Almost a fifth of cattle farmers (17%) are unsure whether BVD is a problem in their herd, according to the results of the recent BVD survey of more than 600 herds across the UK.
The survey, conducted by Boehringer Ingelheim, makers of BVD vaccine Bovela, found that nearly half of herds surveyed either had a current BVD problem or had seen it in the past, says Boehringer Ingelheim’s Matt Yarnall. “The fact that so many respondents were unaware of the BVD status of their herd is of concern, particularly when there are BVD eradication schemes running throughout the UK, including compulsory schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
However, the findings are broadly the same as a previous survey we have conducted in 2016 and confirmed that BVD is still an issue on many farms across the UK.” However, Mr Yarnall said there were worrying responses in the survey to vaccine use questions, with a clear indication that nearly three quarters of farmers were using some vaccines inappropriately and failing to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. “It seems farmers either aren’t reading the instructions or are failing to follow them. Some vaccines require six monthly boosters when used on a whole herd basis in all-year-round calving herds, which was the commonest calving pattern reported.
But this survey found that 71% of farmers using this type of vaccine were only vaccinating their herds once a year. “Not only does this mean the vaccine will not provide the protection expected, but also that farmers are wasting their time and money unless it is given according to the stated vaccination interval,” warns Mr Yarnall.
“These farmers wanting to only vaccinate their herds once a year should ensure they are using a vaccine which offers a full 12 months’ protection from a single
dose, such as Bovela.” Equally concerning, were some responses to questions where farmers were using the tag and test method to identify BVD carrying
calves in their herds.
Tagging calves
“There were a number of farmers who were only tagging live calves and failing to tag dead calves. This was also seen in Northern Ireland and is worrying for two reasons. Firstly, by failing to tag dead calves, farmers are potentially not getting the full picture of BVD prevalence in their herds. And, secondly, it is a compulsory requirement of the Northern Irish BVD eradication scheme that all calves, including those born dead, are tagged with a tissue sampling tag.
“The survey found that 29% of 59 Northern Irish farmers responding weren’t tagging their dead calves, leaving a hole in the disease prevalence information for the province and potentially allowing BVD to continue unchecked in these herds causing significant production and economic losses,” says Mr Yarnall. “However, figures do suggest that compliance in the Northern Irish scheme overall is high, with over 540,000 tests uploaded since 1st March 2016, representing the majority of calves born in NI during that period.”
Economic impact
When it came to the productivity and economic impact of BVD, most farmers were well aware of the consequences of the disease, with 31% citing poor fertility as a major impact of the disease, and a further 20% listing disease in calves as a problem.
“However, 22% believed the disease had no impact. This suggests that while much has been done in recent years to educate the farming industry of the risks posed by BVD there is still more to be done to spread the word further. Vets will continue to play a crucial role in this, with 90% of respondents saying they got their BVD information from their vet.” Derek Armstrong, of BVDFree England, commenting on the survey results, adds that persistently infected (PI) animal identification is crucial to all of the BVD eradication programmes. “It is encouraging that farmers indicated that PIs are central to the disease, with 72% of
farmers highlighting they need to be identified, and furthermore 86% of farmers would cull identified PIs, or have never identified any. This is encouraging and shows how far the industry has come in recent years in understanding the danger of PIs to their herds.”
But other results from the survey show there is still more to be done, with herd statuses clearly misunderstood by many, says Mr Yarnall. “Of the dairy herds surveyed, 70% claimed to be closed herds. However, 8% of these were rearing their heifers away from home and 19% were buying in bulls. Both of these situations pose huge potential risks in terms of BVD coming in to a herd and farmers engaging in either of these activities should take adequate biosecurity
provision to limit the chances of BVD entering their herds from either away reared heifers or bought-in bulls. “Farmers who are currently unaware of their herd’s BVD status or believe it could be prevalent in their herd should speak to their vet about the best way to tackle the disease and put in place a health plan to control and eradicate it,” suggests Mr Yarnall. Nearly three quarters of those farmers surveyed said the benefit of being free of BVD was between £10 and £40 a cow, clearly showing how highly farmers value preventing the disease. Few farms can afford not to take advantage of that benefit in the current milk market and particularly bearing in mind the uncertain future facing British agriculture,” he adds.
- BRITISH DAIRYING April 2017