TB TESTING OF BEEF CATTLE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31862, 14 December 1968, Page 8

TB TESTING OF BEEF CATTLE

Some changes have been made in the procedures for voluntary tuberculin testing of beef cattle announced recently. The Government has provided funds to begin voluntary testing this season in the South Island and Wairarapa. Mr M. C. Armstrong, livestock superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, in Christchurch, said this week there was now no date limit for applications, which would be approved to the limit of funds available. “Compensation will be paid for reactors condemned for slaughter. Testing done by departmental officers will be free of charge, except when an owner elects to retain reactors at an initial test beyond the normal requirement for slaughter within one month of a disposal notice issued by the department. “Testing will generally be carried out by departmental testing officers, although the Government has agreed that if a beef owner insists on having his own club or private veterinarian do the testing this will be approved on the basis that the farmer pays the difference between the equivalent cost of a departmental

test and his veterinarian’s charges. “A scale of equivalent departmental costs will be available shortly from department offices. “Tuberculin testing of beef cattle at this stage will be applied only to breeding cattle of beef and dairy-beef purpose animals such as breeding cows, in-calf heifers, bulls, and replacement breeding cattle. If it is apparent that

there is a high incidence of tuberculosis in a beef herd, there is provision for extending the testing to all cattle over 14 days of age on the farm after agreement with the owner. “Re-testing of beef herds will be continued on an annual basis, unless more frequent re-testing is agreed to by a farmer with a badly diseased herd,” said Mr Armstrong.