It wasn’t what I expected him to say. About 16 years ago, I was working for a community newspaper and interviewing a couple that had been married for 75 years. I can no longer remember their names, but they changed the way I approached life on a family-owned dairy farm.

A century ago, bovine tuberculosis (TB) was responsible for more losses among U.S. farm animals than all other infectious diseases combined. Since state and federal agencies started tracking and eradication procedures in 1917, the disease has mostly been eliminated, but pockets of breakouts throughout the U.S. remain serious and costly for livestock producers. A year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Veterinary Services released “Assessment of Pathways for the Introduction and Spread of Mycobacterium bovis in the United States – a study of the condition based on 2009 conditions.” The study found that the biggest risk factors are the importation of cattle into the U.S. – both legal and illegal – and exposure to wildlife.

Iowa’s legislators have put a proposal to regulate stray voltage on hold – at least for the time being. According to an article in the Des Moines Register, the legislation would have set “science-based” standards for addressing stray voltage, which happens when electric currents build up in the ground and can lead to reproductive and other health problems in dairy cattle. While the bills made it through committees on both sides of the Statehouse, the proposals have stalled before making it to the floor in either the House or Senate. Dairy lobbyists claim the bills would make it nearly impossible to seek payment for damages caused by the stray voltage.