Willingness to test for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has a disproportionately greater impact on small beef farms, according to a new study. Latest report Published by the Anderson Center.
The associated costs have been identified in the work, which was commissioned by the Ulster Farmers’ Union in tandem with the Livestock and Meat Commission and the Northern Ireland Dairy Board.
Despite often having smaller holdings, beef farmers interviewed for the report stressed that the logistics of preparing for bTB testing are always more complex for them than on a dairy farm.
The report said that the fragmentation of these companies plays a major role in this regard.
Many beef herds operate across multiple parcels of land, often spread across satellite farms or on leased land.
Testing costs
Compared to the size of some of these agricultural operations, collecting livestock for testing requires significant labor input: typically 12 to 20 hours per test.
This can rise to 30 hours or more on a highly fragmented property.
As a result, most farms have relied on two or perhaps as many as four people to administer the test, often supplemented by family members who take time from their main jobs to help.
All of this is associated with transporting animals for testing and the costs associated with this process.
Farmers stressed the need to use vehicles for two to three days for each test, including trailers, along with fuel and labor needed to bring animals on remote land to a central testing point.
For some growers, these logistics have become the most burdensome aspect of the entire testing process.
Business requirements
Beyond the testing itself, beef farms have faced a number of ongoing business and operational impacts.
Retained stock requires additional feed and bedding. and monitoring, especially when animals are housed for longer periods than scheduled.
A number of farmers claimed that the ongoing labor demands during the collapse equated to an additional three to five working days per episode, representing an additional cost of between £1,500 and £3,000 once labor and overheads are accounted for.
Some beef farmers also indicated that, during testing, they had to hire machine operators during peak periods, because testing could replace essential tasks such as silage making, fencing, and pasture management.
This can cause unexpected delays, affecting field conditions.
In the event of a bTB collapse, farmers in Northern Ireland would be highly vulnerable to movement restrictions, given their reliance on timely sales of weanlings, stores or finished cattle.
