Informed buyers now the first line of defence against OJD
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NSW Agriculture is urging sheep producers to be wise and not to throw caution to the wind when buying in sheep and lambs, following the removal of ovine Johne's disease (OJD) movement restrictions and property quarantines from July 1.
NSW Chief Veterinary Officer, Bruce Christie, said producers buying or agisting sheep would be the first line of defence against OJD under the new environment of risk-based trading.
"While this provides more equitable trading options for the sheep producers, it also means the responsibility for controlling and managing OJD now rests with the State's sheep producers," Mr Christie said.
"Producers purchasing and agisting stock, especially those in Exclusion Areas where OJD prevalence is negligible, should actively seek out Animal Health Statements to make an informed decision on the risk associated with buying in stock.
"Animal Health Statements identify the degree of risk using Assurance Based Credits (ABC) - the higher the number of credit points on the statement, the lower the risk.
"Credit points are allocated based on the animals' origin (Prevalence Area), vaccination history (Gudair OJD vaccine) and testing history for OJD (SheepMAP history).
"While Animal Health Statements help restockers minimise risk they are also valuable for restocker sellers to promote their animals with a high level of OJD assurance.
"Use of Animal Health Statements became mandatory in NSW in January this year for all sheep traded or agisted other than slaughter sheep."
The penalty for making false or misleading claims on Animal Health Statements about disease or vaccination status has doubled from $11,000 to $22,000.
Animal Health Statements also double as a Transported Stock Statement which are required for all sheep movements.
Detailed information on Animal Health Statements and OJD Prevalence Areas is available from the NSW Department of Primary Industries website: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au
Media contacts: Bruce Christie 02 6391 3717, 0412 252 296 or Brett Fifield 02 6391 3311, 0427 029 511