| Livestock
New industry-led scheme will help farmers across
England and Wales avoid the effects of bovine TB
A new industry-led cattle health programme to evaluate risk and recognise farmers who step up biosecurity to help
control bovine TB (bTB), has launched on a dairy farm at Iron Acton near Bristol.
HeCS bTB Herd Accreditation,
a voluntary scheme which has
been welcomed by Farming
Minister George Eustice and
Welsh Government Cabinet
Secretary for Environment and
Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, improves a herd’s
‘score’ every year it is free from a bTB
breakdown, awarding a status of 0-10.
The scheme is run by Cattle Health
Certification Standards (CHeCS), which was
established in 1999 by the cattle industry to set
standards for the control and eradication of
endemic diseases. This new bTB scheme will
require the herd vet and cattle owner to work
together on following a number of biosecurity
measures already successfully implemented in
five other cattle disease control programmes.
As well as reducing risk of infection, the
country-wide programme could present
informed purchasing opportunities. In
particular, it could benefit farmers selling cattle
from regions with a high risk of the disease or
who wish to minimise exposure from bought-in
animals. It could also give recognition for a
farmer’s efforts to complement Government
and industry strategies to control infection.
Farming Minister George Eustice welcomed
the scheme, saying:
“Dealing with Bovine TB is costing us £100
million a year and causing devastation and
distress for farmers and rural communities
across the country. 33,000 cattle were
slaughtered because of the disease last year
alone and many farms are subject to movement
restrictions which can affect their trade.
“But we know some 40 per cent of herds in
the high-risk area in England have never had a
breakdown, and the CHeCS scheme will help
them to communicate this so they can carry out
risk-based trading to support their businesses.
“The scheme will also recognise those
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12 | Farming Monthly | December 2016
practicing good biosecurity, which is a core
part of our long-term plan to tackle bovine TB.”
The scheme complements the Government’s
25-year plan to eradicate Bovine TB in England,
and will provide another tool for farmers who
want to show they are following best practice. It
follows the launch of the TB Hub
(www.tbhub.co.uk), which offers practical
advice and guidance as well as background
into the disease.
The Cabinet Secretary, Mrs Griffiths, said:
“The Welsh Government has been
supportive of this initiative from the start. By
focusing on individual herds, the scheme
complements our proposed regional approach,
for example those herds in the high TB areas
which have not recently had TB will be able to
demonstrate they are a lower risk.
“This industry-led initiative aimed at reducing
TB is to be welcomed and fits in with our
principles of working in partnership and
promoting the benefits of disease prevention. I
urge Welsh farmers to engage with the scheme
and reduce the risk of disease being introduced
into their herd.”
Across Great Britain, CHeCS already has
over 14,000 member herds, representing
around 14% of cattle holdings in some form of
monitoring, control and eradication of disease.
Keith Cutler, CHeCS board member and
partner in the Endell Veterinary Group, said:
“CHeCS so far has focused on control of
non-statutory diseases – Johne’s Disease, IBR,
BVD, Leptospirosis and Neospora. Participating
health schemes have been monitoring the
health status of participating herds for some
years.
“With this programme, we will be working
with Government to receive official TB test data
with the agreement of the farmer. It’s an
exciting development for CHeCS, but there is a
natural fit because of the expertise CHeCS-
accredited health schemes already have with
monitoring biosecurity measures on their
members’ farms.”
Andrew Cobner, president of the British
Cattle Veterinary Association, who has been
technical lead on the project since the start,
said:
“All too often we are confronted with the view
that there is