New government support has become available to help livestock farmers in England tackle two diseases.
The support is available as part of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway’s programme to tackle endemic diseases.
Initially announced in May, it was part of an industry package unveiled at Downing Street's annual Farm to Fork summit.
As part of it, pig producers can receive £923 to undergo more in-depth testing for the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus.
The support will also go toward helping farmers to identify persistently infected sheep and cattle on farms with bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD).
In the case of sheep, Defra said the farmer will, in consultation with their vet, choose from a range of health improvement packages.
These will target the syndrome that is most prevalent and provides most benefit to treat in each flock.
Payment rates for BVD are: £215 for beef cattle with no BVD; £837 for beef cattle where BVD is present in the herd; and £639 for sheep.
This support is not yet available to keepers of dairy cattle, but Defra said the availability will be communicated to dairy keepers in due course.
As well as testing, keepers will also receive advice on the results of the tests, including how to remove disease from their farm and improve their biosecurity, Defra said.
