Beef Only producer in front
From the March 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
North coast beef producer Peter Hannigan makes sure bovine Johne’s disease (BJD) stays off his property – and gets a market premium for his efforts because his herd is registered as Beef Only.
Beef Only means that even though the herd is located in a BJD Control Zone it complies with strict guidelines to reduce the risk of BJD coming onto the farm.
Mr Hannigan buys lines of 30 to 100 heifers and sells them pregnancy-tested-in-calf (PTIC) after keeping them on his Numulgi property, which is in the Tweed-Lismore BJD Control Zone.
“We are a Beef Only category herd operating in strict isolation from the dairy industry,” said Mr Hannigan.
“We don’t even buy from a herd that has a dairy house cow.
“It’s not much effort to be classified Beef Only and it means our females are approved to move from the Tweed-Lismore area to the NSW BJD Protected Area or Queensland.
“That means more buyer competition for our cattle and higher prices.
“In recent times we’ve sold more than half our females outside the area – mostly to the Northern Tablelands.
“And if the season improves in western NSW more buyers will come to the north coast looking for quality PTIC females.”
BJD is a chronic disease of cattle which has no cure.
Because BJD can be introduced when buying cattle, the NSW Department of Primary Industries advises producers to check the BJD status of cattle before they buy and buy only from a herd which is low risk for BJD.
BJD is also more common in dairy cattle. Therefore dairy farmers are also advised to manage their herds carefully and protect calves from contact with manure from adult cattle.
Current Control Areas include the bottom half of the South Coast Rural Lands Protection Board (RLPB), the southern portions of the Murray and Riverina RLPBs, and the entire Casino and Tweed-Lismore RLPBs.
Cattle from BJD Control areas previously had to undergo Check Testing to be sold into Protected Areas, and this still applies where cattle are not eligible for Beef Only status.
Contact: Bill Hoffman, NSW DPI, Casino (02) 6662 2288.
