A dairy farmer in north Cork was forced to cull more than 100 cows after 72 showed up with positive TB reactors in October last year.

The farmer, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been devastated by the news after building the herd up for over 20 years.

“I’m 60 years of age and it’s a fairly hard thing to see all the cows go,” the farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Restricted

The number of herds restricted with TB in north Cork increased by 34% last year, according to the latest available statistics from the Department of Agriculture.

“We never had TB or bought anything in in the last 20 years,” the farmer said. “To be fair to the Department, they’ve been very good and discreet.

“They took 100 cows, some heifers and two bulls in the space of 10 days from the outfarm.”

“I have 25 in-calf heifers on the home farm who tested clear. I’m closed up for at least four months but have another test in January.”

Despite the blow to his farm business, the farmer remains positive and keen to get back into milking once he tests clear.

“The first thing the Department told me was that the TB was wildlife-related. I feel someone in the area must have disturbed badgers and they brought TB to the farm.”

His concerns are shared by the ICMSA, which believes a more aggressive testing regime needs to be introduced, especially for herds in TB hotspots.

“Against a background where 7.4% of TB outbreaks are caused by cattle introductions, ICMSA thinks there is an unanswerable case for knowing the TB history of a herd from which animals are being purchased,” ICMSA president Pat McCormack said.