New Dept. of Ag regulations

NEW DEPARTMENT OF AG REGULATIONS STARTING SATURDAY, AUGUST 29TH , PUT YOUR FARM OR RANCH IN QUARANTINE

My name is Josh Newton, and I serve as the President of the Pennsylvania Deer Farmers Association (PDFA). The PDFA is a member organization representing hundreds of Deer Farms and Ranches across the Commonwealth for nearly 2 decades. I have spent 21 of my 39 years of life operating a business in the state of PA raising whitetail deer. This, like many I represent, is our life’s work and passion.

As you may well know, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was first detected in the fall of 2012 in the wild herd and in a captive animal. Since that time, CWD has caused an upheaval in the way we manage deer inside or outside the fence.

For nearly 15 years the PDFA has worked with the Department of Agriculture, our regulatory agency, to develop sound policy and regulation for business in PA. Over the past 6 months we have been hearing rumors of new regulatory actions that sound frankly devastating to family-run operations in the state. We have made every attempt to work with our animal health experts at the Dept. of AG. Dr. Kevin Brightbill and Dr. Alex Hamberg, to mold a regulatory framework that can meet the objectives of living with CWD in PA.

I personally have a sense that as the suggestions we have made are elevated through the Department of AG, they are falling on deaf ears.

Here are some key components of this coming regulation- “Quarantine Zone”

- Upon signing this Order, the Farm or Ranch within Blair, Bedford or Fulton County will no longer be allowed to sell product (Live deer) outside these counties. Currently business is available in every county.

- No Germ-plasma (semen or embryo) sales outside these 3 counties (Potential Regulation)

- No Urine may be sold

- No high-risk Parts may leave these counties

- Farms have no way to apply for relief

- No new businesses may start in these counties

No existing business may purchase new property to grow their business unless it is adjacent to their existing property.

- No compliance periods. Restrictions on commerce happen the day of signing

-No warning or preparation time will be given

-The details will be published in the PA Bulletin this Saturday, August 29th. According to the Secretary’s office, they will also be implemented on Saturday.

- If implementation is, in fact, set to take place on Saturday, this will be a HUGE issue for the farms not only in these 3 counties but also with supply chains throughout the state. It’s not nearly enough time to get the 76 farms informed and educated on exactly how they must rework their businesses. And many of these farms will likely go out of business.

In broad terms, if you are in any of these three counties—Blair, Bedford and Fulton, you must try to make a living in only those counties. At this point in time I have exhausted every effort to advocate for not crippling our industry. No deer farmer in PA wants CWD. We do not want to spread CWD. What we do want is to be part of the solution to help manage operating in the state with CWD.

Allow me to briefly paint a picture for you.

“As a young man freshly out of High School, you decide that you would like to pursue a career in Agriculture as you feel this is your calling. You save every penny you have for a down payment on a small farm in Blair County, where you make this dream a reality. Over the course of the next 20 years you meet your wife, start a family with a couple kids…the American Dream, really.

From a business standpoint, your farm continues to grow during these years and you find some expansion is needed. You sink everything you have into the expansion and take on substantial debt to do so. Your family helps build out the infrastructure of the farm, constructing fences, new water sources, electric, and out-buildings to house animals. One Saturday after the sun goes down you return home, opening your email only to find a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture stating that as of Monday, you will be restricted to selling your animals to 3 counties in the entire state: Blair, Bedford and Fulton counties. You are in shock—no warning, no planning, and no established business relationships within these areas. For the past 20 years you have sold your stock to a gentleman in Lycoming County. You hang your head in defeat and tell the news to your wife…”

This story told above will be the reality for some of our farmers and ranchers in PA. It takes the wind from me to think this is how we treat those hard-working folks in Pennsylvania.

The deer farms in this state are the single greatest resource for CWD research, so to impose a “forced closure” of business and lose this resource will have greater implications than just those of the entrapped farmers in these counties.

To be clear, these operations targeted by this regulation have done everything that the Agriculture department and USDA has asked of them, (some for decades!) and

DO NOT have CWD on their farms. As a key stakeholder, we want to work toward solutions to this situation and will always continue to advocate for our family’s livelihood and a Pro-Agriculture approach to regulation.

At this point PDFA has contacted each Senator and Representative in these three counties and asked for their support and assistance with contacting the Secretary of Ag to hold this order and come back to the table to work with industry. Additionally, we are exploring legal and legislative options as a last resort.

**** We are also hearing that Dept. of Ag plans to set up a briefing meeting with legislators next Thursday. We don’t know any other details on this meeting yet. This is and should be a concern for every livestock farmer in the state of PA—Beef, Dairy, Swine, Poultry and Cervid alike. If they can impose these regulations on one industry, they can do it to another.

For Questions and comments regarding these regulations please contact the Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding’s office at 717-772-2853. When calling the office, encourage them to, “we strongly urge the Dept. Of Ag to delay implementation of these regulations until January 2021, re-evaluate them and come back to the table with the stakeholder groups involved.”

PDFA President, Josh Newton