The latest results for the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) National Eradication Programme shows progress continuing to trend in the right direction.

The number of positive cases identified to the week ending 20 November 2019 stood at 0.05% or 1,034 cases. This represents a significant reduction on the corresponding period in 2018, when 1,424 cases were identified.

Numbers tested were similar to the corresponding period in 2018, with testing taking place on 2,230,022 calves in 2019. If calf births are similar to 2018 levels, there will be in the region of 45,000 more calves tested before the end of the year.

This will depend on continued expansion in the dairy herd cancelling out contraction in the suckler herd, with dairy herd expansion quickly evident in a substantial increase in calves tested since it became compulsory in 2013.

As detailed in Table 1, there were significantly fewer herds with persistently infected (PI) calves, with prevalence reducing from 789 herds in week 47 2018 to 540 herds in 2019. For the week ending 20 November 2019, there were 41 PI calves on farms, with just five herds listed as retaining PI calves beyond a period of three weeks after the date of the first test.

Movement restrictions placed on herds retaining PI calves and a tighter time frame to move calves and be eligible for compensation has had the desired effect of getting PI calves moved off farms quicker.

Previous results released by Animal Health Ireland (AHI), which is charged with overseeing the programme, show it took an average of six days for PI calves to be removed in 2019 following a positive test. This is a reduction from 12 days in 2018. Farmers are also testing calves quicker, with the period from birth to testing reported as reducing from almost 18 days in 2018 to just below 13 days in 2019.

AHI says that this improvement in testing times and the speed of removal of PI calves is critical to achieve further progress and the goal of BVD eradication by the end of 2020. Farmers will be keen to see this materialise, with tissue tag testing representing a significant cost to the business.

Meanwhile, savings have been made for farmers via a significant reduction in the number of empty tags recorded. To date, there has been 20,880 empty tags recorded in 2019, down from 29,959 empty tags in the same period in 2018.

Empty tags are those that turn out to be either empty or unusable in some way when opened at a testing laboratory. The number of empties increased sharply in 2018 with no explanation identified, but there now appears to be a downward trend.

Northern Ireland results

Of worry to farmers in the south, there is still quite a high level of PI retention on farms in Northern Ireland.

Figures released from Animal Health and Welfare NI (AHWNI) show that there were 427 BVD-positive animals on 283 farms at the start of November.

These animals had been retained for more than five weeks since receiving a positive BVD test.