DEAR EDITOR,

Our small suckler herd has recently suffered the misfortune of a TB breakdown. As if the resulting stress, work and heartache wasn’t bad enough, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine added aggravation to the mix by issuing a hopelessly outdated and confusing “list of tuberculosis approved disinfectants”.

Is it necessary to mystify farmers by telling them that the majority of products on that list “have not been assessed for their efficacy”?

Should it be up to the farmer to research the contents of “Regulation (EU) 528/2012” or the difference between “notified products” and “authorised products”, when they are reeling from having to surrender the last cows from a decades-old bloodline on their holding? Must farmers waste their time trying to source one of the “authorised products” when a whopping four out of the six listed have been discontinued by their manufacturers, ie are off the market?

Learning that one product’s manufacturer changed names as far back as 2018, it makes one wonder how much more information on the list is obsolete, given it was issued in January 2026.

It would be really helpful if the Department would review the list and replace it with an easy-to-understand, current version that doesn’t require farmers to turn detective in the midst of their plentiful regular chores. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.