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Recently, there have been huge developments in the fight against Bluetongue (BT) disease. I have received a lot of information from far flung parts of the country and it takes time, on top of a busy life here at the farm, to finally put it on here in a coherent manner.
The first information came from Wales which became a Protected Zone (PZ) earlier this month, allowing vaccination to start and trade to be allowed with all other PZ’s.
However this is not as straightforward as it seems as Wales is a huge livestock area, comprising many small farms, with incomes to match. The vaccine is expensive and there is much conflicting advice as to how best to proceed.
Apart from imported livestock [where does it state clearly anywhere in the public domain if these tests were for antibodies or actual infection] no actual new case of BT has been reported in the UK this summer, and apparently DEFRA have not looked for any. It is also quite cold, and farmers generally find it hard to believe that BT infected midges will cause havoc especially in Wales and in the north this year. Farmers have or are just about to put their rams in with the ewes. It is a generally recognised fact that vaccination will have to be repeated next spring. So the question from Wales is why repeat it next Spring, why not give primary vaccination next Spring?
The second information came from Scotland who have announced a compulsory vaccination programme for all farm livestock to be completed between 1st November this year and April next year. Additional details can be found in this article from The Herald.
This heartfelt message came by email:
“There are no clinical guidelines on vaccine use and rumour is rife: muddles with half heard stories and Europe’s experience last year, also there is the alleged cop out from the vaccine companies who want to guard themselves against being sued, and DEFRA who appear to not take any responsibility either.
The confusion is such: don’t vaccinate your rams now or they might be infertile, don’t vaccinate ewes from 2 weeks before serving until 2 weeks after- the rams remain in with the ewes for 9 weeks here [Wales], so Christmas will come before it is ’safe’.
The rumours continue: the vaccine may cause foetal loss, may disturb cattle cycling, vaccination may reduce milk yield in lactating cows or goats and buyers of store lambs don’t want it as they are fearful of temperature affects on the meat. Then there is the problem about fitting it in with other vaccines and medicines another raft of cautions given by the manufacturers excluding its use with any other medicine.”
Another famer asked if they should put off giving anti-liver fluke treatment for the vaccine but after such a wet summer missing a crucial dose against liver fluke would be a major mistake. Jethro once bought sheep from a fluke area [unknowingly] and they were very ill before we learnt what was wrong and treated them accordingly.
And another email came from a farmer with a strong background in human medical science:
“Really with farm animals that are about to get pregnant, are pregnant, are suckling young or fattening for the butcher the cautious advice from the drug companies means that hardly any can be safely vaccinated according to their guidance. Of course the vaccine has been taken off the shelf as quickly as possible so perhaps some of the safety testing that might have been done on young or pregnant animals for example has not been completed yet.
There is no one for the vets to turn to for clinical guidance [unlike in human medicine], there are no consultants in veterinary infectious disease to ask for advice, so they must bow to the farmers who must pay for everything and withstand any financial loss.
Even my own vet is going to wait and vaccinate his sheep flock next Spring. Really, I have to agree that that is the most sensible and economic policy, however I have vaccinated my own livestock.
Vaccination next Spring is really the most important vaccination time. It would be most convenient when the animals are in and before lambing. Somehow farmers must also learn they have to vaccinate the young next summer as well before there is a window for infection when maternally derived antibody has waned, in convenient batches.”
The livestock here at Prosperous Farm were vaccinated in May and June this year. We plan to vaccinate the cows and the ewes next March in what will become a routine annual vaccination. The calves and lambs will get some immunity from their dams, and will be individually vaccinated at around one month of age. The calves of course will receive a second booster dose 3 – 4 weeks after the first.
It is a horrible situation for the whole industry. Conflicting advice, multiple rumours, lack of actual science and the sheer practicalities [and costs] of vaccinating millions of animals who reside for most of the year in the far flung hills and dales of Britain are truly formidable. Initial reports suggest that Cumbria and Northumberland will follow the Scottish plan but there is a meeting organised by the National Sheep Association to be held at Hexham on 30th September so it will be interesting to see if the consensus changes in October.
There is one other important point to make and it will be a very contentious one. BT is a notifiable disease and by law must be reported to DEFRA immediately. However, even if farmers were able to identify that they had a suspected case of BT [clinical signs are not always obvious] in all honesty why would they actually bother to report it? There is no compensation, and it seems that there has been little routine testing by DEFRA out looking for this infection, or if they have been testing it has been kept very quiet.
The consequences of reporting a potential case are all financial: movement restrictions, lack of trade, and potential longer term consequences especially if the farmer has pedigree livestock. I think that with human nature being as it is will mean that nothing will be said, except perhaps by a few.
Nevertheless this worries me as I do firmly believe that the British farmer is generally honest, reliable, hardworking and cares deeply for his animals, it is the attitude of powers that be and lack of genuine concern for the industry that have let the farmers [and their animals] down and brought us sadly to this point.
Today food and farming is in the news.
