Tracing Tests

At last the Animal and Plant Health Agency has changed its policy on Tracing Tests.  If you fatten cattle that you buy in you will be plagued by tracing tests.  When a farm has a Tuberculosis breakdown, and this is something that happens all too frequently, all of the animals that have left the farm since they had their last clear test are traced and tested in the same time interval as if they were still on the farm of origin. No notice is taken of any passed pre movement tests most of the animals involved would have left the farm as calves and would have had little or no contact with any reactors. Many of these calves go to dedicated rearing units where they might never go outside and where the only other movement they make will be to an abattoir.

New Policy

The new policy is that when a Tracing Test is due around the same time as your herd test they will no longer have to be done as a separate entity and can be combined with the herd test without incurring movement penalties if you go over due. In the past we have sometimes had to visit one week to trace two or three animals that were going over due then visit the following week to test the rest of the herd because the tracing test was outside the farms testing window. Hopefully this new policy will put an end to some of this madness and reduce the number of times you find that you are put under movement restrictions because you have missed the deadline for a tracing test on one or two animals.

Risk Factors for Tuberculosis

Universities are undertaking research all of the time. Often the conclusions that they come to are common sense, but sometimes there are things that might be helpful. Exeter University has had funding to research why some farms seem to be more troubled by Tuberculosis than others. They conclude that larger herd size, feeding maize, feeding grass silage and removing hedge rows are all factors that increase your susceptibility to the disease. In total they have looked at 1,300 farms where just over 500 had coped with a TB breakdown. They found that farms with 150 cattle or more were 50% more likely to have the disease than farms of 50 cattle or less. Feeding silage was also shown to double the risk, but I cannot think that many of the 1,300 farms could cope without it.

Badgers and Hedges

Smaller fields with more hedgerows mean badgers use the hedges as latrines and pasture contamination by urine and faeces is considerably reduced. Wet ground also has an adverse effect, the researchers link this to an increased incidence of liver fluke which might leave animals more susceptible to Tuberculosis although other authorities have challenged this theory. It might be that the tuberculosis bacteria are present in greater numbers on water logged ground, but there is a definite increase in risk so better to keep cattle on drier fields if you can.

New Web Site

The new Defra initiative is www.tbhub.co.uk which is a new web site giving recommendations on how to improve disease prevention on farms. This is a large site that seems to have been written more for farms that have not yet had a TB breakdown and are in a low risk area. It would be difficult to follow all of the recommendations on the tbhub site and still run a cattle business, but there are small things that could help. If possible avoid feeding cattle at pasture. If you do use a trough try not to spill any feed on the field. When cattle are fed they would normally consume every scrap of feed, make sure there is nothing left for any one else. If you cannot avoid field feeding it might be worth investing in some feed troughs on legs that are difficult for badgers to reach. The recommendation is for cattle to have access to mains water only. This can involve a considerable investment that may not be cost effective on some remote fields. It is not easy to fence off streams and ponds permanently. There is of course nothing about reducing badger numbers the aim should be to make them feel uncomfortable about staying on your farm.

Slurry and Manure

On the web site the advice about manure and slurry is that you should store it for at least six months and for preference spread it only on arable fields. If this is not possible grass fields that it goes on should not be grazed or have a silage crop taken for at least two months. They also raise concerns about aerosol spread and not contaminating tracks and road ways when you spread slurry. Should you have a reactor the new advice is to spray the manure with disinfectant and store it for six months before use. I have never been aware of an outbreak of Tuberculosis being caused by contaminated slurry or manure. Cattle are tested so frequently now that the majority of reactors detected will not be open cases excreting the bacteria to contaminate the rest of the herd. Few farms have facilities to store all slurry for six months before spreading. Cattle tend not to graze pasture contaminated with slurry so they naturally avoid the issue.

Identifying Dogs

Sometimes it is difficult to understand why it takes so long to implement decisions that were taken months or years ago. It is now more than two years since it was decided that all dogs should have a microchip. In reality no dog needs a microchip if it has a collar and legible tag with the phone number on it. This requirement is often overlooked and it is difficult to see how the new legislation will be policed when it comes into force in April next year.

Dangerous Animals

There has been publicity lately about the danger of working with horses, but a recently publish report from HSE shows that cattle are by far the most dangerous animal in Britain. In the past fifteen years they have been responsible for 74 fatalities, 56 involving farmers and their staff.  The majority of attacks involve newly calved cows and heifers. Twenty three of the farm casualties involved bulls. During the past fifteen years dogs have been responsible for 17 deaths these are often reported on the national news when the cattle fatalities go un noticed.

Dogs on Leads

HSE report that all of the eighteen cases involving members of the public occurred in fields where there was a foot path. All but one of these incidents involved walkers with dogs. Overall more of the incidents occurred to people over the age of sixty, but that is most likely to reflect the age of walkers and farmers looking after their own stock. The report recommends that wherever possible you should avoid keeping cows and calves in fields where there is a public footpath . If this is not possible put up appropriate signs and consider using an electric fence to protect walkers. The problem is with dogs on leads. If the dog is left to run the cattle will take an interest in the dog and nobody will get hurt. They advise that you should plan any activities with bulls and newly calved cows with care and if possible never do them when you are on your own.

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