Condemnation

I see that the Montana Board of Livestock has ordered the Bridger herd of cattle that had Brucellosis in it <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/07/12/news/state/22-cattle.txt">slaughtered</a>. That's tough for all concerned. The Board of Livestock needs to be thinking about the whole cattle industry in the state and in the process a couple of cattle producers are getting run over by them. Tough for everybody concerned.<br />n<br />nI guess the question becomes what is the herd worth? I don't know myself since i have no contact with the situation. What is a cow herd worth? Are they worth the price they would bring if hauled to the auction yard or are they worth their future productive potential too since they had no plans on getting rid of them? If you have spent years breeding up your cattle just like you want them and now are forced to have to start again with just average cows, what are your superior (in your mind) cows worth? Real tough questions to answer. The article throws out some numbers but does open up a question in my mind. How many cattle are we talking about? The article mentions 600 head of cattle while a <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/06/01/news/state/35-cattle.txt">previous article</a> mentions 300 head of cattle. So which is it? <a href="http://www.karbonkountymoos.com/">Karen</a> might be able to comment on the situation since she is intimately involved with it but she is probably so involved that she doesn't want to say anything at this point.<br />n<br />nLike I say, tough for all concerned. I hope the Morgans and Karen get this figured out fairly.<br />n<br />n<strong>I know now that it is going to be a tough and long road ahead of me. Susan Smith</strong><br />n<br />nUPDATE 7/13/2007: I see the ranchers involved finally <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/07/13/news/state/30-herd.txt">accepted the offer</a> from the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym>. In short, they get what the critters are worth at the auction yard and no compensation for the lost potential they represent. That's tough, I know. I would be unable to replace my herd for any cost since they have been improved for a lot of years to get them where they are now and I wouldn't know where to get cattle like them. How do you price the lost potential though? How do you put a dollar figure on it?<br />n<br />nOne last thing about this. What are the tax consequences of an involuntary sale of cattle? If they buy back within 6 months are there no capital gains taxes due or are they just screwed in this regard and have to pay the taxes and be out the money even though they didn't want to sell the cattle? It would be nice to know.<br />n<br />n<br />n<br />