There are currently two finishing units approved in NI to take in cattle from TB restricted herds, a DAERA spokesperson has said.
In July of this year, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir announced revised criteria for alternative control herds (ACHs), which includes both controlled finishing units (CFUs) and calf-rearing units (CRUs). The overall aim is to alleviate issues of overstocking in herds impacted by a TB breakdown.
The conditions of operation for CFUs are that they are standalone premises, with no grazing allowed and strict biosecurity measures in place at all times. Animals over 42 days of age moving from TB restricted herds must have had a negative TB test in the previous 30 days. Cattle from the CFU can only move direct to slaughter.
The requirements around CRUs are different and ultimately the aim is to work towards regaining TB-free status.
The housing dedicated to a CRU must be a separate airspace from other cattle on the farm, with all movements into the CRU taking place within a 42-day window from the date of application. There is no limit on the number of TB restricted herds a CRU can source from, although calves aged between 42 and 60 days must have a clear pre-movement test. Once two clear herd tests are achieved, the CRU calves will be eligible to move off the farm.
Numbers
Since the revised criteria for ACHs were published, there have been seven applications received from farmers interested in establishing a CFU, with one unsuccessful, while the remainder are being processed, confirmed the DAERA spokesperson.
Of the two approved CFUs in NI, one hasn’t given the department permission to publish their details online. The other is a premise operated by Richard Hunniford outside Portadown.
Meanwhile, a farmer who contacted the Irish Farmers Journal said he was previously able to move some animals to another holding utilising an MC2LA licence for restricted cattle. However, he has now been told that any further moves should be to a CFU.
“Our farm has only been open once in the last 4 years. We are massively overstocked and the business is on its knees at the minute,” he said. He argued that the department need to have more CFUs approved, before insisting that cattle off TB restricted farms can only move to these herds.
