Welcome to the Action Group on Johne's
The Action Group on Johne’s initiative called The National Johne’s Management Plan (NJMP) seeks to manage and then reduce the incidence of Johne’s disease on dairy farms in England, Wales and Scotland through implementation of one of the six control strategies, and monitored on each farm by BCVA Accredited Johne’s Veterinary Advisors.
ACTION JOHNE’S CONFERENCE: TAKING THE NEXT STEPS
26th November 2024 – Sixways Stadium, Worcester
Sponsored by IDEXX
Conference Objectives
The Action Johne’s Initiative is one of the UK’s most important dairy cattle endemic disease control programmes. It has achieved huge strides in tackling Johne’s Disease in the UK dairy herd with strong positive impacts on the health and welfare of UK dairy cows, farm management practices, and dairy farm profitability. The conference will take stock of the initiative and map out its future. The primary focus of the event will be the launch Phase III of the initiative.
Programme
The conference will start with a presentation by Lyndon Edwards, Chair of the Action Group on Johne’s. To provide context a speaker from Defra will set out the UK’s policy on endemic disease control and how Johne’s fits into it. Maarten Weber, from Royal GD of the Netherlands, will survey the international Johne’s disease control landscape.
After the coffee break James Hanks of PAN Livestock will give an overview of the information and analyses available from the Johne’s Tracker database. Pete Orpin, Chair of the Johne’s Technical Group, will set out Phase III of the Action Johne’s Initiative. Dr. Elke Stellbrink of IDEXX will present on the field experience of the IDEXX Johne’s Disease Elisa Test.
After lunch Karen Bond will cover off BCVA training, the certification process required by the scheme and the impact of TB testing. Miranda Poulson of AHDB will describe the activities of the Delivery Team. This will be followed by two case studies, one covering spring block calving, and the second all year-round calving.
The final session will provide an opportunity for feedback and further questions to speakers.
click here for the full programme
Who Should Attend
Any individual in the UK dairy supply chain who is interested in the management and reduction of Johne’s disease and the bacterium that is causing this disease: vets, dairy farmers, supply group representatives, farm union staff, milk purchaser farm liaison personnel, milk procurement executives, and industry public relations and customer liaison staff. Vets in particular will obtain a detailed appreciation of the future direction of the scheme.
Milk purchasers that are members of the NJMP are expected to send a leading dairy farmer and an individual responsible for farm liaison.
click here for details of how to register
The latest episode of AHDB’s Food and Farming podcast featured Action Johne’s members Pete Orpin and Sarah Tomlinson, along with dairy farmer Caroline Williams.
Listen to hear Pete, Sarah and Caroline, along with AHDB Knowledge Exchange Manager for Dairy James Hague, discuss the importance of testing and control of Johne’s disease and the benefits that good Johne’s control brings on farm.
Red Tractor Standards
Since October 2019 the Red Tractor dairy standards now include a requirement that all Red Tractor approved members have a signed NJMP declaration.
This website is designed to be an information portal on Johne’s, providing relevant technical documents and links that will aid Johne’s engagement and control. Please note that the Group is not in a position to advise farmers on their specific Johne’s control plans. These should be discussed with the farm vet.