Organisation and Expertise Overview of Action Johne’s Delivery Team
Action Johnes Delivery Team is a consortium of RAFT Solutions, SAC Consulting (a division of SRUC) and XLVets. Delivery of the National Johnes Management Plan is through two main workstreams: purchaser contact and awareness raising of key messages.
Key messages and awareness raising The Action Johnes Delivery Team have extensive experience in practical delivery and strategic planning for endemic disease programmes, and for Johne’s disease in particular through their activity on the Paraban and Paraban Reloaded projects led by SRUC’s Epidemiology Research Unit and under the recent Defra RDPE Spec 27 programme, which used knowledge transfer through the farm vet to establish a Johne’s status and implement on farm measures to control and prevent the disease.
RAFT Solutions chairman, Jonathan Statham was Endemic Diseases lead for BCVA until 2013, sits on the ‘BVD Free’ stakeholder group, and until 2014 was a member of the Cattle Health and Welfare Group (CHAWG) and director of the herd health accreditation regulatory body CHECS. He has written extensively and delivered training events for vets and farmers in Johne’s Disease prevention, along with fellow RAFT Solutions director, Alastair Hayton.
XLVets Managing Director David Black has been involved in SRUC Johne’s studies and the SRUC Paraban Project from inception as part of the advisory group commissioned by George Gunn of SRUC. He has led on a risk-based intervention trial on one of the Paraban Champion Farms in Cumbria for over 4 years, hosting farmer visits there. He has presented at various Paraban Farmer Meetings as well as at BCVA in 2014. He also chaired and contributed to a MAP (Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis) seminar at the World Buiatrics Congress in Cairns, Australia in 2014.
SAC Consulting: Veterinary Services has been running one of the largest Cattle Health Schemes in the country for over 15 years lead by George Caldow, a recognised authority on Johne’s Disease control and first author on Defra review of the Surveillance of Johne’s Disease 2001. Both Colin Mason and George Caldow are members of the UK Cattle Expert Group. They regularly present at farm meetings with producers and vets and offer technical back up to vet practices across the country.
Purchaser Contact
A key aim of the project is to use the agreed messages and action plan to encourage purchasers to sign up to support the Johne’s strategy. To achieve this, the group will use key contacts to get in touch with purchasers.
Working with DairyUK, this work will mainly be delivered by Alison Braddock, Neil Carter and Sophie Throup.
Alison Braddock
Alison Braddock is Marketing and Business Development Manager at SAC Consulting: Veterinary Services and has co-ordinated and promoted livestock health schemes for over 10 years for SAC and AHVLA. She has participated in several RDPE projects in the South West focusing on BVD and Johne's. Neil Carter
Neil Carter is Senior Consultant with SAC Consulting and was a key deliverer of the Livestock North West Initiative - animal health and welfare project (2009 - 2014) and was involved in establishing BVD/Johne's strand of delivery - Spec 27 Summer 2014.Sophie Throup
Sophie Throup has been the Managing Director of RAFT Solutions since its inception in 2010, and has been delivering project management and product development roles for over 15 years from working with ASDA-Walmart to Bishopton Veterinary Group. Sophie helped set up the award winning XLVets FarmSkills initiative and was involved in RDPE projects with XLVets for 6 years.
