86% of farms completing the Action Johne’s Phase 1 survey for the National Johne’s Management Plan report that they are already testing for Johne’s disease on farm and 83% report that they are using a control strategy.
With the recent launch of Phase 2 of the National Johne’s Management Plan, the Action Group on Johne’s today welcomes the news that in a recent milk purchaser survey of sixteen companies supporting its scheme, 86% of the cohort replying reported that they were testing for the presence of Johne’s disease on farm with 83% employing a Johne’s control strategy.
Chair of the Action Johne’s group, Lyndon Edwards said: “We are pleased to see farmers taking steps to get to grips with Johne’s disease control on farm. As we move forward with an ever increasing focus on food sustainability and security, we need to continue to work together as an industry to ensure the milk we produce is of the highest quality for the consumers we serve as well as supporting the health and welfare of our dairy cattle.
“While we just have a sample of results at this stage, it is indicative of the high levels of engagement we’re already seeing for this scheme. We look forward to working with farmers, vets and milk purchasers over the coming years to ensure Johne’s disease control is at the heart of every UK dairy farm.”
The survey conducted by Alison Braddock and Neil Carter of SAC Consulting and collated by Aaron Reeves and Katherine Adam of SRUC for the Action Johne’s delivery team saw some encouraging results returned. Alison Braddock commented, “Whilst this data represents only a portion of our members, the exercise has been a positive step in engaging farmers and we hope to collate information from all milk purchaser members in the coming year as Action Johne’s gathers momentum.”
I have discussed Johne’s disease risk with my vet
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I have completed a risk assessment with my vet
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Farms that report any kind of testing for Johne’s disease
| Response | Number | Percent |
| Testing reported | 1412 | 86% |
| No testing reported | 222 | 14% |
“No test reported” may imply that no testing is performed, or simply that no answer was provided. Phase 2 questionnaire will be designed such that these two options can be distinguished from one another.
Control strategies
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* These values reflect more than the total number of farm records (more than 100% of all farm records) as some farms reported using more than one strategy.
