Biosecurity Issues

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Putting Biosecurity in Perspective

Dairy producers have always been risktakers, for that element is inherent within the business. From planting the crops, managing the herd, to marketing its product, there are, understandably, elements beyond one’s control.

Biosecurity can best be defined as those management procedures a milk producer takes to reduce the risk of disease within the herd. Just as one builds a fence line to keep cattle in, constructs their management practices to keep disease out. They are the barriers against those organisms that wait outside a farm hoping that the door of opportunity will be ajar so that they might enter.

One such barrier is a good vaccination program. Dr. William Walker’s article (February, 2003) on its protocol is excellent. That horse has been well ridden so there is no need for me to saddle it again. Likewise, the Alan and Sharon Kozak article on Johne’s Disease (April, 2002); Ms. Cree’s comments on Mycoplasma mastitis (June, 2002), and Doc Gardner’s general advice (May, 2002), are all great reference material as you build your barriers.

What is key to a good prevention program is that it is ever-changing. A good program today may not suffice tomorrow. New drugs, new vaccines, and new analytical tests are on the horizon and will need to be incorporated in your defense strategy.

I have recently been released from prison. That is after 22 years. I have retired as Administrator of the New Jersey Department of Corrections farming operations. There, five dairy herds with four milk processing plants and a yogurt facility were maintained. All milk products went to feed institutionalized patients and inmates of the State. These dairies, along with other agribusiness industries of the program, were self-supporting and returned one million dollars in savings to the State each of the last 20 years. As a point of interest, the dairies accounted for one-third of the total income and became profitable only after we added Jerseys to the program.

I left Corrections with some rather strong feelings. I determined early on that there was far more honor in keeping cows that in keeping people, that you could strain everything out of milk except politics, and that when you thought everything was going along smoothly, it wasn’t.

In that world and in yours (as a dairy operator), I cannot over-emphasize the need to maintain a constant vigil. Search for ways to reinforce your barriers. I do not recommend armed guards or razor wire for your farm, but I encourage you to think of your barriers to control access as providing the same function. The following are a few items worth mentioning.

New Cattle

Check the health credentials at the gate for all livestock entering or re-entering your farm. Isolate them for at least three weeks, even if they have had every required vaccination and test where needed. That includes your show animals or replacement heifers raised off the main farm, especially where a common fence line allows other animal contact or the water source is a shared one. While older cattle may carry more baggage and potential for problems that younger ones, set your standards and health passports for all entry at a level that complements your herd and not compromises it.

Visitors

Limit visitors to essential personnel and those folks who have a reason to be on your farm. Provide protective footwear and have a sign-in book.

Trade Traffic

Be aware of farm-to-farm traffic and limit such vehicle(s) and occupant(s) to that area of the farm essential for their being on your farm. Be especially careful of cattle transport vehicles.

Feeds

Sample, label, and inventory samples of all feedstuffs you purchase, so that in the event of the introduction of a pathogen to your farm, you can determine its source is through a purchased feed. Save samples for at least six months.

Open vs. Closed Herds

One can refer to the herd as being "closed" if they do not purchase additions to the herd and have strict limitations of human traffic. This is, in my judgment, an ideal situation for it limits two potential sources of pathogen (disease) transmission and it should be thought of only in this manner.

I like the term, "a guarded herd," because in the real world, a closed herd doesn’t exist . . . any more than does a "sanitary landfill." The first rodent that scurries across the floor or the first bird that lands on the premises has breached your protective barriers.

For many dairy producers, a "guarded herd" is not possible. Herd expansion and herd replacements may need to come from outside sources. In these circumstances, if one adheres to practices discussed in this and previous Journal articles by watching what cattle come in and limiting human traffic, the difference between a "guarded herd" and an "open herd" narrows substantially.

An Alternative

One of the greatest pleasures I have had the past 30 years (at Ogston and with the State herds) was showing visitors the cattle, especially if they were Jersey folk. I believe well developed advertising and web pages can be used to promote your herd and your breeding program. Quality print and web material can further the cause of the greatest herd exposure with the smallest amount of biosecurity concern.

Finally

Why does one dairy? For profit, of course, but it doesn’t end there. I was privileged to have casually known Wallace McMonnies in his later years. Wallace organized the field staff of the American Jersey Cattle Club in 1916. Upon returning from service, he worked for the Jersey Bulletin, the forerunner of our present Journal. In 1928, he purchased Robin Wood Farm at Madison, New Jersey, just down the road from Twin Oaks where I grew up. He began importing Jerseys from the Island and is credited with bringing over 500 head to our shores. He summed up his experience in the cattle business as follows:

"I’ve watched them come and seen them go; rubbed elbows with the high and the low. Today they are feted, lunched, and dined, applauded, decorated, wined; tomorrow just another name that reached an evanescent fame. For fame and wealth are fickle jades who lure along life’s drab parades. For me, I’ll choose a cozy nook, a loyal friend, a well thumbed book, a pipe, perhaps a good cigar, a Setter dog that’s hunted far, some loved one dear the shield from harm some Jersey cows, a nice old farm."

In all the challenges of modern day dairying and biosecurity concerns, don’t forget to smell the roses.