Crow Wing County Farm Closes Under Deal To Contain Deer Disease

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A central Minnesota farm where deer were found infected with a fatal brain disease has closed under an agreement that paid the owner to euthanize his herd.

The Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced Wednesday that captive deer were killed on a Crow Wing County farm to try to prevent chronic wasting disease from spreading to wild deer. The board didn’t disclose how much Trophy Woods Ranch was paid or how many deer were euthanized.

The board says all carcasses from the farm will be tested for the disease.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture negotiated and funded the deal. The agency and the state board will implement a management plan at the shuttered farm since the prions that cause the disease remain in the soil.