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There has been a twenty-fold decrease in the number of persistently infected (PI) calves since the start of compulsory testing for BVD in 2013.
The latest report from Animal Health Ireland (AHI) shows that strides in eradicating BVD continue to be made, with only 0.03% of calves testing positive in Q1 this year. This translates as 65 PIs alive in 35 herds.
Downward trend
This continues the downward trend in infection rates from 0.66% of all calves tested in 2013.
The Q1 figure for this year marks a significant milestone, as 1.1m calves - half of all anticipated calves to be born this year - were tested by the end of March.
BVD postage
AHI reminded farmers that the new postage rate for samples is €2 per envelope. This rate applies to up to 10 samples in an envelope.
“An Post have advised that they will retain envelopes where the correct postage has not been paid,” AHI said.
Farmers have often reported losing BVD tags after posting and it was recently revealed that almost 90,000 BVD tags have been lost since 2015 at an estimated cost of €192,000 to farmers.
Tags can be lost through the postal system or through farmer error.
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