THERE has been a lot of attention on Johne’s disease management for beef cattle producers and the J-BAS (Johne’s Beef Assurance Score) in recent weeks, with cattle producers understandably confused about the requirements of J-BAS and the potential impacts on their businesses. For the majority of us, the message is simple: get a biosecurity plan in place.
Developing an on-farm biosecurity plan should not be an onerous process – it should capture the simple biosecurity measures you already undertake and prompt you to identify potential risk areas. Handling Johne’s is just one component of biosecurity planning and the J-BAS is a voluntary tool to assist producers in managing their risk to the disease.
The significant change to the J-BAS is that from July 1, NSW cattle producers without a bio-security plan in place will drop to a J-BAS 6 score instead of J-BAS 0. This will apply to any NSW cattle producer unless they have had a Johne’s disease infection in the last five years.
NSW Farmers argued strongly for this alteration, as it aligns with the risk of Johne’s within NSW and gives producers time to get prepared. I encourage all beef cattle producers to determine the J-BAS score appropriate to their business and to understand the requirements for retaining that score.
Producers that want to retain the high assurance scores of J-BAS 6, 7 and 8 are required to have a written biosecurity plan in place. Level 6 allows producers to develop their own biosecurity plans. To retain J-BAS levels 7 or 8 a private vet needs to oversee and sign off on the biosecurity plan, and there are various testing requirements.
We also recommend that producers prepare and ask for the cattle health declaration when buying or selling stock, and ask questions about a seller’s biosecurity plan to ensure it matches your on-farm management practices. The key is to establish your on-farm biosecurity plan.
- Bill Stacy, NSW Farmers’ cattle committee chairman
