Twenty-thousand farmers face having to TB test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm under the Department of Agriculture’s draft TB strategy to 2030.
IFA animal health chair Pat Farrell said the association consistently opposed the inclusion of additional pre-movement testing in the TB programme and will continue to do so in the upcoming discussions with the Department.
The terms of the draft strategy document, revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal and is based on the interim report of the TB forum.
Farrell said: “The proposal by the Minister to introduce a pre-movement test would severely distort the marketing of animals and place an extra cost burden on the programme, while doing little or nothing to reduce TB.
“With only 7.5% of TB breakdowns attributable to animal movements, this is a disproportionate and unnecessary proposal for inclusion in the programme.”
New approach
The IFA is to meet with the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday 10 November, outlining changes it is seeking in the TB programme.
Key areas identified by the IFA to be addressed include:
Withdrawal of the TB herd risk letters.Discontinuation of herd categorisation approach.Implementation of an effective wildlife control programme.On-farm investigations where TB breakdowns occur to identify the source of the disease and remove it.The IFA said there are no details provided in the draft strategy on potential financial supports for farmers under TB restrictions.
Issues to be discussed
Similarly, ICSA animal health and welfare chair Hugh Farrell has said that the association will not agree to any proposals from the Department until all outstanding issues around compensation and wildlife measures are dealt with.
“The term enhanced support is not analogous with provisions such as imposing a 30-day pre-movement test.
"[The] ICSA will not even entertain this discussion unless it was guaranteed that any such proposals were limited to very specific cases of herds that have had severe and recurring TB outbreaks.
“In addition, [the] ICSA would not engage unless the TB strategy was built on the principle that there would be full financial supports in place to ensure that no individual herd owner was carrying unfair cost.”
Read more
TB testing to be ramped up on 20,000 farms
Bovine TB at highest level in a decade
Twenty-thousand farmers face having to TB test cattle 30 days before selling them at the mart or farm to farm under the Department of Agriculture’s draft TB strategy to 2030.
IFA animal health chair Pat Farrell said the association consistently opposed the inclusion of additional pre-movement testing in the TB programme and will continue to do so in the upcoming discussions with the Department.
The terms of the draft strategy document, revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal and is based on the interim report of the TB forum.
Farrell said: “The proposal by the Minister to introduce a pre-movement test would severely distort the marketing of animals and place an extra cost burden on the programme, while doing little or nothing to reduce TB.
“With only 7.5% of TB breakdowns attributable to animal movements, this is a disproportionate and unnecessary proposal for inclusion in the programme.”
New approach
The IFA is to meet with the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday 10 November, outlining changes it is seeking in the TB programme.
Key areas identified by the IFA to be addressed include:
Withdrawal of the TB herd risk letters.Discontinuation of herd categorisation approach.Implementation of an effective wildlife control programme.On-farm investigations where TB breakdowns occur to identify the source of the disease and remove it.The IFA said there are no details provided in the draft strategy on potential financial supports for farmers under TB restrictions.
Issues to be discussed
Similarly, ICSA animal health and welfare chair Hugh Farrell has said that the association will not agree to any proposals from the Department until all outstanding issues around compensation and wildlife measures are dealt with.
“The term enhanced support is not analogous with provisions such as imposing a 30-day pre-movement test.
"[The] ICSA will not even entertain this discussion unless it was guaranteed that any such proposals were limited to very specific cases of herds that have had severe and recurring TB outbreaks.
“In addition, [the] ICSA would not engage unless the TB strategy was built on the principle that there would be full financial supports in place to ensure that no individual herd owner was carrying unfair cost.”
Read more
TB testing to be ramped up on 20,000 farms
Bovine TB at highest level in a decade
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