Purchasing Breeding Cattle for a Beef Herd and Minimising the Risk of Buying Bovine Johne’s Disease
Note Number: AG1188
Published: December 2005
Updated: May 2007
This agriculture note discusses some of the issues that herd owners should consider so that they can minimise the risk of buying bovine Johne’s disease (BJD) when purchasing breeding cattle for a beef herd.
When purchasing cattle, buyers should consider both the effect that the purchase may have on the BJD status of their herd AND the risk of introducing BJD into their herd. These are very separate issues.Information to consider prior to purchase
Before purchasing breeding cattle it is important to consider
- the current BJD status of the vendor’s herd
- the number of cattle being purchased
- experience from previous purchases from the same source
- the impact that introducing animals might have on the BJD status of your herd
- the risk that animals from that herd could introduce disease into the receiving herd
- the long-term management plans for your herd
Johne’s disease mainly occurs in dairy cattle in southern Australia.
There are now several ways that vendors of beef breeding cattle can provide assurance to purchasers and demonstrate that their cattle pose a low risk of introducing BJD into a new herd.
Beef Only herds
Beef Only cattle are beef cattle that have minimal contact with dairy cattle and have not grazed pasture that previously was used to run adult dairy cattle. Consequently, cattle raised in Beef Only herds have a low risk of being infected with the BJD.
The assurance from Beef Only comes from each herd’s own biosecurity and a history of trading only within that low risk sector of the cattle industry.
See the Agriculture Note – Beef Only - a new way of trading cattle in SE Australia, for more information on this subject.
BCTAS Herds
BCTAS (beef cattle trade assurance scheme) herds are those that as well as having no contact with dairy cattle have also undergone testing of 50 adult cattle in the preceding 24 months.
CattleMAP herds
CattleMAP herds are the source of replacement cattle that give the highest assurance of not introducing BJD into a recipient herd.
Non-Assessed herds
By contrast, Non-Assessed (NA) beef herds may be infected with BJD without the disease having been recognized. Particularly if there has been significant contact with dairy herds either through the use of dairy cattle as ET recipients or as vealer mothers, cattle from these herds may introduce BJD into the receiving herd.
Purchasers should request a National Animal Health Statement for Beef Cattle (copy attached) with every consignment of cattle purchased. This is a formal, written method of providing much of the information a purchaser needs to make an informed decision about buying cattle.
Repeat purchases from the same source over several years (eg bulls from the same stud) can provide the purchaser with some confidence about buying again from the same herd. In other cases, purchasers may need to discuss the situation with their private veterinary practitioner or DPI animal health staff, or they may need to visit the vendor’s property to view the herd and the herd status documentation for themselves.
Please remember that DPI staff cannot disclose confidential information about another person’s herd or property without that person’s written approval.
More information
Further information about BJD can be obtained from Animal Health staff at your nearest DPI office, or on the DPI external website: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/farming/bjd.
The previous version of this Information Note was published in December 2005.
