The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has called on the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to capitalise on control measures for bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
The union said that, for the first time in history, the farming industry is “able to utilise some of the TB control measures that DAERA has failed to capitalise on in the past”.
UFU president David Brown said the policy pursued for the last 60-70 years to eradicate the disease has been a failure, as the latest TB figures showed another rise in TB incidence.
“Modelling the approach in England which has proven to be extremely effective in reducing the disease burden in all species, as well as increasing biodiversity wildlife intervention, will form a key part of the revised strategy for Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Given the very high infection levels of TB in badgers, the most effective way to reduce this disease reservoir is through a targeted proactive intervention programme in hotspot areas, that is selected using stringent criteria.
“Once infection levels are reduced, this strategy can be replaced over time by a vaccination phase in wildlife which would only be effective in uninfected animals.”
Brown said the UFU has long lobbied for wildlife intervention and its members want “effective action to be taken urgently” to tackle bTB in all of its hosts.
“They continue to be frustrated that despite suffering severe emotional and financial losses for generations, the disease incidence continues to climb to record levels,” he said.
“When TB is detected in a herd, farmers are already left to bear significant costs due to the loss of production because of DAERA’s inability to eradicate the disease.
“Moving forward, farmers will be paying for the implementation of farmer education, support and wildlife intervention within the revised TB strategy through the levy.
“DAERA cannot expect them to finance it any further when their previous TB policy created the need for a new, effective approach.”