Inspecting 1,250 cows, pigs, bulls, goats, horses and lambs for diseases at the Arizona State Fairgrounds is routine for Eva Norton. She has traveled throughout the state protecting Arizona’s livestock from disease and neglect for almost 30 years.

Ms. Norton, who works for the Arizona Department of Agriculture, was one of several inspectors responsible for ensuring that animals from the 58th annual Arizona National Livestock Show did not transport viral or bacterial threats such as the West Nile Virus, Vesicular Stomatitus and tuberculosis to or from Arizona or the 19 other states represented by ranchers in the contest. The show ran from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1.

In agriculture, where droughts, viruses, germs and insects can severely damage existing and emerging economies, the number of people playing the defensive role is dwindling. Ms. Norton is a vanishing breed.

The Oklahoma native arrived in Arizona in 1958 and showed an independent streak early in life. In her early 20s, she moved to Laveen while her husband served overseas in the U.S Navy.

She quickly found work in a garment factory making jackets and later women’s sports apparel.

“I wasn’t wild about it,” she said. “But I made a bit of money. It was easy to get a job and if you quit they didn’t hold it against you if you wanted to come back.”

After making clothing, then raising calves and finding work in a dairy, Ms. Norton found her calling and became a livestock officer in 1979. At that time, inspectors were also required to be armed certified peace officers. Ms. Norton was one of 90 officers, and of that number, three were women. The job allowed her to travel across the state, she said.

“I just enjoyed the aspect of being around cattle, being out in the open and meeting people,” she said. “It was the kind of job that was just made for me.”

Now, there are eight full-time officers, six inspectors and 16 part-time deputy inspectors working for the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Prior to budget cuts in 2000, there were 45 inspectors, said Katie Decker, a department spokeswoman.

Inspectors like Ms. Norton work by responding to calls about disease outbreak and animal neglect. Ranch sizes vary, and depending on irrigation and quality of land, so does the amount of terrain a herd of cattle will need to forage for food, she said. At times, this can make detection of diseases difficult.

“A lot of animals run on the open range and are only seen once or twice a year,” she said, adding that livestock are more likely to get sick while in close proximity with each other.

While livestock owners are usually “quite receptive” when inspectors arrive to investigate possible or actual disease outbreaks, rapport with owners suspected of neglect can sometimes be less cordial.

“Sometimes when you go out on complaints there can be friction,” she said. “They get hostile, especially if you want to seize their animals.”

Ms. Norton, who became a part-time inspector in 1999, has seen much change in the Phoenix area. Tremendous growth of tract homes has occurred, she said, and the incoming populations not familiar with Arizona rural history have changed the state. Concerns for agriculture and tradition have been replaced by the need to educate and provide health care to the state’s rapidly growing population.

Bas Aja, a lobbyist for the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association and an acquaintance of Ms. Norton since 1990, praises her and echoes her sentiments.

“Eva knows livestock, knows producers, knows production and does an exemplary job,” said Mr. Aja.

Agriculture budgets

State and local politicians without Arizona roots, he said, have reduced the number of animal inspectors by limiting agriculture budgets under the misguided belief that farming and ranching are conducted by people in “bibs and overalls.” Conveying the expertise needed to monitor farms and ranches, said Mr. Aja, is difficult.

“Thirty years ago all they did was inspect the animals, but now they have to be more highly trained because the world is a smaller place,” he said, referring to advancements in travel and shipping, and the dangers of it.

He regards the role of inspectors as “very important” and said his organization would like to see more officers hired to help keep out of Arizona such scourges as the avian-killing Exotic Newcastle Disease; the cattle-attacking disorder Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or Mad Cow disease’ Vesicular Stomatitus, a disease that forms blister-like sores on bovine and equine species, and other ecological threats.

Calling the industry-protecting business both a “science and an art,” Mr. Aja views current salaries for animal inspection officers as unacceptable.

“Twenty-four thousand to $27,000 a year for the job they’re doing is criminally underpaying them,” he said. “Their skills go woefully unrecognized when it comes to compensation.”

In 2004, Arizona’s agriculture and livestock industry, which generates about 72,000 jobs in the state, had a direct and indirect economic impact of $6.6 billion, according to the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Gross income in Arizona from cattle and calves amounted to $733 million in 2004. During the same period livestock slaughter plants produced 354 million pounds of red meat. Milk production from Arizona cows reached $572 million. The state also produces substantial amounts of cotton, citrus, chicken and other food and clothing products.

Budgets for the department are created every two years, said Ms. Decker. The budget for 2006 has been set at $10,560,000 and in 2007 the department is approved to receive $10,224,300, though the amount for 2007 will likely be increased to help pay for employee-related expenses. The agency also has the right to request additional funding for identified critical issues.

In 2004, the department’s director Donald Butler wrote to Governor Napolitano stating that the department was operating at its 1991 expense level. Due to significant increases in gasoline prices, employee benefits and other expenses, the amount is even less than the 1991 total, the letter read.

Last year’s request for additional funding to improve five identified weaknesses — information technology, the state agricultural laboratory, the pest exclusion and management program, pest compliance and worker safety, and agricultural consultation and training — were denied, said Ms. Decker.

Now in her late 60s, Ms. Norton said the switch to part-time work is an enjoyable respite from duties and a natural part of getting older.

“Time just sort of lets go of some of that responsibility. And I don’t mind,” she said.

What seems to be bothering her is not the sick sheep or steer found at the livestock show, it’s the notion that her lifestyle of cattle and the outdoors is slowly disappearing.

“I really think that it’s a shame,” she said. “There are more people needed to keep abreast of these things in the state.”