Vegan protestors storm Antrim farm

A group of animal rights campaigners held a protest on a pig farm near Cloughmills, Co Antrim on Tuesday morning.

The “Meat the victims” vegan group claims to have a stolen a pig from the unit. Video footage on social media shows protestors dressed in white overalls lifting a pig from a pen.

A PSNI spokesperson said that police were made aware of the incident at 4.30am and protestors left the property before 7am. “There were no reports of any criminal offence during the incident,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, the four UK farming unions have expressed support for the National Pig Association who are taking legal advice about a documentary broadcast on Channel 4 entitled “How to Steal Pigs and Influence People”.

“Promotional wording talking about ‘daring farmyard heists,’ shows that the programme makers regard this illegal activity as trivial and humorous,” a statement from the unions reads.

The UFU has also formally complained to Translink about two vegan adverts which are currently appearing on buses in NI. The adverts use emotive images and wording to demonise farming practices.

“We are far from happy with these advertisements and we have a letter away to Translink asking for them to be removed,” said UFU deputy president Victor Chestnutt.

Low-risk bird flu strain in Fermanagh

A suspected case of avian influenza on a broiler breeder unit in Co Fermanagh has been confirmed as a non-notifiable strain of the disease.

The H6N1 strain of avian influenza is less serious and causes mild breathing problems in poultry. Precautionary movement restrictions on the poultry farm in Fermanagh were lifted by DAERA on Wednesday.

“It is a timely reminder to us all that avian influenza is a constant threat to all poultry flocks and how devastating it would be to our poultry industry should a notifiable case be confirmed in NI,” said DAERA chief vet Dr Robert Huey.

He urged all bird keepers to maintain good biosecurity, remain vigilant for signs of bird flu and report suspected cases.

No decision on EFS fencing review

A review into the third tranche of the Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) is still ongoing within DAERA.

The department is currently reviewing applications to both the wider and higher levels of EFS amid concerns with the level of funding that will be needed for measures which involve fencing.

“DAERA aims to complete this work in early 2020,” a spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Speaking at a UFU meeting in Enniskillen, Victor Chestnutt suggested that newly appointed NI Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots could step in to make sure fencing measures are not dropped from EFS.

“He will be able to have an input there. Hopefully we can get it (fencing) to stay on.”

AFBI in £7m vaccine dispute

The Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) is involved in a dispute with an animal health company over royalty income from sales of a pig vaccine.

AFBI’s latest accounts recorded an estimated income of £7m which was due in patent royalties. However, only £68,000 was paid to AFBI during the 2018/19 financial year.

The issue surrounds the interpretation of a research and licencing agreement between AFBI, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Saskatchewan in Canada and an unnamed vaccine company.

The NI audit office conducted a review into AFBI’s accounts and said that the recovery of the money “should be a top priority for AFBI”.

In its 2018/19 accounts, AFBI described the issue as a commercial despute and said that attempts to resolve the matter are ongoing.

Ends

BVD positive cattle falls below 500

The number of BVD positive cattle on NI farms has fallen to below 500 for the first time, the latest figures from Animal Health and Welfare NI (AHWNI) indicate.

There were 380 retained BVD positive cattle in 264 herds in NI at the start of January 2020.

“Despite the progress being made, additional measures are necessary to accelerate the disposal of BVD infected animals,” a statement from AHWNI reads.