I am delighted to have launched a consultation process on a national farmed animal health strategy. As surprising as it may seem, this will be Ireland’s first such strategy.
Good animal health is critical to the success of livestock production. It is just as important as breeding, nutrition and husbandry skills to the success of any farm enterprise. But animal health is also different in that it is exposed to a much greater variety and scale of risks.
Moreover, beyond the farm and processor level, animal health is connected to societal concerns around public health (in areas such as zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance), animal welfare, environmental protection and climate change. Unhealthy animals are inefficient producers of food and are an avoidable addition to our carbon footprint.
The agri-food sector employs some 170,000 people in Ireland and accounts for over 10% of merchandise exports. Livestock production represents almost 90% of gross agricultural output, and access to export markets for livestock products is critical to the viability and sustainability of Irish agri-production.
Irish beef is exported to more than 70 countries while our pigmeat is enjoying a boom in China, where I led a very successful trade mission this month.
Our livestock product and aquaculture exports amount to over €7.5bn annually; Irish dairy, equine and aquaculture exports are continuing to reach new markets, and provide jobs at home.
This new strategy will underpin the critical role of the livestock sector in regional and rural development through on-farm employment and the processing facilities that provide substantial numbers of jobs in our rural communities.
My Department, in partnership with stakeholders, has dealt very effectively with a range of animal health issues. But that has sometimes been in response to events that have given rise to economic loss or have posed risk to public health.
Action plan
It is of national interest that we develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan for collective action by all stakeholders to support and sustain animal health to avoid losses or risks, rather than being reactive to negative events. The strategy and the consultation process will demonstrate the complexity of the challenge we face to maintain excellent animal health – and the commitment needed by stakeholders to deliver it.
The farmed animal health strategy will be an effective roadmap for achieving goals important for the agriculture sector and for public health. These are: increased farm level productivity, delivered in a sustainable way; improved processor outcomes; improved market access; improved capacity to protect public health – more than 60% of human infections are caused by organisms that are zoonotic – transferred between animals and man; improved capability to anticipate threats, take proportionate actions to mitigate risk and improve response capacity.
The strategy is underpinned by four main principles:
We must work in partnership to improve animal health standards.The roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders must be clear.The principle of prevention is better than cure must be consistently applied.Finally, animal health programmes will have clear objectives, and will be sustainably and appropriately funded.Farmers already make a very substantial financial contribution to animal health programmes. They contribute approximately €6m annually in disease levies, pay for the annual TB test and for the testing of more than two million calves as part of a BVD eradication programme.
My Department continues to support the farming community by making significant financial and resource contributions to animal health – for instance, towards the eradication of TB and BVD, thus protecting export markets.
I expect the strategy will put in place a framework which will assess and determine the appropriate level of State support for animal health, reflecting the balance between public and private good.
An important feature of the strategy will be ensuring necessary infrastructure is in place. This includes, among other elements, a modern laboratory service, animal health surveillance, epidemiology and risk analysis, and good animal identification and traceability systems.
We are well on our way to having such an infrastructure. However, I am mindful that in the international marketplace, what might be considered world-leading in the past may not be adequate for the future if we wish to maintain and expand our competitive position.
Animal Health Ireland, funded on a 50/50 basis between my Department and industry, will play an important role. We have made excellent progress in the past four years in the effort to eradicate BVD from the national herd. The reduced level of BVD is estimated to return a benefit to farmers of €66m in 2016. It is critical that this programme is now driven to conclusion in order to sustain and add to these benefits to the industry.
This new strategy provides an excellent roadmap for the industry to work in partnership to ensure optimal animal health for the benefit of farmers, processors and society generally. The consultation closes at the end of October. View the draft at www.agriculture.gov.ie.
I am delighted to have launched a consultation process on a national farmed animal health strategy. As surprising as it may seem, this will be Ireland’s first such strategy.
Good animal health is critical to the success of livestock production. It is just as important as breeding, nutrition and husbandry skills to the success of any farm enterprise. But animal health is also different in that it is exposed to a much greater variety and scale of risks.
Moreover, beyond the farm and processor level, animal health is connected to societal concerns around public health (in areas such as zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance), animal welfare, environmental protection and climate change. Unhealthy animals are inefficient producers of food and are an avoidable addition to our carbon footprint.
The agri-food sector employs some 170,000 people in Ireland and accounts for over 10% of merchandise exports. Livestock production represents almost 90% of gross agricultural output, and access to export markets for livestock products is critical to the viability and sustainability of Irish agri-production.
Irish beef is exported to more than 70 countries while our pigmeat is enjoying a boom in China, where I led a very successful trade mission this month.
Our livestock product and aquaculture exports amount to over €7.5bn annually; Irish dairy, equine and aquaculture exports are continuing to reach new markets, and provide jobs at home.
This new strategy will underpin the critical role of the livestock sector in regional and rural development through on-farm employment and the processing facilities that provide substantial numbers of jobs in our rural communities.
My Department, in partnership with stakeholders, has dealt very effectively with a range of animal health issues. But that has sometimes been in response to events that have given rise to economic loss or have posed risk to public health.
Action plan
It is of national interest that we develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan for collective action by all stakeholders to support and sustain animal health to avoid losses or risks, rather than being reactive to negative events. The strategy and the consultation process will demonstrate the complexity of the challenge we face to maintain excellent animal health – and the commitment needed by stakeholders to deliver it.
The farmed animal health strategy will be an effective roadmap for achieving goals important for the agriculture sector and for public health. These are: increased farm level productivity, delivered in a sustainable way; improved processor outcomes; improved market access; improved capacity to protect public health – more than 60% of human infections are caused by organisms that are zoonotic – transferred between animals and man; improved capability to anticipate threats, take proportionate actions to mitigate risk and improve response capacity.
The strategy is underpinned by four main principles:
We must work in partnership to improve animal health standards.The roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders must be clear.The principle of prevention is better than cure must be consistently applied.Finally, animal health programmes will have clear objectives, and will be sustainably and appropriately funded.Farmers already make a very substantial financial contribution to animal health programmes. They contribute approximately €6m annually in disease levies, pay for the annual TB test and for the testing of more than two million calves as part of a BVD eradication programme.
My Department continues to support the farming community by making significant financial and resource contributions to animal health – for instance, towards the eradication of TB and BVD, thus protecting export markets.
I expect the strategy will put in place a framework which will assess and determine the appropriate level of State support for animal health, reflecting the balance between public and private good.
An important feature of the strategy will be ensuring necessary infrastructure is in place. This includes, among other elements, a modern laboratory service, animal health surveillance, epidemiology and risk analysis, and good animal identification and traceability systems.
We are well on our way to having such an infrastructure. However, I am mindful that in the international marketplace, what might be considered world-leading in the past may not be adequate for the future if we wish to maintain and expand our competitive position.
Animal Health Ireland, funded on a 50/50 basis between my Department and industry, will play an important role. We have made excellent progress in the past four years in the effort to eradicate BVD from the national herd. The reduced level of BVD is estimated to return a benefit to farmers of €66m in 2016. It is critical that this programme is now driven to conclusion in order to sustain and add to these benefits to the industry.
This new strategy provides an excellent roadmap for the industry to work in partnership to ensure optimal animal health for the benefit of farmers, processors and society generally. The consultation closes at the end of October. View the draft at www.agriculture.gov.ie.
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