Poots publishes plan to tackle bovine TB

By Roisin Henderson

A WIDE range of new measures have been announced as part of a long-term strategy to tackle the devastating impact of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) across the North.

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots last week announced the new plan, which comes following an extensive public consultation in which local farm ers had the chance to have their say on the strategy.

New measures to tackle BTB, which can have severe financial consequences for farmers when found in a herd, will include enhanced bio-security actions, non-bovine testing, new cattle measures, and action on wildlife. There are also future plans to change the current compensation programme for farmers who have had animals removed.

Minister Poots said as someone who has farmed for most of his life he understood the challenges facing farmers.

“It is a source of significant stress for our farming families and has the potential to inflict serious damage on the wider agri-food industry and its ability to trade on a global scale,” he said. “For too long this disease has had a devastating impact on our farming community.”

Minister Poots said he was “determined to take every possible action” to eradicate BTB, and said his department was working with stakeholders across all sectors to achieve that aim. He added the measures in the new strategy were based on the evidence and experience from other jurisdictions, and on “solid scientific research.”

Among the key factors that must be addressed is the spread from wildlife, and he said the long-term plan was to introduce a badger vaccination programme.

“To eradicate TB, all factors which contribute to the spread and maintenance of the disease in the environment must be addressed in parallel. I know that wildlife, particularly badgers, are a significant factor in TB maintenance and spread in the environment,” said Minister Poots.

“I very much appreciate that this is an emotive issue for many but in order to ensure a healthy cattle population I intend to introduce a programme of badger intervention in a limited number of areas.

“I want to make clear this is not the wholescale removal of badgers across Northern Ireland nor is it the removal of all badgers in an area. It is based on the experience and success of other parts of the UK and in the Republic of Ireland.

“I would hope that we can in a short number of years be able to move to a programme of badger vaccination and therefore we will have a healthy cattle and badger population.”

With regard compensation for farmers, Minister Poots said, “The annual cost of the TB programme is around £36-£40million, almost half of which is paid in compensation for infected cattle. This is simply not sustainable and is a drain on the public purse. I am however, very aware that the farming industry faces a number of challenges at the moment and into the immediate future.

“Therefore, whilst acknowledging the need for changes to our compensation system, I will not be introducing these at the moment but have asked my officials to review this in the medium term.”