The Northumberland show, to be held on 31st May, and the Border Union show, scheduled for July 30 - 31st at Kelso, have published the following conditions of entry:
Entries at both these shows are to be restricted on a geographical basis. This has been agreed by the BAS Board for 2010 only. The situation will be reviewed in 2011.
For any alpaca owners who are unaware of their parish testing interval, all areas west of Defra's maginot line (which is roughly from North Staffordshire, dropping south to Dorset, and coloured red on the map), are on annual testing of their cattle herds. The buffer zone to the east of this line and coloured orange, is on two year testing. The line has already moved further east than this illustration shows.
Full details are available on the website (www.bas-uk.com) under Shows & Events/Programmes.
The restrictions are as follows:
Northumberland
In order to instill confidence in both alpaca and other livestock exhibitors, entries will only be accepted for animals from 3- & 4-year cattle bTB testing areas. Please check your Parish Testing Interval on the Animal Health website before making your entry and include your holding number with your entry fees.
A reduction in the number of entries has been necessary to enable a 3-metre gap between breeders. Spit barriers and comprehensive biosecurity procedures will be in place, as per BAS recommendations.
And over the border to Scotland, which has recently been granted TB-free status,
Kelso
By order of the Border Union Show Committee, because of Scotland's TB-Free status, entries from England are only open to animals from 3- & 4-year cattle bTB testing areas. Please check your Parish Testing Interval on the Animal Health website.
Full postcodes and Holding numbers of origin are mandatory. Any herd that has been in contact with animals from a 1- or 2-year testing area within the 6 months prior to the show will not be eligible to enter.
More details can be found on the BAS website and local AHOs will confirm the parish testing interval of your holding.
© 2006 British Alpaca Society Ltd www.bas-uk.com
15 comments:
I think the organisers are very wise given the current lack of thought from certain breeders.
Are similar restrictions in place for other livestock?
Anon 10.02
Your point was answered on a previous thread.
All cattle moving 'OFF' holdings in annual / two year testing parishes have to be preMT before the move, and for Scotland, post movement tested as well.
Fortunately for us, when used on cattle, the skin test is good.
Sheep, goats, pigs etc. small mammals? As far as we are aware, no restrictions apply.
unfortunately for you, when used on cattle, the skin test is not nearly sensitive or specific enough to be sure that the testing regime you mention is good enough to ensure that infected cattle are not present at agricultural shows.
Oh, and also, a trip to a show doesn't count as 'moving off holding' does it?
Anon 5.04
If your assertion was correct, then no other country would have cleared TB from its cattle herds, using it. And without a wildlife reservoir interface, most have. Thus your argument is not credible.
The skin test, universally approved as the primary test worldwide, on cattle is fine.
Yes it does. An 'OFF' and 'ON' registration with BCMS is obligatory for movements to shows and exhibitions. As is the 6 day standstill when animals return home, unless they go directly into AHO approved isolation facilities.
"An 'OFF' and 'ON' registration with BCMS is obligatory for movements to shows and exhibitions."
But not a pre MT - or is the DEFRA website wrong?
Bottom of page seven at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/tb/documents/premove-booklet.pdf
Firstly the skin test in camelids is useless - therefore camelid herds are coming out of restriction on the back of an unreliable test carrying TB.
secondly - not sure I have ever seen a cow spit 10 feet, and not sure i have seen photos of anyone cuddling and kissing cows. Alpacas on the otherhand!!!
thirdly camelids owners don't have to fill in any paperwork - just load em up and move on to the next show.
The two shows in this article are not in TB hot spots - they are just making sure they don't become one - can you blame them.
Well done to them and glad to see some of the alpaca community are taking the issue seriously - unlike the person who arranged the SW show featured in the previous post.
Anon 10.08
The link you gave needs to be read in conjunction of the preMT regs.
Any cattle, a single cow or a herd, moving 'OFF' its registered holding within annual or two testing parishes, must have had a clear TB test within the previous 60 days.
The only exceptions are to direct slaughter, or between an AHO / BCMS registered 'Linked or Single Occupancy Holding' where a farm may have another patch for say, rearing heifers which is separate from his main farm.
Movements anywhere except between those would need a clear test in the previous 60 days. And that includes to shows / exhibitions.
The test may be a routine whole herd test, or if that is 'timed out' then the owner must pay for a preMT.
For example, my herd had a clear TB test earlier this spring and I've have been selling on the back of that. The cattle are now 'timed out' of the 60 days post jab day, and if they are to move anywhere at all, will need a preMT at my expense before they leave.
Trading standards monitor, and have access to CTS data to check.
Either copies of TB test charts, signed and dated must accompany the animal when it moves, or a market, a declaration giving that information - which is checked..
It beats me how anyone is supposed to understand TB and what has to be done when there is such confusion over a single issue such as preMT.
