USDA last Friday granted “split state” status to New Mexico as the state attempts to clean up bovine tuberculosis (TB). Under the designation, only two counties – Curry and Roosevelt in the eastern part of the state – will be under strict requirements for testing and moving cattle.

Last September, USDA removed New Mexico from the list of TB-free states, which required that all producers in the state adhere to ramped-up testing and movement restrictions. The move to split-state status relieves most of the state’s beef and dairy producers from those requirements, New Mexico animal health officials said, potentially saving producers more than $4 million a year.