BRIDGER -- Fear of discovering brucellosis among their cattle is so strong that if a cow aborts, some ranchers have been known to follow the so-called Winchester Code of the West: shoot, shovel and shut up.

Once a cow or bull officially tests positive for the disease, however, state and federal regulations kick in. Then the rancher is left with two choices; one is bad, the other awful.

Early Monday, Jim and Sandy Morgan, who had seven cows from their ranch south of Bridger test positive for brucellosis in May, picked the bad choice.

Sandy Morgan and her mother, Connie Malcolm of Emigrant, stoically worked the corrals, helping five Montana Department of Livestock brand inspectors sort, herd and load the cows -- cattle from her grandfather's genetic lines -- into double-decker cattle trucks to be hauled to slaughter in South Dakota.

"It's devastating," Sandy Morgan said. "You're OK as long as you pretend they're going to summer grass."

The awful choice would have been for the Morgans to refuse the $423,000 federal livestock officials offered for their nearly 600 cows, bulls and calves. Then the entire state of Montana would lose its brucellosis-free status and producers would have to spend millions to vaccinate and test cattle before shipping.

Brucellosis causes domestic cows to abort their calves. It is also found in elk and bison. The feds have an unbendable rule: Once brucellosis is found in a herd, that herd must be slaughtered.

Acting State Veterinarian Jeanne Rankin said she is breathing freer for now.

"It's a difficult decision, and nobody is happy," Rankin said. "We need to protect the 2.4 million cattle in Montana and the livelihood of these other ranchers."

Yet Montana remains under a brucellosis cloud. If one more cow tests positive in the next two years, the state will lose its brucellosis-free status.

The final countdown

Under the midday sun Monday, the thermometer stuck at 103 outside. Six cattle trucks were lined up to ship the 284 cows and 16 bulls from Morgan's herd to Cimpl Packing in Yankton, S.D.

The 284 calves from the herd will be shipped today from the ranch to Modesto, Calif., where they will be made into veal.

Rankin said the calves needed to go to another facility because they weigh less and need different equipment at the packing plant than adult cattle.

Starting at 7 a.m. Monday, the calves were weighed and the numbered tag on each cow and bull was marked off on the official federal list to make sure no animal was missing.

By 11 a.m., Sandy and Jim and the state officials were herding the confused cows up the cattle chute into the trailer of the first truck.

The first six were cows that had tested positive for brucellosis, wearing a big "B" brand on the left side of their necks. The seventh positive cow was euthanized in Iowa in May. The rest of the herd tested negative, but they may have been exposed to the highly contagious disease.

Jim and Sandy Morgan quietly pointed out their favorites, even snapping digital photos as the cows, surrounded by herders, flies and heat, moved by: the baldy cow who is always the first to hit the hay; Number 3110, the gray Simenthal cross that Sandy has raised since she was a kid; Goal Post, the longhorn Corriente; and Old 26 with the crooked tail.

"The vet didn't have to hold her tail out to preg test her," Jim Morgan said.

After crunching the numbers, the Morgans decided not to keep the calves and fatten them for fall shipping.

After the calves were weighed Monday, Jim and his wife's father, Bruce Malcolm, watched an online video auction where similar weight calves were selling for $1.45 a pound. The federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, offered the Morgans 85 cents a pound.

"So we're $56,000 short just on our calves," he said.

Dr. Ray Randall of Bridger Veterinary Clinic said the Morgan's calves wouldn't have brought top price because they may have been exposed to brucellosis. He said the Morgans may have a financial argument to make, but the alternative of rejecting the buyout was unacceptable.

"If other ranchers had had to go through all the testing, they would be mad at the state and mad at the feds and mad at the Morgans," he said. "There'd be a lot of plain mad."

Jim Morgan called Dr. Lennis Knight, an APHIS vet in Helena, Monday about the price difference on the calves and he said Knight promised to try to help.

Knight did not return telephone calls Monday.

Rankin said it is the cattle industry's turn now.

"We appreciate the sacrifice of the Morgans and the Hergenriders and we want the industry to step up to the plate to restock their cattle, if necessary," she said.

Karen Hergenrider of Belfry grazed some cattle with the Morgan herd and also was bought out by APHIS.

Since the Morgan herd was tested May 16, the state has tested more than 2,700 head of cattle mainly in the Bridger and Emigrant areas.

Herds that contacted the Morgan cattle will be retested this fall.

Contact Jan Falstad at jfalstad@billingsgazette.com or 657-1306.