The biggest risks to biosecurity are new animals arriving on the farm. But slurry, shared machinery, shared use of land, animal break-ins etc can all be risks. A good idea is to sit down with your vet, have a look at your farm and consider creating a farm biosecurity risk assessment to identify weak spots. Every farm is different and a fresh set of eyes is the best way to see the risks many farmers ignore simply because nothing bad has happened before.

Knowing the weak points is essential. Minimising bought-in animals is obviously the best way to reduce risk and run a closed herd. But this is not always possible and my advice if animals have to be bought is simply buy as few as possible and also try to ensure they are from a small number of herds. Try your best to get background information on the “seller’s herd”. Ask what they vaccinate for and what diseases they have on their farm.

Having a quarantine period for new animals, ie keeping them away from your main herd for at least a month, is also recommended. It’s much better for a new virus or disease to spread among the new group of six heifers than the entire milking herd. It gives you the opportunity to test the animals for disease and also to vaccinate them before they enter the main herd. It’s a step that’s overlooked too often.

Vaccines themselves are another huge safeguard. They won’t stop diseases entering the farm but will hugely limit the spread and damage that can occur while also keeping diseases on the farm under control.

Another point to make is the buying in of the pregnant animal. Treat this as two animals. The new cow may be disease-free but the calf inside may not be. As soon as that calf is born it should be treated like a new bought-in animal. There’s a lot more to Biosecurity than the points in this article, but one thing is sure– it pays to plan ahead!

Padraic Brennan works at Comeragh Veterinary Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford. Comeragh Veterinary is part of XLVets. XLVets is a group of progressive practices who are working together to achieve a better future for agriculture and veterinary in Ireland. For further information go to www.xlvets.ie