Over 14,000 Irish cattle have reacted positively to TB tests carried out on farms between January and October of this year, recent figures show.

Figures obtained by Agriland from the Department of Agriculture show that the herd incidence of bovine Tuberculosis nationally currently stands at 3.12%.

This means that some 14,151 head of cattle have tested positive for the disease in farm herd tests since the beginning of the year.

How does your county fare when it comes to TB reactors?

Tb Outbreaks By County In Ireland

Province-by-province breakdown

Leinster

Official figures show that the Wicklow West District Veterinary Office (DVO) had the highest incidence of reactors in Ireland, with over 437 animals tested showing a positive reaction to the TB test.

The rate of reactors was also quite high in Wicklow East, with over 550 cattle testing positive for TB, a lot higher than the neighbouring counties of Carlow (115) and Kildare (239).

leinster-tb

Source: Department of Agriculture

Munster

Meanwhile, looking at Munster, farmers operating under the jurisdiction of the Cork North District Veterinary Office had the highest incidence of TB reactors in Munster.

Official figures show that the incidence of TB in the North Cork region stood at 4.37% during the first 10 months of the year, just ahead of a 4.32% incidence rate in Tipperary North.

This is almost twice the rate of TB witnessed in the Kerry and Limerick DVO’s, which stood at 2.29% and 2.30% respectively.

munster

Source: Department of Agriculture

Ulster and Connacht

Official figures also show that almost 3,300 cattle tested positive for TB in the Connacht and Ulster regions.

Leitrim and Mayo had the lowest rates of positive reactors, with 108 and 166 respectively, while over 960 cattle tested positive for TB in Galway.

ulster-and-connacht

Source: Department of Agriculture

How are farmers compensated for reactors?

According to the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, the TB Eradication Programme includes comprehensive compensation arrangements designed to address both direct and indirect income losses experienced by herd owners when a herd is restricted and reactors are removed.

The Department of Agriculture has recently carried out a full review of the compensation arrangements. These include:

  • The ceiling limits payable for reactor animals removed under the On Farm Market Valuation scheme have been increased.
  • The rates of payment under the Income Supplement for dairy cows have been substantially increased and special arrangements have been made for dairy herds to qualify for this scheme.
  • The 100 animal ceiling in the income supplement scheme has been abolished.
  • Dairy herds now qualify for the Hardship Grant Schemes even when supplying milk.