The new national five year management plan developed by the SheepMeat Council of Australia and WoolProducers Australia for Ovine Johne’s disease (www.animalhealth.com.au) will commence on 1 July 2013. As part of this plan the previous High, Medium and Low prevalence areas in New South Wales will be replaced with new Protected and Control Areas.

Protected Areas must meet special criteria which are:

• The prevalence of infected flocks must be no more than 1%;
• Producers from the proposed Protected Area must develop Regional Biosecurity Plans for the prevention and control of new infections; and
• An annual audit must be undertaken to demonstrate compliance with the Regional Biosecurity Plan.

The current NSW Exclusion Areas are well placed to gain Protected Area status. Producers in these areas have recently indicated their majority support for local OJD Risk Management Plans.

Meetings have recently been held by NSW Farmers Association (with support from the Livestock Health and Pest Authority (LHPA) and the Department of Primary Industries (DPI)) in Low Prevalence Areas across the state to inform producers about the changes. Survey forms were mailed out in the Low Prevalence Areas of North West (Moree, Narrabri, Northern Slopes and Walgett), Central West (Coonamble and Nyngan) and Riverina Livestock Health and Pest Authorities (LHPA) in the week commencing 22nd October 2012. The results of these surveys were released on 5 December 2012. Further producer surveys are likely to be undertaken in some other areas with low disease prevalence in early 2013.

The remainder of the state will become a Control Area for OJD under the new plan.

Impact of the changes on the current NSW High and Medium Prevalence Areas

Current High and Medium Prevalence Areas will become Control Areas under the new plan. This will result in little change for most producers. Producers in Control Areas:

• Will have increased opportunities to trade with regions that were previously Low Prevalence Areas that do not become Protected Areas.
• May source sheep from anywhere.
• May need to join the SheepMAP and/or test if they wish to trade or move sheep into Protected Areas.
• Should develop an individual OJD risk management plan suited to their individual business needs. High farm biosecurity standards, grazing managment and vaccination can be used to minimise disease risks.

Impact of changes on the current NSW Exclusion Areas

The current Exclusion Areas (New England, Darling, Western LHPAs and the Coonabarabran district) are likely to become Protected Areas. Producers in these areas:

• May trade between and within the Protected Areas.
• Should protect their district by only bringing in ‘low risk’ sheep – otherwise they may risk losing their Protected Area status.
• Must send a copy of the Sheep Health Statement (SHS) to the LHPA within seven days of introducing sheep from outside the Protected Area.

Impact of changes on the current NSW Low Prevalence Areas

Many districts in the current Low Prevalence Area are expected to vote on becoming Protected Areas. If they become a Protected Area, producers in these areas:

• May trade between and within the Protected Areas.
• Should protect their district by only bringing in ‘low risk’ sheep – otherwise they may risk losing their Protected Area status.
• Must send a copy of the Sheep Health Statement (SHS) to the LHPA within seven days of introducing sheep from outside the Protected Area.

Regions in the current Low Prevalence Areas that are outside the Exclusion Areas that do not become a Protected Area will default to Control Areas from 1 July 2013. Producers in these regions:

• May source sheep from anywhere
• May need to join SheepMAP and/or test to trade or move sheep into Protected Areas
• Should be aware of the potential risk of spread of OJD due to the relaxation of trade with higher Prevalence Areas
• Should develop an individual OJD risk management plan suited to their individual business needs. High farm biosecurity standards, grazing management and vaccination can be used to minimise disease risks.

Further information

Further information on the current OJD Exclusion and Prevalence Areas can be found on the NSW DPI website.

Further information on the new National OJD Management Program, including the guidelines for the new Protected and Control Areas is available at www.ojd.com.au.