ROUTINE SCREENING VITAL TO KEEP JOHNE’S LEVELS DOWN

Shropshire producer Julian Evans works closely with his vet Sean Hughes from Shropshire Farm Vets in keeping infectious disease well under control and are committed to routine scanning of key disease like Johne’s and BVD.

Julian is the second generation of the family to run the crossbreed block-calved herd at Heath View Farm, near Shrewsbury. He takes a long term view to Johne’s control and has been screening for Johne’s using NMR’s HerdWise milk test since 2016. Although levels were never high, they’ve gradually reduced to a current Average Test Value (ATV) of 5.2%. 

The milking herd is Johne’s screened four times a year, in October and November, then in spring and in June prior to drying off. “Screening before breeding is vital in making sure we don’t breed replacements from any infected cows,” says Julian. 

“If we do breed from them, we’ll use beef sires and mate them towards the end of the block so there’s no risk of infecting any heifer calves. This is part of our Johne’s plan, and it has really helped me manage Johne’s.”

HerdWise tools accessed via NMR’s Herd Companion portal have made control even more precise. The Johne’s Progress Tracker compares the farm’s data with benchmarks recognised as having a significant impact on Johne’s infection rates. 

“We use the Progress Tracker in Julian’s annual Johne’s review so we can home in on area to make best progress.” says Sean. (The image below shows what the HerdWise Progress Tracker looks like).

Despite very low levels of Johne’s, Julian and Sean both know the importance of routine screening for the disease. 

“Without regular NMR cell counts, Johne’s screening and BVD Tag-and-Test data the herd would not have its high health status and be confident in meeting its Arla Care requirements,” says Sean.

“We’d have no idea if good progress was being made,” he adds. ‘This is a good herd - disease infection rates were never high, but screening keeps a check on trends and progress.” 

Take a look at the Progress Tracker on Herd Companion’s Demo Herd by visiting bit.ly/NMRHCDb or drop us a line to customerservices@nmrp.com and we can help you get your Johne’s plan back on track.