Ovine Johne's disease (OJD) has caused much debate among sheep producers in NSW and Australia. The National OJD Program was instigated in 1999 to conduct research on the disease and establish its distribution while at the same time control the further spread of disease.

Producers in regions deemed to have a low risk of disease presence want to protect their flocks from disease incursion. Producers whose flocks have been diagnosed as Infected or Suspect have trading restrictions imposed on their flocks that can cause serious decline in income, especially for stud producers.

In addition, flocks that are not diagnosed as Infected may have trading restricted through the use of zoning. NSW will have three OJD zones effective from October 2002 that will cause increased disruption to trading.

The state industry recognises the severe financial impact on affected producers and has agreed to raise funds for financial assistance. However, this assistance does not compensate affected producers for loss of income, and as a result the control program does not have widespread support in affected areas.

A vaccine to control the disease was released in May 2002 and this will potentially play an important role in disease control. However use of vaccine is unlikely to remove trading restrictions from Infected flocks in the short term.

As a result of the adverse financial impact on affected producers without compensation for business losses, producers are generally unwilling to pro-actively test flocks to determine disease status. In fact, there seems to be widespread avoidance of testing and dismissal of zoning restrictions. Such an approach is not conducive to good disease control and raises the possibility of whether alternative approaches should be instigated.

To determine the state industry's attitude to the current control program and whether there was support for any change, the Association produced an OJD Options Paper with attached survey for completion by sheep producers. The survey was designed so that the results could be used at Annual Conference on 22 - 25 July to assist in the development of future Association policy.

In late May 2002 NSW Farmers' sent approximately 5,300 OJD Options Papers with an attached survey to its sheep producing members around the state. In addition the Association encouraged non-members to obtain and complete the survey.

A total of 1060 completed surveys (20% response rate) were returned to the Association with responses entered into Microsoft Access and results analysed using this program. For the purpose of analysis responses were categorised by region using postcodes, with the state divided into three regions: west, north-east and south-east.

The responses obtained from each of the regions is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Survey responses by region

There was strong support (84%) for the use of national levy funds for the continuation of the research and development components of the National Program. However, opinions varied on the disease control components and these will be discussed in more detail.

Most supported the concept of protection being provided to low prevalence areas and properties (75%) although the means of achieving this control is not as clear cut. Opinion was divided over whether on-farm management, including the use of vaccine, was sufficient for disease control, although a majority (57%) felt that some form of zoning would assist with disease control.

The development of vaccination initiatives to provide Infected flocks with pathways that allow them to return to acceptable trading conditions within reasonable timeframes was strongly supported (86%). Opinion was divided on the degree to which use of vaccine should be restricted. Restrictions could be imposed depending on zone, disease status or prior testing of a flock. Fourty-nine percent supported at least partial restriction while another 49% felt there should either be no restriction or they were unconcerned about restriction. Whatever is ultimately decided on the future use of vaccine, a large majority (72%) agreed that vaccinated animals should be permanently identified.

Most respondents (78%) agreed that current regulations imposed on affected producers warrants some form of financial assistance. A slim majority (54%) agreed that the state industry should raise funds for financial assistance for the duration of the National Program although 78% felt that the government and national industry should also provide assistance funds.

With respect to regulations controlling stock movements to prevent the spread of OJD, Question 12 asked producers to consider three alternatives - traditional regulation, partial regulation or deregulation. The Options Paper described the consequences of choosing each of the alternatives, with probably the greatest threat of a move away from the current regulatory regime being the possible impact on inter-state sheep trading.

Table 3 provides the responses on attitudes to changes in regulation, with responses identified by region.

For all respondents there is a minority (37%) supporting the continuation of the current regulated approach, while 59% support a change to either a deregulated or partially regulated system. On the other hand, this means that 75% support some form of regulation. Not unexpectedly, there are differences by region with 54% of north-east respondents preferring the maintenance of traditional regulation. However, it is interesting to note that 43% of north-east respondents would prefer a move to at least a partially regulated approach.

The Association believes that this survey provides the most comprehensive summary to date of producer attitudes to the current OJD Program. While there is clear support for the continuation of the research and development program, responses on existing control and management procedures indicate that changes should be considered.

The Association's OJD Review Committee, which consists of Alix Turner, Rodney Watt, David Gowing and Kim Henderson, is currently formulating resolutions based on the survey results that will be put to Annual Conference for decision on Tuesday 23 July 2002.