The majority of breeding herds in NI have signed up to the bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme being run by industry body, Animal Health and Welfare NI (AHWNI).

It has been a painstaking process, with a three-year voluntary scheme ahead of a compulsory scheme, introduced on 1 March 2016. In total, 16,647 herds are signed up to the scheme, and since March, the number of persistently infected (PI) animals is 1,677 or 0.68%. That is a similar PI rate to the first year of the compulsory scheme in the Republic of Ireland, which started in 2013, with 0.77%. Now in their fourth year of compulsory testing, the PI rate there is down to 0.17%. It means that they are now turning their attention to how they can finally get rid of the disease.

Removing the last few PIs is probably the hardest part, with the latest figures from the Republic of Ireland showing that, at present, 222 herds (0.3% of all herds) have retained PIs for at least seven weeks after the date of the initial test. That is despite €140 of compensation being available for each beef calf removed, and the Irish Department of Agriculture putting each of these herds under movement restriction. Ultimately, it might take higher compensation or even a compulsory state cull of PI animals to finally remove the disease by the 2020 target.

Expense

In NI, we also need to start thinking about the end because there is little point in putting farmers through the expense of testing only to leave the disease behind. However, the example of the Republic of Ireland suggests that as the scheme stands in NI, it will not be totally successful. At some point, Government here will have to take a strong lead. The DUP, following through on its pre-election promise of £50 for the removal of each PI animal, would also give added momentum.