The On Farm Market Valuation (OFMV) farmers receive for TB reactor animals in 2018 has increased by 18%, according to the Department of Agriculture.

The most recent figures to the end of quarter three this year show farmers were paid €701.53 per animal, compared with €595.04 for the same period last year.

Any additional factory salvage price is not included in the figures and a compensation ceiling of €3,000 applies to any individual animal.

Overall, the level of compensation paid out to date this year under the OFMV scheme amounted to €9,774,433m – an increase of 35% compared with the same time in 2017.

Concerns

Earlier this month, farm organisations met with the Department’s TB stakeholder group to raise concerns over the level of compensation paid to farmers under the scheme.

There has also been a 15% increase in the number of reactors, with 13,933 bovine reactors identified this year.

The Department stated that this was due to more rigorous testing, which included blood testing and testing of herds where a neighbour had a breakdown.

The Department also stated that any farmers unpaid in 2017 had been added to the 2018 figures, making them slightly higher.

Since policy changes in 2016, the level of compensation paid to farmers under the hardship grant, income supplement and depopulation grant increased to €2,920,510m to date this year. It marks an increase of just over 60%.

Despite the increase in the level of reactors, the Department reiterated its determination to eradicate TB by 2030.

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