Concern continues to mount over the escalating number of BVD tissue tags that are being classified as empty.

In March, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed that the number of tissue tags classified empty by the testing laboratory was running at nearly twice the level of last year.

Since then the situation has not improved.

Animal Health Ireland states that 12,519 tags were empty, up from 6,787 tags at this time last year. This year’s rate is 0.97% compared with 0.49% last year.

No clear explanation has yet emerged regarding this increase. It could result from problems with tags themselves, from farmer unfamiliarity with tags or from new procedures in testing labs.

IFA animal health chair Bert Stewart has written to the three approved suppliers expressing concern.

“The costs resulting from an empty tag include postage, a replacement tag and, in some cases, a second test fee. That comes to about €8 and it all falls on the farmer.”

He asked the three tag companies to supply free replacement tissue tags for any notified empty tag. So far, Cormac Tagging has replied agreeing to do so, he said.

At a meeting of the BVD Implementation Group last week, Stewart asked the Department of Agriculture representative to quantify for the next meeting how many tags each approved company has sold and how many empties each has had.

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