Alcona County bovine TB: another cattle herd tests positive as MDARD holds a Hale hearing Oct. 28

ALCONA COUNTY, Mich. — Bovine tuberculosis has turned up in another Alcona County cattle herd, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said Monday, as state officials prepare for a public hearing Wednesday night in Hale on expanding TB testing to more northeast Michigan farms.

The herd was caught during the routine annual whole-herd testing required in Michigan’s Modified Accredited Zone, the four counties of Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Oscoda where the disease persists in wild white-tailed deer. An investigation is under way to find any linked cases, and genetic sequencing will be used to trace the source, the department said. It did not name the farm.

“Bovine TB is a persistent, complex disease, which is why routine surveillance testing remains an essential disease management tool,” State Veterinarian Nora Wineland said in the release.

A busy year for TB. Before this herd, eight TB-infected cattle herds were under quarantine in Michigan as of Oct. 1, according to MDARD’s quarterly report to lawmakers. They include an Alcona County beef herd first confirmed in January 2025 that is still being tested every 60 days, two Presque Isle County herds, a Charlevoix County dairy herd, an Alpena County dairy herd and three Iosco County herds, two of them confirmed in August. Four of the eight have been depopulated.

The disease can infect all mammals, including people, and other states could close their markets to Michigan cattle, meat and milk if the program slipped, the report says. Michigan has about 12,200 cattle producers with 1.2 million head.

The Oct. 28 hearing in Hale. After more infected herds were found in Iosco County, MDARD proposed adding township sections of Arenac, Iosco and Ogemaw counties to its testing area. The hearing runs from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the Plainfield Township Hall in Hale. Under the proposal, all cattle and bison 12 months or older, and any animals not born on the farm, in those sections would have to be tested by July 31, 2027. Producers in the area are getting letters.

How to comment. Written comments are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, by email to HaarerJ@Michigan.gov or by mail to Jeff Haarer, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deborah A. Stabenow Building, 525 W. Allegan St., P.O. Box 30017, Lansing, MI 48909. The department will brief the state agriculture commission Nov. 17, and if the director approves, the order would take effect Dec. 1, according to MDARD.

What it costs. The state put $1 million into fencing and feed-protection projects for farms on July 21 and added $490,000 in September to help farmers with the costs of keeping cattle under quarantine, both run through the Alpena-Montmorency Conservation District, the report says. About 81% of the 455 commercial cattle farms in the surveillance zone have a verified wildlife-risk plan.

Why hunters matter. MDARD says deer hunting in the northeastern Lower Peninsula “continues to be an important tool” against the disease, because TB passes between deer and cattle. Michigan’s firearm deer season opens Nov. 15; The Mitten Daily’s deer season guide has the dates and rules.

Sources:
Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, “MDARD Announces Detection of Bovine Tuberculosis-Positive Herd in Alcona County,” Oct. 26, 2026 (herd, MAZ, investigation, Wineland quote, deer hunting), https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/about/media/pressreleases/2026/10/26/mdard-announces-detection-of-bovine-tuberculosis-positive-herd-in-alcona-county
MDARD, Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Program Quarterly Update, legislative report, Oct. 15, 2026 (eight quarantined herds, producer counts, $1 million and $490,000 funding, 81% of farms), https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/-/media/Project/Websites/mdard/documents/boilerplate-reports/fy2026/MDARDLegisRptTBProgramOct2026QtrlyUpdate.pdf
MDARD, “MDARD Announces Public Comment Period for Proposed Bovine Tuberculosis Testing Areas,” Oct. 14, 2026 (hearing time and place, testing rules, comment deadline, Nov. 17 and Dec. 1 dates), https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/about/media/pressreleases/2026/10/14/mdard-announces-public-comment-period-for-proposed-bovine-tuberculosis-testing-areas
MDARD, public hearing notice for the proposed bovine TB testing area in Arenac, Iosco and Ogemaw counties, https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/about/boards/upcoming-public-events/2026/10/28/public-hearing-for-the-proposed-bovine-tb-testing-area
Photo: Michael Barera, “2025 Michigan State Fair August 2025 08 (Beef Cattle).jpg,” Aug. 30, 2025, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2025_Michigan_State_Fair_August_2025_08_(Beef_Cattle).jpg

Up North

Tags: Up North · Alcona County · Bovine TB · Cattle · MDARD · Deer Hunting