United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service

September

2011

Analysis in Support of Certification that the 

Rule Will Not Have a Significant Economic 

Impact on a Substantial Number of Small 

Entities

Interim Rule 

APHIS-2011-0093

Tuberculosis in Cattle and Bison; State and 

Zone Designations; New Mexico

Policy & Program Development

Policy Analysis & Development
i

Summary

New Mexico currently has a split State status for bovine tuberculosis (TB) with an 

Accredited Free (AF) zone and a Modified Accredited Advanced (MAA) zone. This interim rule 

will reclassify the status of two counties in eastern New Mexico (Curry and Roosevelt) from 

MAA to AF. MAA status imposes various requirements for TB testing of cattle. 

Reclassification to AF removes all movement restrictions. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

of 1980 (Public Law 96-354) requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of proposed and 

final rules on small businesses, small organizations, and small government jurisdictions. Section 

605 of the RFA allows an agency to certify that a rule will not have a significant impact on 

substantial number of small entities. 

Advancement of status for these two counties will eliminate testing requirements, saving 

cattle producers time and money. Because the reduction in the number of animals tested per 

herd is small and the testing costs are small when compared to the value of the cattle tested, the 

savings for individual producers are expected to be relatively small. This action will not 

significantly change program operations and will have no significant effects on other Federal 

agencies, State governments or local governments. 

The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that 

this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
1

Introduction 

This analysis provides the basis, as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, for 

certification by the APHIS Administrator that the interim rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Bovine tuberculosis is a contagious and infectious granulomatous disease caused by the 

bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. Although commonly defined as a chronic debilitating disease, 

bovine tuberculosis can occasionally assume an acute, rapidly progressive course. While any 

body tissue can be affected, lesions are most frequently observed in the lymph nodes, lungs, 

intestines, liver, spleen, pleura, and peritoneum. Although cattle are considered to be the true 

hosts of M. bovis, the disease has been reported in several other species of both domestic and 

nondomestic animals, as well as in humans.

The Cooperative State-Federal Tuberculosis Eradication Program, which began in 1917, 

has been administered by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, State animal health agencies, and U.S. livestock producers. This 

program has nearly eradicated bovine TB from the Nation's livestock population. The disease's 

presence in humans has been reduced as a result of the eradication program, advances in 

sanitation and hygiene, the discovery of effective drugs, and pasteurization of milk.

APHIS has established five status stages (or levels), for States and zones, based upon the 

prevalence of bovine TB within cattle and bison. These five stages are: non-accredited, 

accredited preparatory, modified accredited, modified accredited advanced, and accredited-free.

New Mexico is regionalized into these two zones (AF, MAA) and the zone statuses last 

updated in an interim rule published in the Federal Register March 23, 2009. New Mexico has 

asked to advance the status of its MAA zone under the National Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication 
2

Program. Two counties in eastern New Mexico will be advanced to AF status. Once these two 

counties move to AF status, the entire State of New Mexico will be classified as AF.

Potential Impact on Small Entities

The cattle industry plays an important role in New Mexico’s economy. There were 

17,855 beef and dairy herds in New Mexico in 2010 with a total inventory of 1.54 million head.1 

State-wide cash receipts from cattle and calves and dairy products totaled $1.19 billion and $1.24

billion, respectively, in 2010. The ten-year average cash receipts for cattle and calves and dairy 

products (2001-2010) were $916 million and $1.01 billion, respectively.2

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has established guidelines for determining 

which businesses are considered small. According to SBA size standards for beef cattle ranching 

and farming (NAICS 112111) and for dairy cattle and milk production (NAICS 112120), 

operations with not more than $750,000 in annual sales are considered small entities. For cattle 

feedlots (NAICS 112112), operations with not more than $2.5 million in annual sales are 

considered small entities. The vast majority of beef operations in New Mexico are considered 

small. In 2007, 98 percent of cattle/calf farms and 27 percent of dairy farms generated less than 

$500,000 in cash receipts and less than one percent of beef farms and about 71 percent of dairy 

farms generated $1 million or more.

