The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said that it is “extremely concerned” about the impact of the pause in bovine tuberculosis (bTB) testing in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) announced last month that there would be “a short pause” in TB testing ahead of a new system going live.
The UFU said that it is concerned about the impact this pause in testing will have on its members and on Northern Ireland’s livestock industry given the absence of a revised agreed contract between DAERA and the Private Veterinary Practitioners (PVP).
UFU president David Brown said: “It’s the UFU’s understanding that DAERA has not yet supplied the Private Veterinary Practitioners with all terms of the revised contract and the current one is due to expire on April 10, 2023 – only days away.
“The timing is hugely inconvenient for our members, with many farmers having planned TB testing in the forthcoming weeks prior to moving cattle outdoors for summer grazing.
“We’re already aware of members who have had their TB test cancelled next week.”
Brown said there is also worry surrounding the increasing incidence rate of TB in cattle lately.
“Routine herd testing is a key part of the control program and the shortest break can cause significant disruption, derailing our ability to suppress and progress towards eradication,” he said.
“We urge DAERA and PVP to put all their efforts into creating a resolution to get a revised contract in place immediately, to ensure that TB testing continues uninterrupted.
“We’ve also made it clear to DAERA that our members will not stand for additional herd restrictions being imposed or cross compliance penalties for overdue testing as a result of their inability to deliver on a critical contract.
“The end date of which, they would’ve been aware of for some time.”
New testing system
The latest stage of DAERA’s new Northern Ireland Food Animal Information System (NIFAIS) is set to launch on June 12, 2023.
It will replace the existing Animal and Public Health Information System (APHIS), which has been in operation since 1998.
DAERA said that this phase brings in all remaining bovine functionality and opens the system up to external stakeholders such as herdkeepers, markets, abattoirs and vets.
This phase marks the end of stage 1 of the project for bovine functionality, with stage 2 planned to go live in late 2024 to cover other non-bovine species.
NIFAIS will eventually fully replace APHIS as the database used by DAERA and its stakeholders.
In order to reduce the risk of data loss or corruption there will be restrictions on TB testing during a three-week period from May 29 to June 19, 2023.
DAERA is urging herd keepers whose compulsory TB tests fall within this period to contact their vet now to arrange an alternative date to ensure they avoid going overdue.