Brucellosis in Cattle and Bison; Payment of Indemnity

We are adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim rule that increased the amount of Federal indemnity for brucellosis reactor and brucellosis-exposed cattle and bison destroyed during herd depopulation, and that increased the amount of Federal indemnity for cattle and bison destroyed after being sold or traded from a herd subsequently found to be affected with brucellosis. These actions were necessary to give owners sufficient financial incentive to promptly destroy brucellosis-affected cattle and bison, in order to accelerate the eradication of brucellosis in the United States and to protect other cattle and bison from brucellosis.