Iowa Cow War

Iowa Cow War

Iowa National Guard members on duty during the "Iowa Cow War," September 25, 1931
Date	September 21–25, 1931 (1931-09-21 – 1931-09-25)
Location	Cedar County, Iowa, US
Type	Rebellion
Cause	Bovine tuberculosis testing
Motive	Income from slaughtered cows
Participants	Iowa farmers
Outcome	Successful testing
Arrests	Jacob W. Lenker Paul Moore

The Iowa Cow War was a series of violent disputes over the testing of cows for bovine tuberculosis in 1931. After distrustful farmers tried and failed to repeal the testing program, they gathered in numbers to block tests from taking place. The farmers believed that the test might infect cows with tuberculosis or make pregnant cows have spontaneous abortions. They also believed that the testing was unconstitutional. The owner of Muscatine radio station KTNT, Norman G. Baker, spread misinformation which resulted in more farmers protesting testing, sometimes causing violence. Fifty veterinarians, all working in pairs, gave injections to 5,000 cattle per day for a week while being protected. The Iowa Cow War came to a conclusion when 31 Iowa National Guard units were deployed to stop the protesting. Two farmers were arrested for their actions during the conflict. There was one casualty, and no deaths. Most of the testing was completed by October 1931.