No ‘appropriate response’ from NI officials on TB

There has been no “appropriate response” from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) to bovine TB in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Famers Union (UFU) has said.

According to UFU president, William Irvine, the “tremendous financial and psychological stresses caused by bTB breakdowns and their aftermath are now universally recognised”.

“The current eradication policy is not working.

“We need change and this will require a significant wildlife intervention, particularly in bTB hotspot areas,” he warned.

In his opinion badgers are part of the problem, he believes their health is adversely impacted by bTB while they also act to transmit the disease to cattle.

The UFU president added: “The results of research currently being carried out by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast will very likely confirm that the numbers of badgers in Northern Ireland has been very significantly underestimated up to this point.

“This further highlights the role that they play in worsening the bTB challenge. Meanwhile, badgers predate on hedgehogs another wildlife species.

“There is a very clear balance point that has to be archived as we look to the future, healthy populations of cattle and badgers living in harmony throughout our rural areas.

“This is the end point that every farmers wants to see achieved.”

A recent agreement reached between the departments of agriculture in Belfast and Dublin will allow for a cross-border bTB trail in the Tyrone/Donegal area.

A wildlife intervention centred on an assessment of the bTB levels that exist within the region’s badger population will also be included within the remit of the work undertaken.

The UFU president has described this approach as “only kicking the can down the road”.

UFU president, William Irvine Source: UFU — UFU presiden, William Irvine. Source: UFU

Irvine said: “We have been here before. A similar trial was carried out in the Banbridge area of Co Down a number of years ago. And this work confirmed the prevalence of bTB in badger populations.

“Adding to farmers’ frustrations about the new, cross-border trial is the time it will take to complete the work.

“Initially, we were told that two years would suffice. Now, this has been pushed out to five years.

bTB

The UFU president firmly believes that the focus needs to be on wildlife intervention.

He said: “The current test has been used successfully to eradicate TB in countries like Australia and New Zealand.

“But in these countries a wildlife intervention was also included in the eradication strategies put in place.

“So it’s time that the veterinary authorities here in Northern Ireland learned from the steps taken in other parts of the world.”

Northern Ireland

He believes that eradicating bTB is now the most “fundamental challenge” facing production agriculture in Northern Ireland.

“The impact the disease is having on very large numbers of local farms is all pervasive.

“The UFU has always recognised this reality.

“It’s now a case of re-doubling our efforts into the future in order to get a final solution that works for all stakeholder groups,” William Irvine said.

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