Why Biosecurity Testing Matters for Your Farm

Protecting your livestock and property from disease threats is essential for sustainable farming. At Colac Vet Clinic, we provide comprehensive biosecurity advice and testing services that help you safeguard your animals, maintain productivity, and ensure business continuity for ongoing monitoring or screening of potential purchase cohorts.

Benefits of Regular Biosecurity Testing

• Early disease detection before clinical signs appear
• Prevention of costly outbreaks that can devastate herds (mastitis, BVDV, Johnes)
• Protection of your farm's reputation and market access
• Compliance with industry standards and regulations
• Peace of mind knowing your animals are healthy

Biosecurity in Purchasing livestock:

All new cattle should receive a combination injectable or oral worm drench

Pestivirus (BVDV) — All herds should know their Pestivirus status, ideally to know if your herd is at risk of it or have it already (endemic).  Changes in Pestivirus status in herds where pregnant cows are present can be dangerous.

Bulls require: Vibriosis vaccine and Pestivirus vaccines (2 doses in first year and annual booster), Pesti PI negative, Veterinary fertility test and injectable worm drench prior to use each year.

Dairy specific testing prior to purchasing (applies for heifers too):

Query known salmonella presence and type on farm of origin, are they vaccinated?

Pesti antibody test and a PI test of the group you are buying

Mastitis pathogen PCR test – this tests the cows included in the vat for nasty contagious bacteria.  Ideally a test of the sick cows should be included, this test is called the complete 16 PCR, importantly it covers the regular bacteria as well as identifying the following bugs that should be avoided at all costs:

• Mycoplasma bovis
• Streptococcus agalactiae
• Mycoplasma species
• Various other mastitis organisms - talk to us about the impact of each of these on farm

Beef specific guidelines:

Pestivirus is the most common concern for beef operations.  Knowing your own status and when purchasing stock, knowing the farm of origin status is important.  Sometimes doing nothing once you know the status is a reasonable approach but only if you have immunity and have discussed this approach with your vet.  Monitoring of pestivirus status is extremely important it.

Bovine Johnes – knowing your JBAs score and the herd of origin

Calf scours:  Purchasing F1 cows and rearing dairy cross calves is a common cause of bringing some of the calf scour pathogens onto farms.  These seem to be more common in intensively raised calves and wet environments.  If you notice a different disease presentation or a common case that is impacting the health and production of your animals, it's always best to find out what it is through the clinic so that you can hopefully prevent it with management techniques or vaccination.

We are here to help and would much prefer to have a biosecurity conversation prior to you purchasing a new line of cattle rather than discuss the disease that has been introduced.  Having said that, even with the best measures there are breakdowns in systems and that’s where we aim to help get you back on track as soon as possible.