In what is the most dramatic step in the bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme, the Department of Agriculture is set to publish the names and addresses of farmers who are holding on to PI calves. This is to inform neighbours of farmers who are withholding PI calves of the BVD threat in their area.

The Department said: “As the breeding season approaches, the Department is concerned that animals with BVD virus pose a serious risk for the creation of further PI calves on the farms where they are being retained and on neighbouring farms. In view of this, the Department intends to invoke Section 10 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, which provides that the Department may publish the fact that an animal is infected with a disease and the location of the holding where the infected animal is kept.”

“The Department is issuing these notifications to allow neighbouring farms to review their biosecurity generally and to take measures to protect their herds, including ensuring that boundaries are adequate to prevent nose-to-nose contact and grazing management (particularly of breeding animals) to minimise the likelihood of contact,” it added.

While not all details have been made available, it is understood that a farmer has seven weeks to dispose of a PI calf. If the calf is not disposed of then, the farmer’s details will be made known should the Department press ahead with its plan.

Danger

At present, there are 1,840 retained PI calves on 1,077 herds in the country.

While the figures are not huge, the fact that there could be multiple farmers bordering a farm with PI calves is where the real danger lies.

Earlier this year, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney announced new measures under the BVD eradication programme which included a €140-per-animal payment if PI beef calves are disposed of within five weeks. For dairy herds, a payment of €100 will be provided for each dairy-bred PI heifer calf that is shown to have been disposed of in a knackery within five weeks of the first test.