There has been a steady, healthy shift in how animal health is progressing in this country. Certainly we are not making as much progress as many would consider possible, but we are moving forward.

Last week, I attended an animal health conference organised by the Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA).

Animal health is big business. Taking total annual farm income in Ireland to be roughly €2bn, animal medicines account for about €180m per year, or almost 10% of total farm income. But within that, we are seeing a swing away from antibiotics and towards vaccines. Just 10 years ago, antibiotics accounted for 58% of medicines used – now it’s 42%. Vaccines now account for 58% of medicines compared with 42% 10 years ago.

What is also clear is that most of the antibiotics are in fact being used in the intensive pig and poultry industries rather than in the bovine.

The emergence of Animal Health Ireland has also been a highly positive force for progress. The incidence of BVD has dropped from 11% of herds in 2013 to 2.6% in 2016, while its CellCheck programme, together with the co-op advisory service delivered in the Dairygold region, has led to a 20% reduction in somatic cell counts over the last five years, according to the Dairygold CEO Jim Woulfe.

The next challenge facing AHI and its chairman, Mike Magan, is to deliver eradication for IBR and containment and reduction for Johne’s disease.

IBR has already been eradicated in much of northern Europe and Johne’s is seen by many as a potential nightmare for the dairy industry if linkages with other human conditions are established.

Already many countries have active Johne’s reduction programmes and, given our dairy industry’s dependence on high-value powders, especially those intended for baby food, it would seem irresponsible not to press ahead with a rigorous Johne’s programme.

It is extraordinary that the very significant progress achieved by Animal Health Ireland has been achieved on a total budget of just €1.5m per year.