ear tags (beginning with ‘840’ for USA born livestock). The current proposal is that metal National Uniform Eartagging System (NUES) tags, including silver metal and orange Brucellosis vaccination tags, continue to be provided at no cost through the Minnesota Board of Animal Health office until Dec. 31, 2019, or earlier if funds are depleted.

Once the metal NUES tags are no longer available from the Board office, accredited veterinarians will have the ability to purchase them from either Ketchum Manufacturing or National Band and Tag companies through December 31, 2020. Livestock producers may contact their veterinarian or a tag supply company to purchase official ID.

As of January 1, 2021, NUES tags (both metal and plastic) are proposed to no longer be available from any source. NUES tags applied prior to that date are proposed to be recognized as official ID through December 31, 2022.

USDA approved devices:

• Approved AIN devices
• Approved NUES devices