Sheep Industry News May 2025

Scrapie Forum Looks to the Future

A s the United States closes in on a scrapie-free designa tion, the time has come to begin conversations about where the American sheep industry goes once it crosses the seven-year finish line established by the World Organiza tion for Animal Health. That conversation started in earnest on April 9 at the ASI-hosted Scrapie Free in the U.S.: Moving from an Eradication to a Surveillance Program forum during the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s Annual Conference in Kansas City, Mo. Attended by a variety of state and national animal health of ficials, extension personnel and sheep industry representatives, the forum took a closer look at the American sheep industry’s journey toward finally being declared scrapie free. Only three states have yet to surpass the seven-year window required for a disease-free designation: Arkansas, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Barring any further cases, that window will close in 2028, but doesn’t mean scrapie and the programs created to eradicate it will disappear completely. As the forum title suggests, surveillance programs will most likely still be in place moving forward. Sheep producer Matt Benz remembers the start of scrapie eradication efforts in the United States more than 20 years ago, so he made the 100-mile drive to Kansas City in hopes the forum would mark the beginning of the end for a disease that drasti cally changed the American sheep industry and the way it tracks sheep movement around the country. “The reason I came is I was on the board of animal health in North Dakota about 25 years ago and the state vet said there was a U.S. Animal Health Association meeting in Little Rock,” Benz recalled after recent forum wrapped up at the Kauffman Founda tion Conference Center. “They were going to be talking about scrapie, so he asked if I wanted to go. I went down and we were talking about scrapie, and the cattle guys wanted to get rid of all of the sheep in the country. Only a few of them were totally seri ous, but some of them were. We were talking about all of these things we needed to do with scrapie and the question was asked, ‘How prevalent is it?’ And nobody knew the answer. So, slaughter surveillance came out of that meeting.” And slaughter surveillance won’t be eradicated anytime soon. At least that was the prevailing thought in Kansas City. “It’s a beginning,” Benz said of the forum. “There’s a lot of confusion, but I think everyone here is on the same page that we need to continue doing slaughter surveillance for scrapie after we’re determined to be disease free. We’re a ways away from agreeing about how it’s going to happen and who’s going to pay for it.” ASI Animal Health Co-Chair and small flock producer Cindy

Wolf, DVM, was on hand for the forum and participated in a panel discussion that included: former ASI President Cindy Sid doway of Idaho as a large flock producer; Cindy Tews of the Fres no (Calif.) Livestock Commission representing sale barns; Rosie Busch, DVM, of the University of California-Davis Veterinary Medicine Extension team; and UC-Davis Professor Emeritus Joan Dean Rowe as a representative of the goat industry. One realization of the day’s forum is that after all of these years of fighting scrapie, there are still sheep and goat producers who aren’t aware of the National Scrapie Eradication Program and the scrapie tag requirements. “I’m excited that we had so many different representatives and stakeholders here. I thought everyone is really looking forward to what this can mean for them, even though it’s hard to visual ize,” said Wolf. “I’m excited because some of it is real tangible. We can do more education, we can do more surveillance, and we can learn what other pieces that need to be put together in the next two years so we can be ready for 2028.” Wolf has been a part of the scrapie discussions from the beginning, and said during the panel discussion that the industry was fortunate the genetic aspects of the disease are so straightfor ward. “I think there are a lot of people and organizations that need to take credit for the fact that we’ve come this far in our battle with scrapie,” Wolf said. “I’m thrilled. But I’m also concerned if we’ll have the leadership and commitment at the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture and in the industry three years from now. We’re all getting older, those of who have been involved in this from the beginning. I’m hopeful that the knowledge and the tools are still available through funding and staff.” One of the unintended benefits of the program is the power of scrapie tags. While no producer enjoys having to tag animals, the tags became a powerful tool for producers – a tool that was enhanced exponentially with the development of electronic tags. “I think when we started all of this, we didn’t realize how well received the scrapie tag could become as an ID component within a flock,” Wolf said. “We had producers show us that they are using this tag for management purposes. And it still served its other purpose, which is to provide traceability. There were hidden benefits that none of us realized. And it works for the industry. Producers who have applied themselves through these tags have become more efficient and their sheep have become more productive because they can keep better records. Now, they know who the star performers are in the flock.” Therein lies the battle as scrapie efforts move forward. The tags were never designed for identification purposes. They were de

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