The Department of Agriculture’s latest bovine TB reactor figures show a “substantial increase” on 2022, the joint Oireachtas committee on agriculture was to be told on Wednesday evening.

The past 12 months saw 27,800 reactors identified on farms, up nearly 5,000-head on the equivalent figure for this stage of 2022.

Almost 5,000 herds suffered from a TB breakdown in the past year, with fewer than 4,400 herds going down in the 12 months previous.

New options

The TB Forum, on which farm organisations sit, has been presented with new options for controlling the disease out to 2025 which include “greater controls” on aspects of the eradication programme that would mean “difficult choices” for stakeholders.

In an opening statement provided to the Irish Farmers Journal, Department officials were to tell TDs and senators that if stakeholders do not support new controls, this will “likely have an adverse impact on future TB trends and the drive towards eradication”.

“While more progressive measures, such as informed purchasing, risk-based trading and increased restrictions on high-risk herds/animals, would be expected to lead to a sharper reduction in TB, these do not currently have stakeholder support,” Department officials were to say.

“We are committed to constructive engagement with all stakeholders in helping the farming community,” the statement said.