Harding County, South Dakota Farm, ships whole herd due to bovine tuberculosis

"I think the tears are gone," Susan said. "It had gotten to the point that we had accepted it. I think it somehow became easier to do what we had to do," she said, of losing her family's entire herd of cattle due to bovine tuberculosis."We battled it day by day finding positive things to think about. We went to the Lord," she says. Wayne and Susan Nelson of Harding County, South Dakota, learned in February 2017 that three cows from their herd, which had been sold for slaughter in November, had tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, a disease requiring quarantine and testing – and ultimately, in their case, a complete depopulation.The timing of this outbreak could be described as "The Perfect Storm" in the ranching business with calving looming on the horizon. We moved as fast as we could with the testing procedure. We were testing our cows within 10 days of the initial phone call from Dr. Odekoven, the South Dakota state veterinarian. The waiting for lab reports to come in and government protocol was very frustrating, as we knew we were on a very tight timeline to the onset of calving.Calving season this year started out no different than any other. The Nelson family spent long days and sleepless nights helping heifers calve and keeping the cows and calves healthy. But they knew neither the cows nor the calves would be headed to grass for the summer.On April 18, the last of the cattle left the Nelson ranch.Every bovine over two years of age had been tested. Those that tested positive once were then given a different test. Those that tested positive again were sent to a state lab for euthanization and necropsy.