EXPERIMENT STATION | Biosecurity Decisions By Nevada Cattle Ranchers On Public Lands

Thomas Harris, Professor, State Specialist

(naes.unr.edu/research/project.aspx?GrantID=655)

While evidence of non-adoption of biosecurity action against trichomoniasis is found, the reasons for nonadoption are not clear. The likely major determinants of private biosecurity actions for a rancher are (1) what is at stake or the magnitude of the damage due to a disease, (2) likeliness of disease introduction in the herd, (3) effectiveness of biosecurity actions, and (4) how individuals evaluate (1), (2), and (3), which partially reflects rancher awareness of the disease and biosecurity options. These factors affect private ranchers’ incentives to adopt/not adopt biosecurity actions. When public regulations are in place, rancher incentives to participate and comply are also affected by these factors.

In Nevada, where much of livestock production occurs on public lands, a rancher’s animal health decisions can also be influenced by neighboring ranchers’ decisions especially when there is no fence that physically separates the herds. For example, trichomoniasis is transmitted from a bull to cows and heifers at the time of breeding. Vaccinating own cows may limit the incidence of the disease but does not prevent infection from neighboring ranchers’ bulls. A biosecurity incentive in this case may be to fence in one’s allotment of public rangeland, but it is costly and faces institutional restrictions.

In this project, the motivations and incentives for rancher biosecurity against animal diseases will be investigated, focusing on trichomoniasis in cattle and measures targeted for trichomoniasis, some biosecurity measures may be relevant for other animal diseases. A survey of Nevada cattle ranchers will be conducted to assess rancher awareness and perception of factors affecting adoption of biosecurity actions.

The results will be of significance to designing and implementing extension activities as well as designing and implementing/enforcing regulations. Nevada veterinarians have estimated the financial impacts of trichomoniasis on Nevada ranches. However this analysis employed average production, output prices, and input costs. In reality, production values, output prices, and input costs are variable and this variability need to be incorporated in any analysis of financial impacts of trichomoniasis and possible adoption of the trichomoniasis vaccine.

Objectives

The primary objective is to improve the productive and economic capacity of Nevada public land livestock producers in addressing issues of biosecurity actions against animal diseases such as trichomoniasis. Specific objectives are:

1. To develop a Nevada rancher survey to identify factors that influence adoption of the trichomoniasis vaccine and identify regulatory procedures that could be introduced on Nevada public lands;

2. To analyze the rancher survey data and to identify factors that enhance adoption of the trichomoniasis vaccine and regulatory procedures to reduce the spread of trichomoniasis in public land livestock herds,

3. To validate and update the Central Nevada wholeranch model and develop a whole-ranch model for Southern Nevada, and

4. To derive stochastic efficient trichomoniasis programs on representative ranch in Central and Southern Nevada.

Experiment Station Contact Information

Max C. Fleischmann Agriculture Building #201 Mailstop: 222 | 1664 N. Virginia St., Reno NV cabnr@unr.edu | 775-682-8357