There is “total confusion” over new TB rules now in effect in markets across the country, according to one farming organisation.
As a result of the new government TB action planFarmers have seen significant changes in how cattle move through livestock markets.
For farmers who sell livestock, the animal is assigned to one of three groups so it can be offered for sale.
The Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system then informs the market of the specific grouping of that animal.
For farmers who purchase livestock, the herd is also assigned to a group, and this group then determines which animals you are entitled to purchase, see more about this here.
However, according to the Irish Dairy Suppliers Association (ICMSA), there is “increasing anger” among farmers over the new rules and how they will affect them.
Tuberculosis
ICMSA vice president Eamonn Carroll said there was “total confusion” around the new requirements in markets, and called for “changes and clarification” particularly in relation to online certification of compliance.
The agricultural organization has been “inundated with inquiries about the warning at the top of the certificate of compliance that is issued when a buyer and seller complete a sale,” Carroll said.
He added: “The warning that was displayed highlights that the H animals in the herd are at high risk by indicating that H – this animal was in a risk group – which led many farmers to assume that the animals in question were from a high risk herd and withdraw from the sale.
“But the administration stressed that this wording is just a warning, and that if the animal is considered high-risk, the letter H will be after the animal’s identity.
“In this case, why was this misleading classification made so carelessly?”
According to Carroll, the whole process is “unfairly confusing” to farmers who then assume they have TB, when this is not the case.
The ICMSA vice-president said the organization had repeatedly stressed to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) that any warnings or restrictions should be “carefully specific and defined”.
If warnings and restrictions are not specific, they run the “risk of undermining essential livestock movement and making a bad situation worse,” Carroll said.
“The management needs to modify the system immediately, remove the warning, and they need to do it immediately,” he urged.
