In an effort to eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) from Northern Ireland, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and Northern Ireland Meat Export Association (NIMEA) have requested two amendments to the Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS).

The proposals are to introduce requirements for farmers to appropriately isolate BVD-positive animals and for any animals which test positive to be removed within 35 days.

UFU deputy president David Brown said a meeting was held with NIMEA at the beginning of September where both sides reached agreement on the proposals.

“If our requests are granted by the FQAS board, this will be another significant step towards the eradication of BVD in NI,” Brown said.

Progress

He said the industry had already made considerable progress to minimise the number and retention of BVD-positive animals.

He pointed to the recent statistics that, over the last 12 months, positive animals had decreased by 39% and retained animals with the disease were down 43%.

There were only 431 herds with 669 positive animals alive this July, compared with 699 herds with 1,062 animals alive in August 2018.

Action

"However, some are still holding on to BVD-positve animals," he said.

"Adding the requirement to isolate and remove a BVD-positive animal within 35 days of a positive test into the NI FQAS will help to substantially reduce the number of infectious animals in the country.

“Ultimately, this action will minimise the risk to disease-free herds, reduce antibiotic usage and improve the health and welfare of the Northern Ireland cattle herd. All are positive steps moving us towards our goal of BVD eradication faster.”

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