The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is forecasting that compensating Northern Ireland farmers impacted by bovine tuberculosis will reach over £56 million in the current financial year.
Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir confirmed the amount in response to a recent question from UUP MLA Diana Armstrong.
“My department’s most recent projection for spend on bovine tuberculosis compensation for the 2025/2026 financial year is £56,351,574.
“This is based on a projected rise in the number of reactor animals and the increasing market value of cattle,” Minister Muir said.
The overall cost of the Northern Ireland TB programme this year will be significantly higher when other costs are included.
Bovine TB
Minister Muir previously confirmed that in the 12 months up to August 2025, DAERA paid a total of almost £47 million in compensation to herd owners for animals slaughtered for the control of bovine TB in Northern Ireland.
DAERA currently provides compensation for animals that are slaughtered due to a bovine TB breakdown at 100% of the animal’s market value.
According to the latest data from the department, the annual herd incidence rate in Northern Ireland for bovine TB in the past 12 months stood at 10.66% in September, up from 10.21% a year previously.
Since the start of 2025, there has been 14,105 TB reactor animals detected in Northern Ireland. 19,867 reactor animals were confirmed for the whole of 2024.
