Foot & mouth disease in East Asia
[30/04/2010]

Climate change in a climate of change
[02/03/2010]

ILDEX Vietnam 2010 - the solutions for Vietnam’s sustainable growth
[02/03/2010]

UK Sheep meat exports pass the £300 million mark in 2009
[02/03/2010]

Certification Updates
[27/02/2010]

Global Food prices up again according to FAO
[08/02/2010]

New logo selected for all EU organic products
[08/02/2010]

EBLEX beef and sheep roadmap to livestock emissions reductions
[08/02/2010]

Outlook Conference diary alert
[08/02/2010]

Record entries for National All Breeds Show promise a spectacle to dispel the February blues
[08/02/2010]

Make a date: British Cattle Conference 24-26 January 2011
[08/02/2010]

A very merry Christmas (and good year) for British pork sales, at home & abroad
[08/02/2010]

Paris in the Springtime
[07/02/2010]

Aberdeen-Angus semen heads for Estonia
[05/02/2010]

Lloyds TSB Agriculture continues sponsorship of Beef Expo in May
[05/02/2010]

British Blue, British Charolais and British Limousin beef semen exports to USA ...... and Denmark
[05/02/2010]

New JSR International Sales Director
[05/02/2010]

Dairy Burke Trophy moves to new National All Breeds Show
[04/02/2010]

New British semen storage and distribution unit opens
[04/02/2010]

JSR in the Ukraine
[08/12/2009]

Spring into Spring - EBLEX export marketing push
[08/12/2009]

New National All Breeds Show 2010
[08/12/2009]

Male sexed Limousin semen - another ‘world first’ for Crawford Brothers
[04/12/2009]

A Sustainable Breeding Future - British Cattle Conference 25-27 January, 2010
[03/12/2009]

Au revoir and bienvenue to Herefords as they head from England to France
[02/12/2009]

Cogent expansion: commitment and optimism for UK cattle genetics’ future
[01/12/2009]

New Genus ABS appointments in Europe and UK
[01/12/2009]

New British owned AI company launched
[01/12/2009]

British Blues join Semenstore.co.uk
[01/12/2009]

Mad for Madison
[23/09/2009]

New British Angus company launched in response
[23/09/2009]

IndAgra-Farm - UK’s livestock breeding sector are there for business!
[23/09/2009]

Where Asia’s feed, livestock and meat industry do business
[21/09/2009]

National Ploughing Championships 2009
[21/09/2009]

Limousin ‘Goldies Terence’ semen exported to Norway, Finland and Australia
[21/09/2009]

Positive signs for English pig sector
[21/09/2009]

Defra minister to open the Dairy Event and Livestock Show
[08/09/2009]

JSR continues global expansion
[02/09/2009]

World record price for a sheep
[31/08/2009]

Cows for Cambodia!
[28/08/2009]

Cutting edge agricultural research under microscope
[26/08/2009]

GB Bulls Open Day and NEW August DVD now available
[25/08/2009]

Portuguese Pig Producers Choose UK Breeding Stock
[25/08/2009]

Picston Shottle celebrates his tenth birthday
[25/08/2009]

Agriscot - the UK's No 1 Farm Business Event
[25/08/2009]

Strong British team at Expointer
[25/08/2009]

The Dairy Event and Livestock Show 2009
[13/08/2009]

A strong technical team helping the British pig industry
[13/08/2009]

BEEF EXPO 2010 is at Hexham
[12/08/2009]

AHDB appoints new EBLEX director
[12/08/2009]

Expointer And 100 Years of Devons in Brazil
[10/08/2009]

New export initiatives for livestock & meat sectors
[27/07/2009]

EBLEX and BPEX relocate to Stoneleigh
[27/07/2009]

News on latest meat sector economics publications & services
[23/07/2009]

Pig campaign wins major international awards
[29/05/2009]

Doors open for lamb exports to United Arab Emirates
[06/04/2009]

World Shorthorn Conference 2010 – A world of opportunity in the home of the breed
[23/03/2009]

Pig export news from ACMC
[23/03/2009]

UK’s Beef and Lamb exports up
[05/03/2009]

Breeding polled cattle made easier
[05/03/2009]

British pork exports hit £160million
[20/02/2009]

Genus expands business in China
[20/02/2009]

'Positive future' for dairy industry
[23/01/2009]

British Limousin Pedigree sales in 2008 exceed £5 million
[15/01/2009]

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

2004 Archive

The number of cases of BSE and scrapie, included in a family of brain diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), in Great Britain has continued to fall. Following consultation on TSE responsibility and cost-sharing proposals which ended earlier this yera, Defra today announced how testing for TSEs will be managed in future.

In 2007 there were 53 confirmed cases of BSE in Britain compared to 37,000 in 1992, and 82 confirmed cases of scrapie, compared to 597 in 1999. Further reductions are expected this year. The requirement to destroy cattle slaughtered over 30 months old under the Over Thirty Months (OTM) Scheme was replaced with BSE testing in 2005 and the EU's export ban was removed in 2006. Defra has therefore decided that industry will now take control of the cost of collecting and disposal of fallen adult cattle.

There is no increased risk to the public as a result of these changes. Public health measures to protect consumers remain unchanged. Controls in abattoirs, including the testing of cattle and the removal of specified risk material, such as brain and spinal cord, will remain in place, as will controls on feed to protect animal health.

From mid January 2009 the free collection and disposal service for adult cattle that have died or been killed on farm will end. To help industry in the transition period £2m will be made available to the National Fallen Stock Company for cattle that will still need to be tested for BSE. This subsidy will last for a year, after which the Company will transfer to industry ownership.

Defra will not seek to recover £3.8m as a contribution towards the costs of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) as originally proposed and abattoirs will not need to pay for BSE tests until January 2009. The Food Standards Agency is preparing to consult later this year on revised charges for recovering a proportion of the costs of MHS controls. The proposals are expected to include charges of about £0.2m in 2009/10 for the additional controls on cattle that need to be tested for BSE. Laboratories that wish to offer a BSE testing service will be able to do so but they will need to meet the required standards and to pay for the cost of the approvals process with immediate effect.

Farm visits under the voluntary Ram Genotyping Scheme that since 2001 has provided free genotyping to increase resistance and reduce scrapie will end in December 2008. The Scheme will close in March 2009 with no applications accepted from 30 September. The National Sheep Association and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust will take over its semen archive in November 2008. The Scottish Agricultural College will administer a new industry-funded Scrapie Monitoring Scheme from January 2009.

Further information about the TSE proposals for England can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/ahw-nextsteps/index/htm. Also see the News and other pages on www.defra.gov.uk

Similar consultations have been completed in Scotland and Wales. No decisions will be made in Northern Ireland until the Northern Ireland consultation closes on 20 October and responses have been considered.

Since 2001, the Ram Genotyping Scheme has provided free scrapie genotyping of 1.8m sheep in 11,000 flocks, contributing to the significant increases in the resistance of mainstream breeds and the reduction in scrapie. Farm visits by Animal Health staff to blood sample rams will end in December 2008 so that the Scheme can be closed at the end of March 2009.

The semen archive was established in 2004 in case valuable traits were lost through breeding for scrapie resistance. This has not happened.

The Scrapie Monitoring Scheme allows producers to demonstrate that they meet the scrapie export requirements for breeding sheep.