Bulk Milk testing 

Hopefully by now your herd has been signed up for bulk milk BVD monitoring. If you’re not sure, just check with your vet and they can let you know.

Test your calves at disbudding 

Along with testing bulk milk to check for the presence of BVD in the milking herd, another really important safe guard is to test calves as soon as possible, to find any breakdown in the system before it has a chance to have a herd-wide impact. Testing your calves at disbudding, regardless how old they are, is a simple, cost effective way to ensure there will be no nasty BVD surprises further down the line. Simply tick the box when you book your disbudding and we can take care of the rest. 

Biosecurity 

“Biosecurity” is a hot topic right now and by getting it right you can reap the rewards later. Having good biosecurity protocols in place will not only protect your herd from M.bovis, but is also critical in keeping BVD, Johnes’ Disease, Salmonella, calf scours and many more infectious diseases off your farm too. BVD is particularly important as it is known to have a major impact on the immune system and so any animal with BVD virus will be more likely to become infected and get sick with any other disease going around!

With all the recent talk of disease eradication, why stop at Mycoplasma bovis?! There is an increasing list of countries around the world that have or are eradicating BVD, and perhaps this is a good time for New Zealand to join that list! BVD is costing New Zealand farmers more than $150 million per year in direct production losses, so we really need to get on top of it. Check out the new website  www.bvdfree.org.nz  or talk to your vet for more information on getting involved in securing a BVD-Free New Zealand.