Government funding available in England for vets to visit farms in a bid to tackle Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is due to end in June.
Defra currently funds one-to-one on-farm advisory visits by a veterinary practitioner to work with keepers of breeding cattle to tackle the disease on their farms.
Funding is available to provide on-farm advice and for vets to work with 'clusters' of cattle keepers, to share best practice and tackle the disease as a group.
The government funding will also cover testing for BVD which takes place as part of the process.
The disease currently costs farmers in the UK an estimated £61 million a year in lost performance.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is urging farmers and keepers to take advantage of the funds.
"The testing to see if BVD is active in a herd must be consistent with the most recent standards as set by BVDFree and carried out in designated laboratories," it explained.
"On a first come basis there is limited funding available for further testing to identify any Persistently Infected animals which might be actively spreading the disease.
"The control and eventual removal of BVD from the national herd has been a goal for many years, and this project sits alongside and supports farmers in registering with the BVDFree initiative.
"We strongly support the use of this scheme and urge anyone thinking of starting their BVD journey to talk to their vet or call the Stamp It Out scheme," AHDB said.
The government's funding, made available through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), is only available until the end of June 2021.
