The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) has warned that displaying the risk category of herds to TB on mart boards would have an “immediate economic effect” on farmers, through no fault of their own.

Ray Doyle, livestock and environmental services executive, said: “If my herd is free of TB for 10 years, I am a C10 herd. If one animal has a lesion at the factory, I go back down to C0. It devalues all of my stock. We have proposed that if a farmer has three or more reactors, then the herd category changes.

“Whilst it is unfair to those selling, we have to respect farmers that are buying,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal this week.

Doyle clarified that cows that test positive for TB will not be sold in marts.

“Only animals that have passed one clear test will be allowed into the sale and only controlled finishing units (CFUs) can bid on them,” he said.

Current proposal

“Several CFUs will be competing for these animals and they can then move them directly to the unit.”

The current proposal from the Department states that only cows can be sold in this manner. ICOS has told the Department that cattle of all ages need to be allowed into these sales.

“It needs to be all classes of animals, such as bullocks and heifers, in order to facilitate farmers in a breakdown. It’s not economic for marts to only have cows in these sales and it would also facilitate farmers to offload animals who have been locked up for extended periods.”

Suckler herds

Doyle said that Department of Agriculture data clearly illustrates that the herd and animal incidence in suckler herds has not changed in the last 10 years but it has changed for dairy herds. Therefore, the proposal for special animal sales from high-risk herds should only apply to dairy herds.

“ICOS has insisted that it should be business as usual for suckler-bred animals. Why should we penalise all herds? Any new measures need to be focused on where the highest levels of TB are,” he said.