A white-tailed deer farm in Portage County that was under quarantine since January has been cleared from having any animals with Chronic Wasting Disease. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture says Don and Patty Schnell’s herd near Rosholt was recently destroyed after one of their deer was sold to a hunting preserve that had tested positive for CWD earlier.

DATCP officials say state rules require all farm-raised deer and elk to be tested for the fatal disease when they die or are killed. Specialists from U.S. Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services shot the 35 deer at the Schnell farm in June. The Schnells will be compensated for the animals.

The agency says the farm has been cleaned and disinfected. But since the herd was the source of a CWD-positive animal, the farm cannot be repopulated with deer or elk for five years.

To date, 29 white-tailed deer and one elk from seven Wisconsin farms have tested positive for CWD.

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