BEEF industry leaders are confident the vast majority of producers have on-farm biosecurity plans well under way and will be positioned to continue trading as per normal as new guidelines come in.
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Central Tablelands Local Land Services is holding a Bovine Johne’s Disease & J-BAS Information session on Wednesday, June 28 at the Cowra Ag station.
Local Land Services urges people who intend on taking part to RSVP by contacting 6333 2300 or email admin.ct@lls.nsw.gov.au.
The session is one of many better late than never – workshops arranged to get cattle producers over the line with Johne’s biosecurity plans before June 30.
BEEF industry leaders are confident the vast majority of producers have on-farm biosecurity plans well underway and will be positioned to continue trading as per normal as new guidelines come in.
Confusion has been widespread over requirements due to come into effect on July 1 under the shift to property-level management of Bovine Johne’s Disease (BJD), agreed to after widespread consultation in 2015/16 and overseen by producer group Cattle Council of Australia (CCA).
That confusion was exacerbated when it was announced last week that the same biosecurity plan would be required to gain or renew Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) accreditation from October 1.
Fears were rife that saleyard cattle buyers, particularly processors, would not be willing to bid on cattle from properties that did not have in place the plan, and thus had fallen to the lowest Johne’s assurance score of zero.
To alleviate that, CCA last week announced a ‘breathing space’ whereby herds will revert to a Johne’s Beef Assurance Score (J-BAS) 6 rather than 0 if no on-farm biosecurity plan is in place by July 1.
The October 1 deadline for LPA accreditation, or reaccreditation, requiring on-farm biosecurity planning remains in place and the hope is all producers will have the necessary paperwork in place by then.
Most producers will be looking to establish a J-BAS 6 but those doing business with Western Australia, and likely most seedstock producers, will be aiming for a 7 or 8, which requires a veterinarian to sign off on their plan and testing of their herd for evidence of BJD.
Until last week’s LPA announcement, the only act in town regarding biosecurity plans was the move to a new national approach for managing Johne’s disease in beef cattle.
The changes are designed to do away with quarantining zones, which have proven costly to producers over the years, and shift the responsibility for managing pests and diseases to an individual farm level.
The key to the transition has been the implementation of on-farm biosecurity plans and J-BAS scores are the tool for identifying risk.
Producers seek more information need to attend.