Compulsory cooking in schools, and free recipe books for 11 year olds, BRILLIANT. Cooking, or domestic science as it used to be called should never have been abolished.
There is also in depth harvest coverage on the TV news, or rather the lack of harvest of on account of the weather and the fact that farmers now have until 4th October to go on their waterlogged fields with extra permission from the EU. However, the media, EU and DEFRA probably do not realise that actually farmers do still decide for themselves if they are able [will] go onto the fields or not, whether to try to save a crop or write it off…
Boris is speaking out for farmers, and writes once again with knowledge and passion. There is so much extensively livestock production in this country on land that cannot be ploughed. It is what makes our countryside famous; think of the moorland and the hills from one end of the country to the other [Dartmoor, Peak District, Lake District, Pennines, Highlands, Southdowns etc], there are so many beautiful areas which have been shaped and cared for by farmers grazing livestock. Boris is right: it is not the animals that are the problem, it is the people.
My suggestion is: keep eating meat, but ASK where and how it is produced. And if you are able please choose local and extensively reared meat whenever you can. These types of systems are utilising the land in the best way possible and should be supported.
The DEFRA site now reports that 18 cattle imported into County Durham have tested POSITIVE for BLUETONGUE.
This has been allowed to happen before vaccination has taken place throughout the area and immunity built up in the North Eastern livestock.
Is there no common sense anywhere? In the farmers who should know better than to jeopardize this nation’s livestock or DEFRA for allowing importation into an area that was only allowed to vaccinate 10 days ago? It takes time for immunity to build up and cattle need two doses 21 – 28 days apart before this immunity begins to build [depending which vaccine is used].
I still believe that we are an Island and special care should be taken over importation.
Surely there is no single farming business so financially reliant on importing stock from a BT ridden zones that it is worth the risks to the entire industry?
I have said it before, this is a bluetongue mess, and complacency must not win. We have to unite, to vaccinate and not import from disease ridden areas.
Everyone has collective responsibility from the stakeholders, DEFRA, and each individual livestock farmer. Our livestock depend on us making the right decisions to keep them healthy and this includes not taking unnecessary risks such as importing without thinking through the consequences of such acts and the relevant policies.
NB: Bluetongue only affects livestock and does not affect people.
Added 9.20pm 11 Sept 08
For important information regarding import testing please read this ProMed commentary. More information can also be found at Warmwell.
Why does DEFRA think it is perfectly acceptable for thousands and thousands of cattle to be slaughtered following a diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis?
This news story from the Farmers Guardian makes shocking reading and needs shouting from the rooftops. And according to this report in Hansard, the predicted numbers of cattle to be slaughtered this year will be in excess of 40,000.
The disease is continuing to spread into new areas and another story clearly indicates that the veterinary profession believe that badgers are the main source of infection.
Do the bunny huggers hold such sway over the powers that be that infected badgers are worth more than all these cattle? Or does the public just not know about the thousands of cattle deaths?
The suffering of both the cattle, and the families who own these infected bovines cannot be underestimated and all need our sympathy and support.
Here are the latest figures. Surely this indiscriminate slaughter cannot go on.
Well here we are now right in the middle of the “harvest from hell,” as one farmer labelled this year’s effort to get the grain in, and today we have had all manner of visits and phone calls, all requiring Jethro’s time and attention.
Jethro is not available, and certainly not got time to speak to anyone unless they can drive a tractor for 4 days or find him the spare part he so desperately needs! He is now on a tractor working from early in the morning until way past dark, when he updates the daily records on the computer, before snatching a bit of sleep and starting over.
DEFRA, in their infinite wisdom and showing their usual full understanding of the agricultural calendar [and the current weather conditions] have organised a customer satisfaction survey of farmers participating in their Environmental Stewardship Schemes which are administered by Natural England. This survey requires a series of questions to be answered about working with Natural England. It can only be done by phone, email is not allowed [so much easier especially for busy farmers], and it must be completed before 15th September.
I have just answered one of these calls on Jethro’s behalf, and explained that owing to circumstances beyond our control:
a) the farmer isn’t here
b) he won’t be in this evening
c)his tractor is so loud the mobile is no good either
d) he hardly sleeps
e) he is unable to think about anything other than machines and fieldwork right now, and that even the family don’t know what is going on [especially not his mother]
etc, etc.
The operator was very understanding and explained that all of the above points about the time of year had already been raised with DEFRA, who probably took no notice, as unsurprisingly the closing date remained the same. I have agreed for Jethro to try to ring back if we have a wet day, otherwise they will ring again nearer the deadline. I felt so sorry for the operator as this experience will undoubtedly be repeated with every call they make.
There have also been several calls today by reps, only one of which was helpful and I was able to send him off to look for this elusive spare part for the seed drill [more on this later]. The other callers were from non-farming companies who happen to sell things used for property maintenance and other such tasks. I don’t think it had occurred to them that they would not be welcomed with open arms by the farmer…
Now before any more interruptions I am off to clean out the hen houses.
