According to Utah’s Department of Agriculture and Food, trichomoniasis - known as trich – is a sexually transmitted disease of cattle that’s caused by a microscopic parasite. The disease is spread during the breeding process and cows that contract trich generally abort their fetus after breeding.
The Ensign Group, owned by Summit County Councilor Chris Robinson, manages nearly a quarter million acres of real estate in the mountain west on which they raise thousands of heads of cattle.
Jeff Young manages Ensign’s herds and says the news about the two trich cases is concerning because potentially, it’s a huge economic loss.
“Economically,” Young said, “it's a devastating disease because the fetuses are aborted as usually when the abortion takes place, the cow aborts the fetus, that cleans the cow up and she no longer transmits the disease. Any positive bulls, you know, have to be destroyed.”
Bulls must be tested for trich every year before they’re turned out to breed at a cost of about $60 a head. Bulls that have been tested must be tagged. Prevention, Young says is the best way to avoid the disease.
“The state of Utah requires that all bulls over one year of age, regardless of whether they're in a breeding herd or not, if they're one year of age, they have to be trich tested annually. And it’s a stiff financial penalty not doing so. Then other management techniques are to keep younger bulls, rotate your bulls out, keep younger ones, and then sell open cows and just prevent the disease and contain it but try not do things that are going to give it an opportunity to get established and spread.”
Bill White, owner of Bill White Farms, maintains a herd of more than 600 cattle in Woodland. And even though his operation is small potatoes compared to Ensign’s, he says even losing one bull due to trich can have a big impact since bulls are the most costly animals to own per head. The industry average he says is one bull for every 20 or 25 cows. He says he has one bull for every 40 to 50 cows.
“We have less bulls, as I said, they're more expensive. So, the more efficient they are, the more savings you have. As a rancher and I'll tell you in today's market, as you well know, with everything, the cost of diesel, the cost of feed, the drought, the cost of land, we're gonna see some major changes, not just with cattle, but our food in general is going to continue to skyrocket. I mean, we have every headwind possible now with this. This trich outbreak could devastate 10 different ranches, at least potentially.”
And while the STD is one concern, climate change and drought White said are also having huge impacts on the cattle industry, especially for those who, like White, have small herds.
“And just to put that in perspective, two years ago, a ton of alfalfa hay mix of alfalfa grass mix was about $130-140. And then last year, it was $200 a ton. Because the drought and the scarcity and costs of raising it. And then this year is predicted to be nearly $400 a ton. It makes zero economic sense to be in ranching on that scale.”
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is taking steps to quarantine the affected Summit County bulls.
