The level of bovine tuberculosis (TB) outbreaks on farms in the west Wicklow and surrounding regions was the key topic of discussion at a recent Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) meeting.
The meeting took place in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, on Tuesday (September 27 ) and was attended by approximately 150 farmers from west Wicklow and the surrounding regions.
Speaking to Agriland following the event, the Kildare / west Wicklow representative on the IFA’s Animal Health Committee Joe Morrissey, said that farmers in the region were “appreciative” of the senior officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM) TB division coming to speak at the event.
“There was some level of satisfaction from the farmers who attended the meeting that the senior department officials were in attendance,” he said.
“The department officials who spoke at the meeting accepted that something needs to be done about the deer and they recognised the science from their own laboratories in Backweston that the deer are a major part of the problem.”
According to Morrissey, the meeting heard that a TB outbreak on a farm can be linked back to purchasing cattle from a farm that has recently had a TB breakdown. The IFA man said that this caused a lot of anger from the farmers in attendance at the meeting.
“There was a lot of frustration from farmers when it was discussed that the problem relates to buying in cattle,” he said.
“We made the statement to the department officials clearly that we have had several cases where people have been cleared out of cattle and they bought in livestock from herds that have had no TB outbreaks and the cattle went down with TB again.
“It doesn’t matter where you buy-in the cattle from. Everyone has to have a clear test to sell. If you buy-in cattle free of TB, and the wildlife give it back to them, you’re going nowhere.”
Following the meeting, one farmer who was in attendance at the event contacted Agriland to express their frustration at the ongoing bovine TB issue in the region.
The farmer, who wished to remain unnamed, outlined that they have had to test their herd five times in the past year and said that “this level of testing causes a significant level of stress on both livestock and staff”.
The farmer also told Agriland that they believe the advice to buy cattle from herds that have been free from TB for a given period of time, is having a negative impact on the value of the livestock in the west Wicklow region where TB outbreaks are so prevalent.