In the neighboring province of Manitoba, around Riding Mountain National Park, some 5 elk have tested positive for tuberculosis. Extensive testing of other cervids in the region showed no evidence of the disease. Again, what's the deal?

Unfortunately, it is a big deal! Even though from a production point of view, these disease outbreaks are insignificant, they do have major implications for the deer and elk farming industry. Let's examine and discuss some of the ramifications.

1. Loss of herds: in an attempt to eradicate CWD, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has ordered whole-herd "depopulation" on the farms where CWD was found. Some 1,500 elk were slaughtered. Although some compensation was paid, the affected farms obviously suffered significant economic losses as a result. Also, a considerable number of animals were taken out of production.

2. Loss of markets: shortly after the CWD incident, Korea, the largest buyer of elk velvet antler, placed a "temporary" ban on imports of elk products from Canada. As of this writing (mid Jan. 2001), Canadian officials are negotiating with Korea to get the ban lifted, claiming the stoppage is based on false information, and that the Canadian elk products are safe. There is always a risk that this ban may be expanded to all North American sources and/or other countries may also ban imports. If continued or expanded, these bans would be a disaster for the elk industry.

3. Bad PR: interestingly, the media headlines tended to say something like "1,500 mad elk had to be killed." The point that only 16 animals were actually affected, that the disease is not Mad Cow Disease, and that there is minimal danger to humans, seems to have been lost. The industry got a lot of free publicity, but not the kind we wanted.

4. Consumer concerns: as a result of this publicity, it is going to more difficult to expand existing markets, and develop new ones for velvet and venison. Consumers are going to think twice before taking elk velvet antler, or giving it to their pets.

5. Ammunition for opponents to game farming: opponents are going to use these incidents in support of their arguments to abolish game farming. They will say, "If the farm in Saskatchewan hadn't imported elk from the United States, the province would be CWD free. Also, there is a risk of CWD now spreading to the wild elk and populations."

6. Loss of confidence in the industry: it is going to be more difficult to attract new deer/elk farmers and investors to the industry. People are going to be concerned as to how fragile the industry is, and how easily it could collapse based on spread of disease, and erosion of major markets. Bankers are going to be less generous with the lines of credit.

These events also raise issues that need to be addressed. These include:

1. Appropriate response: when a disease such as CWD or TB is discovered, what is the appropriate response by authorities - remove infected animals, quarantine and test suspected animals, or whole- herd "depopulation"? Who makes these decisions and based on what criteria? What are the appropriate roles of the affected parties - government, farmers and industry associations in these decisions and actions?

2. Consumer confidence: how do we overcome consumer/buyer concerns about the potential risks of disease on deer and elk products? How do we reassure the public that strict quality assurance measures are in place to protect them? Do we have adequate QA systems in place?

3. Communications with public: how can we make it easy for the public to get the "true facts" about diseases and any incidents in our industry?

4. Communications within the industry: how can we improve communications within the industry so that the producers, the associations, and related agencies can keep abreast of what is going on, and respond appropriately and quickly?

5. Compensation: what is the appropriate level of compensation for animals destroyed due to disease control efforts? Who pays? Who should determine the values? (Inadequate compensation is more likely to encourage producers to NOT report suspicious symptoms).

6. Jurisdiction: as is demonstrated in the Manitoba incident, different government agencies often have responsibility for farmed and wild animals. Provincial/state and federal agencies are often involved as well. This makes it more difficult to co-ordinate programs for disease control and eradication. Differing interests, strategies and policies often result in conflicts, delays and inaction. Who should have responsibility for disease management programs?

7. Working together: the elk/deer industry in North America is extremely fragmented. We have numerous industry associations representing differing geographical locations and cervid species. All have their own agendas and priorities. It is very difficult as a region to develop and implement strategies that would benefit us all.

8. Guilt by association: even though CWD was only found in a few Saskatchewan elk, Korea banned all Canadian imports. So even though Alberta had not allowed any importation of elk outside the province, and is totally CWD-free, it was still affected by the ban as were producers in all the other Canadian provinces. Therefore, regional or local disease control initiatives may not be enough to protect the industry.

9. Wildlife diseases: what should public policy be regarding diseases in wildlife cervid populations? How much testing should be done? Who should be responsible for testing, monitoring and responding to disease outbreaks? Who should pay for these programs?

10. Movement of animals: protocols for inter-state and cross-border movement of cervids have been in place for some time. What is the appropriate balance in regulations to protect local populations from disease, and at the same time allowing importing/exporting that is so essential to the economic well-being of the industry?

11. Capture of wildlife: many of the native cervid species farming industries were originally populated from wild stock. What are the risks (regarding diseases) and benefits of continuing this practice?

12. Politics: as the numbers of farmed deer and elk grow, there will be increased competition for markets. There will be a temptation for governments to protect their local industries by looking for excuses to ban imports of deer/elk products. What can be done to keep markets open and politics out of the picture?

13. Conservation fall-out: I find it very interesting that the conservation initiatives at Riding Mountain National Park - banning of logging, no haying and fire suppression - actually had a detrimental impact on elk habitat. Lack of suitable forage drove them to nearby farms where they came in contact with TB infected cattle. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate some of our conservation assumptions and programs.

So what can be done to address the issues? Here are my suggestions:

1. Cooperation: Co-operation among the various major players is going to be a challenge, but is essential for the long-term well- being of the industry in North American and the world. The major associations should strive to meet at least once a year to address common issues, develop strategies and review initiatives. On-going communications via the Internet will fill in between meetings. An appropriate venue may be the World Deer Congress in 2002 being held in the Texas USA.

2. Common strategy: This will also be difficult to achieve, but a common regional disease management strategy should be developed and implemented. A "master plan" for Canada and the United States would go a long way toward rationalizing regulations and programs.

3. Quality assurance: consumer confidence can be regained by developing and implementing a Quality Assurance program for the industry. The QA program must have the involvement of the producer, processor, distributor and retailer. QA should be mandatory and compliance strictly enforced at all levels.

4. Information site: the public (and media) needs one, easy-to-find place to go to find out more, and get accurate information about news items and topics relevant to our industry. We (Deerfarmer.com) have proposed the establishment of a common gateway website - "deerfarming.org" and "elkfarming.org" - that would provide this information. So far, only one association has expressed any interest, a few have said they have their own sites, and we haven't heard from the rest. To support my case, I could not find the following excellent article on CWD on any of the websites of the major deer or elk associations!

5. Trace-back: allows people to easily determine where a food product originated. For example, the British "farm-to-plate" program was designed to reassure consumers after the Mad Cow scare. We (Deerfarmer.com) are going to make a start in this direction with our new and expanded World Deer and Elk Farm Directory that will be up shortly. Each farm in the Directory will be assigned a unique DFUID (Deer Farm Universal Identifier). These can be used on product labels and literature. By going to the www.dfuid.com website, information about the producer can be easily obtained. (See Deerfarmer.com News below for more information).

6. Training: as an industry, we don't do much to train our producers in the fields of animal care, disease management and quality assurance. Most deer farmers have to learn this on their own. To implement QA at all levels, more training will be required. Again, by working together, costs of learning resources development and delivery can be shared and spread out over a larger client base.

7. Research: on-going research into identifying, controlling and treating cervid diseases is required. New tests will be able to identify animals at risk and control spread of disease. Better tests are also critical to facilitate the safe movement of animals across borders and regions. However, research is expensive. Working together to raise funds and share results will enhance efficiencies. Also, steps must be taken to disseminate the results of research finding. This is not being done very well right now - especially making producers aware of the research and its implications.

We all have a lot to do. So let's get started.