In order to increase the provincial livestock stock and increase some 870,000 more calves per year, improving the health of the rodeos, the province of Buenos Aires launched the “Bonaerense Cattle Plan 6×6”. With this program, the Buenos Aires government seeks to definitively eradicate venereal diseases in its territory.

This was announced by the Minister of Agrarian Development Javier Rodríguez, who stated that his mission “is reinforce preventive tasks in conjunction with each and every one of the producers to achieve that goal, which in turn will allow increased meat and food production in the province.”

“When we took over the administration, we set out to reinforce prevention work in health matters through incentives and concrete actions to be able to eradicate venereal diseases and other diseases that affect cattle in Buenos Aires. Today we continue to reinforce that path, because we are convinced that if we achieve this goal, we will be able to improve productivity, highlighted the head of the provincial agrarian portfolio.

As reported, the program arises “after a process of dialogue with rural entities, professional associations and public and private institutions, to advance in this series of measures to promote health and cattle productivity in Buenos Aires”.

They indicated that the measure will take effect from next October 15 for those producers who have more than 300 cows. Meanwhile, for establishments with less than that stock, it will come into force as of May 15, 2023. “In both cases, the movement restriction will operate for bulls, little bulls and cows. Those animals that have a positive diagnosis will be blocked from other transfer destinations, except for slaughter”, they said.

In this sense, Rodríguez explained that in this framework, the program foresees that “Those animals not tested for this type of disease may not be transferred within the territory of the province of Buenos Aires.”

In this context, they said that the plan has four main axes: on the one hand, the free analysis for the diagnosis of the Prevention and Eradication Axis of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) which will be subsidized, according to the scale of the bovine stock; for another, financing for the replacement of bulls with a positive diagnosis for STDs and for livestock infrastructure; the third will be the verification of the performance of the tests, from next October 15 and May 15, 2023, according to the scale of the producer, and lastly, technical assistance and training.

Along these lines, they pointed out that since 2020 they have been carrying out the Official Plan for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) in Cattle, “which includes technical assistance to small and medium producers, financing and subsidies to promote diagnostic control in male breeders”.

“This plan allows producers to access free STD diagnostic tests in the laboratories of the portfolio and in those adhered to the program, with a maximum of five tests for a first scraping and another five for the second scraping,” they indicated.

According to surveys of the Provincial Directorate of Livestock under the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Ministry of Agrarian Development, it was determined that “If 90% of the producers in the province of Buenos Aires carried out the test, it could generate a drop in the level of prevalence of the disease to 5-6%, or even to values ​​of 3% in a very optimistic scenario.”

“Within the 6×6 Bonaerense Cattle Plan, the Ministry of Agrarian Development also offers a line of financing for producers in the Province of Buenos Aires with more than 300 cows for investment in capital goods (including the purchase of animals), infrastructure and capital of work, with a maximum amount of $15,000,000″, they added.

On the other hand, reported that a set of financing lines with different conditions was also presented, designed for different scales of producers. “These lines have deadlines that range from 48 to 72 months, with fixed rates (reduced) or 0 rate at product value. One of these financing lines It is specific for the replacement of bulls with a positive STD diagnosis, and is also applicable to improvements in livestock facilities, implantation of pastures, and genetic improvement through artificial insemination. The grantable amounts vary according to the livestock stock, with a maximum of up to $3,000,000 and with a subsidized rate”, they said.