Herd Scheme Update
Herd Health Update
Welsh Black Herd Health scheme.
1st January 2012
New ruling:
As of January 2011 all cattle entered for pedigree sales must come from either Johne’s disease accredited herds or from herds testing for Johne’s disease in a CHeCS approved health scheme. This does not mean that herds have to be accredited to enter a pedigree sale, just that they have to be actively participating in such a scheme.
At present around 300 breeders are participating in the herd health scheme as members of the PCHS, testing for Johne’s disease and also in some cases for some,or all, of the other diseases ( BVD, IBR, & Leptospirosis ). Herds of ‘Elite health status’ are herds have achieved certification, under a licensed cattle health scheme, of freedom from Johne’s disease, BVD, IBR, and Leptospirosis.
Should prospective purchasers require a list of certified and screened herds, the preferred list of members herd’s health status is to be found on the premium Cattle Health Scheme web-site www.cattlehealth.co.uk under PCHS Member’s Health Status. This list is updated weekly but is however not complete as several breeders have not yet put their names forward to be included.
Johne’s disease and BVD are seen as the priority diseases for accreditation where herds are selling breeding stock. Scotland has recently introduced a national eradication scheme for BVD. Many Welsh Black herds are accredited free of BVD and in view of the emphasis now being put on this disease those breeders not yet testing their herds for this disease should consider doing so. It is not expensive as testing requirements are only five animals per group of young stock in the age range of 9-18 months, with a minimum of ten animals per year (if there are less than ten animals in this age range then it is only necessary to test as many as there are).
For more information on the Society’s scheme please contact Bruce Lawson on 01341 422239
Welsh Black Cattle Society Johne’s Disease Control Scheme.
Cattle from herds accredited free of Johne’s disease are the safest cattle to buy with regard to Johne’s disease and a general rule is that the longer a herd has been accredited , then the safer it is. The progress of the scheme can be judged from the graph below. The graph shows the percentage of cattle with different Johne’s disease status entered in all the sales from 2002 to 2011. There has been a steady increase in the percentage of accredited cattle being put forward for sale each year peaking in 2011 at 85%. The Welsh Black breed is therefore now able to provide a large pool of cattle that have minimal risk of carrying Johne’s disease.