DEFRA's publication PB13324 referred to above cites conditions all the way through that apply "unless the herd meets any of the exemptions
listed in the table on page 7"
That table includes the following exemptions:
Cattle moving directly to:
• slaughter;
• a market from which all
animals go direct to slaughter
• Exempt Finishing Units(EFU)
• Exempt Markets(EM);
• Approved TB Finishing Units
(AFU);
• Approved TB collection
centres;
• Agricultural shows(provided
that the animal is returned to
the premises of origin or
moved direct to slaughter).
Anon 9.30
You're confused? Join the club.
All the first destinations on the Defra list are for animals either finished for slaughter, or for further fattening on, prior to slaughter. The slaughter 'market' option, is what is known as a 'Red' market, where cattle going through an auction, must go to slaughter and not on for further finishing.
We have contacted colleagues in annual testing areas who show cattle. They tell us that the 60 day TB test rules are in force for shows and exhibitions. Where there may be confusion is that the animals do not need a test to go to each different show. For instance, a clear test on say April 30th (jab day) would allow unrestricted movements up until June 30th. After that, the test is 'timed out' and would need to be repeated.
The 6 day standstill rule would still apply unless the show animals were returned, as we explained before, to an approved isolation unit. (This is where an 'ON' movement of cattle to a holding, generates a 6 day standstill on movements 'OFF' except to direct slaughter and possibly some or all of the options which are on Defra's list.)
If we find out anything which contradicts that, we'll post it.
Interesting to here what is occurring in 'the real world' Matthew.
Notwithstanding your colleagues experience, am I correct in thinking that PMT was brought in under
The Tuberculosis (England) Order 2006
SCHEDULE,Article 11 of that states:
Permitted Movements
The following movements are permitted without pre movement testing:
. . . .
. .
Movement to agricultural shows
10. The movement of a bovine animal to an agricultural show or series of shows provided that it is returned direct to its premises of origin after the show or shows.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20060394.htm
Anon 3.46.
The 'real world' of trying to farm cattle, while avoiding bTB from a wildlife reservoir, whose name Defra dare not speak is about as bureaucratic, convoluted and daft as it gets.
Yes you are correct. preMT for cattle in annual and 2 year testing parishes was brought in 2006. And yes the order does exempt animals going to shows from preMT. But having now heard from another colleague (different area) who shows cattle a lot, it really is a dog's breakfast. And our assumption of a 60 day window was incorrect. We think. But a clear HERD test, is a definite prerequisite, within the terms of the farm's testing interval set by the local AHO.
This was another reply to the movement records and testing question, originally posed by Anon 10.02 (second comment):
"As far as I know, the proper protocol for showing is that the animals must have been BTB tested clear according to the correct parish testing interval (one year here)"
(So a clear herd test is a pre-requisite to attend a show or exhibition, and return the animal home again.)
But, providing that the herd is clear at its routine test, (and this was news to us):
" You do not pre movement test show animals (which I think is wrong - more on that later!) but they must come back to the holding to proper isolation/quarantine facilities as prescribed by Animal Health/State Vet service."
Thus a cattle show team, appear to be treated separately from the rest of the herd, provided they are housed in approved isolation facilities.
These movements to shows are recorded as 'OFF' and 'ON' (and return)...
"But if animals go into quarantine area, I don't think there is a 6 day shutdown period on the holding.
If you attend different shows on consecutive days or within the 6 day period, you can go to them from this quarantine area."
So, our first contact from the Midlands is preparing to preMT his cattle show team, but in the SW it apparently isn't necessary. Our second contact, who provided the above information, thinks it should be, and is pushing hard for it.
"thinks it should be, and is pushing hard for it"
As did your 'badger hugging friends' some years ago!
Anon 8.42
All farmers have a responsibility to avoid onwards transmission of TB, and cetainly the contributers to this site take that seriously. Cattle movement regs. reflect the long established premise that a) the skin test on a herd is as good as it gets and b) even cattle with lesions are pretty non-infectious.
However, we are now in a very different phase of opportunity for infectivity of TB. The cattle and other species casualties are telling us that. And as we have reported in numerous posts, we have spillback into a species more than capable of onwards transmission to any other mammal.
But to the shrieks of anguish which accompany any tweak to the ultimate protection of the primary wildlife source of TB (now accompanied by guitar playing pop stars) - the cause of the vast majority of TB in this country remains untouchable.
One of our contributers was a member of a farmer group, which spoke to MAFF officials at Weybridge in 1996 about TB transmission.
We proposed a post movement TB test for all breeding cattle coming out of annual testing areas, and more regular tests for herds in 3/4 year parishes which generated a lot of cattle movements.
It was not adopted then, but some has since been added to the cattle movement and testing regulations.
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