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The BVD control scheme began last
September, with RDPE funding from DEFRA
and the EU, managed by LANTRA LandSkills.
Thirty farms are involved - 2 dairy units,
3 store cattle farms, and the remainder,
suckler herds.
‘The plan is to control BVD and create
a supply of cattle in the region whose
disease-free status will appeal to buyers
coming south from Scotland where a national
BVD eradication scheme is already running,’
explains Alnorthumbria's Jenny Hull.
‘Eight of the thirty farms were found to have
the BVD virus present. Some of these farms
were already vaccinating, but not actually
vaccinating correctly, and so were wasting
time and money because the effectiveness
of the vaccine was compromised.
‘On one suckler farm with spring and autumn
calving, those cows that had slipped through
half a year after not being in calf had missed
their vaccine booster, as the spring and
autumn group were vaccinated separately.
We recommend vaccinating the whole
herd altogether once a year, so that none
get missed.
XLVets Alnorthumbria Vet Group and 30 local farmers are working
together to control BVD in the Coquet Valley in Northumberland.
JENNY HULL,
ALNORTHUMBRIA VETERINARY GROUP
BVD CONTROL
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
‘Disease doesn't respect farm boundaries,’
says Jenny. ‘And one of the important
findings in this project has been the
importance of collaboration between
farms when controlling a disease
like BVD.
‘Although the Coquet Valley has a
high density of stock, it also has good
natural boundaries - the Simonside hills,
MOD ranges and arable land. This
creates an isolated group of farms that
neighbour onto one another, but in many
places, with only a single wire fence
between them.
‘We took a closer look at how farms
were interlinked by printing field level
maps and getting farmers to draw on
their boundaries: one long farm could
border seven other farms. And then we
identified the risk of nose-to-nose contact
with single fences, the crossing of rivers
by cattle, breakouts and summering
cattle away at grass parks.
‘In an ideal world, every farm would be
double ring-fenced, never have breakouts,
and never buy any cattle in!
‘Since this isn't the case, a BVD action
plan has been prepared for each farm,
tailored to each individual situation based
on disease risk, boundaries, sources of
stock, etc.’
Veterinary Surgeon
Jenny Hull
XLVets Practice
Alnorthumbria Veterinary
Group
Creating a BVD-free supply of cattle
in Northumberland
Good neighbours
Jenny Hull