CHECS TB Entry Level Membership ....................32

CHECS TB Entry Level Membership - Is It For Me?

For many farmers TB testing is a tense time with a break down costing on average £18,600. The stress surrounding such an event is unquantifiable. As many aspects of farming are out with our control, it is vital to manage those factors that we can control. CHECS TB Entry Level Membership is about taking control and is therefore most definitely for everyone.

In 2016 CHECS launched its TB Herd Accreditation Programme, as the gold standard, for TB control. The biosecurity measures necessary to participate in this programme may not be suitable for all cattle farmers and this is where the TB Entry Level Membership comes in. It is accessible for all cattle farmers and encourages collaboration with your vet, to make improvements where you can. Vets are ideally placed to advise on biosecurity and infectious disease control. A specific training programme, devised by BCVA, is now available to vets to bring them up to speed on minimising risk of TB from both cattle and wildlife. Once vets have completed their training and become BCVA Accredited TB Advisers (BATVA), they can engage with their farmers to design farm specific action plans to reduce risk of TB incursion, re-infection or persistence. These biosecurity measures do not need to cost the earth, and each year can be reviewed and improved. Perhaps in time herds will choose to move to the full Accreditation Programme but this is not necessary.

Although TB is under statutory control, it is important to remember that testing and culling alone is not enough to control this disease. Farmers also need to implement controls to minimise the risks that other cattle and wildlife pose.

The framework of the CHECS TB Entry Level Membership allows farmers to work with their vet to identify their preferred option for control of each of the six key risk factors:

1. Minimise TB risk from purchased cattle (eg only buying cattle from lower-risk herds)

2. Minimise TB risk from cattle in other herds (eg never grazing cattle on contiguous grazing at the same time as a neighbour’s cattle)

3. Minimise TB risk from your own animals (eg cull inconclusive reactors)

4. Minimise the spread of TB through muck or slurry (eg no imported slurry or muck used on cattle grazing land)

5. Reduce TB risk from badgers (eg monitor for badger activity with cameras or mapping)

6. Have a TB test failure contingency plan (eg have a plan for youngstock to leave the farm).

What should you do if you are interested in signing up for the CHECS TB Entry Level Membership? Figure 1 explains the process but first off, speak to your vet. There will be veterinary fees for desiging the farm specific action plan, but this should be considered an investment in your herd’s biosecurity. The CHECSlicensed health schemes will provide the necessary forms and charge approximately £10-£40 annually, depending on whether your herd is already testing for other diseases through CHECS. For more information go to www.checs.co.uk/diseases/bovine-tb/

Helen Carty BVM&S, Cert AVP (Cattle), MRCVS SRUC Veterinary Services

SRUC Veterinary Services run the Premium Cattle Health Scheme (PCHS), one of the largest CHeCS Licensed Schemes serving pedigree and commercial, beef and dairy herds. For further information about PCHS please visit www.cattlehealth.co.uk Tel: 01835 822456 Email: pchs1@btconnect.com