The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), has entered into a Cooperative Agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and Veterinary Services (VS). The purpose of this Agreement is to provide financial assistance to support Johne's Disease Program activities in the state of Nebraska, including providing for a Designated Johne's Coordinator (DJC), producer participation promotion and enhanced laboratory capacity. Funding is on a year- by-year basis.

We are currently beginning our third year of the agreement program. Over 80 herds have enrolled in the management and testing Johne's control program, and nearly 50 Nebraska veterinarians have received advanced training and certification. The Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center has received over $75,000 for equipment upgrades and increased testing capacity. We are currently in an excellent position to help producers in their efforts to prevent, control, or eliminate Johne's disease from their herds and flocks.

Additional uses of the federal funds include: *

1. Providing for testing incentives by paying test costs for new herd program enrollments and advancements.
2. Providing for herd clean-up management testing (positive herd results in the past).
3. Providing incentives to herd veterinarians to complete risk assessments and herd management plan development. Risk assessments and herd plans will be accomplished utilizing the National Johne's Working Group (NJWG) Handbook for Veterinarian and Beef and Dairy Producers, in conjunction with their How to Do Risk Assessments and Management Plans for Johne's Disease instructional handbook. The USDA, in conjunction with the NJWG, have determined that practitioners desiring to participate in this program need to be certified by the DJC. This certification process includes training in the areas of Johne's disease epidemiology, testing, test interpretation, herd risk assessments, developing herd management plans, as well as the State and Federal Program requirements. A list of Nebraska Johne's certified veterinarians can be found on this web site.

* The producer is responsible for veterinary fees for taking and submitting samples. The program covers the cost of the tests themselves as billed to NDA/BAI by the Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center.