 

3

 The composition of New Mexico’s cattle inventory is 

shown in table 1.

 

1 2010 New Mexico Bovine Tuberculosis Annual Report. 2 USDA/ERS Cash Receipts, by Commodity Groups and Selected Commodities, United States and States, 2000-2007.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/farmincome/FinfidmuXls.htm

3 2007 Census of Agriculture. National Agriculture Statistics Service, USDA.
3

New Mexico currently has two TB status zones: an AF and MAA zone. This rule will 

reclassify Curry and Roosevelt counties in eastern New Mexico from MAA to AF. The 

elevation of an area to AF status removes all movement restrictions. While movement 

restrictions on cattle from MAA zones have been generally suspended under Federal Order, 

testing has occurred in the MAA zone as a result of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) 

between the State of New Mexico and APHIS. No testing is required for cattle moving out of an 

AF zone. It should be noted however some surveillance testing does still occur in an AF zone.

In 2010, there were about 1,557 beef cattle herds with about 341,889 head and 64 dairy 

herds with 150,581 head in the area being elevated from MAA status. Cattle herd owners in the 

two counties being upgraded to AF from MAA status will see an actual reduction in testing. 

Testing that occurred as a result of the MOU will no longer be required. TB testing, including 

veterinary fees, costs about $10 to $15 per head. Producers will therefore benefit from reduced 

costs. In FY2011, about 80,500 animals were tested in the MAA zone, or about 16 percent of the 

cattle in the zone. About 2.9 percent of the cattle in the AF zone were tested in FY2011 for 

TABLE 1. New Mexico Cattle Inventory, January 1, 2011

Type Number (1,000) Percentage of Total

Beef cows 488 31.7%

Milk cows 322 21%

Heifers

Beef cow replacements 95 6.17%

Milk cow replacements 140 9.1%

Other heifers 95 6.17%

Total heifers 330 21.4%

Steers 125 8.1%

Bulls 40 2.6%

Calves 235 15.3%

TOTAL 1,540

Source: National Agriculture Statistics Service, USDA.
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surveillance purposes. We expect that surveillance testing in the two affected counties following 

the upgrade to AF status will occur at a similar rate. Therefore, about 14,300 head will continue 

to be tested annually in those counties. Based on this, there would be an annual reduction of 

about 66,200 tests in the upgraded counties. 

The cost savings associated with the reduction in testing will be positive, but small for 

producers. The annual cost savings associated with the removal of those tests for the 1,621 herds 

in the affected area are expected to be between $662,000 and $993,000, or from $408 to $613 per

herd on average. In addition, testing costs are small when compared to the value of the cattle 

tested. On January 1, 2010, all cattle and calves in New Mexico had an average per animal value 

of $870.

4

Conclusion

 The savings in TB testing costs represent no more than about 1.7 percent of the

average per-head value of cattle in New Mexico ($15 / $870).

New Mexico currently has two TB status zones: an AF and MAA zone. This interim rule 

will reclassify the status for two counties from MAA to AF which will remove all movement 

restrictions. Cattle herd owners in parts of the two counties being upgraded to AF status from 

MAA status will see an actual reduction in testing. Even though a Federal Order has suspended 

movement testing requirements in MAA zones, testing has occurred in the MAA zone as a result 

of a MOU between the State of New Mexico and APHIS. The expected savings will be positive 

but relatively small, between $10 and $15 per animal tested. This is about $662,000 and 

$993,000 in total, or from $408 to $613 per herd on average. In addition, TB testing costs 

represent no more than about 1.7 percent of the value of the cattle tested. Under these 

 

4 2010 Agricultural Statistics Annual, Chapter 7, Table 7-3 

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Ag_Statistics/2010/Chapter07.pdf
5

circumstances, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has 

determined that this action, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities.