Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to provide a range of supports to support good animal health.
These animal health support measures assist farmers in optimising farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
“The success of the farming year is dependent on many factors but much hinges on the health and well-being of a farmers’ livestock,” Minister McConalogue said.
“Good animal health not only enhances farm productivity and profitability, but also leads to reduced antibiotic usage, improved animal welfare, lower carbon emissions, and minimised risks of zoonotic diseases.
“From a government perspective, over and above the comprehensive range of sectoral supports, we look to support them with the knowledge, information, tools and resources necessary to optimise their management choices and safeguard their livelihoods.”
Good animal health
Central to the government’s strategy is the promotion of biosecurity measures as a cornerstone of disease prevention and control.
“Biosecurity is paramount in protecting animal health and preventing disease outbreaks,” the minister continued.
“We are committed to empowering farmers with the necessary data, knowledge and support infrastructure to make informed decisions and mitigate risks.”
In relation to the threat of exotic diseases such as avian influenza, bluetongue and African swine fever which are currently spreading across Europe, Minister McConalogue confirmed the allocation of additional funding towards addressing this risk.
This will be aimed at enhanced surveillance activities, including post-import testing, and awareness raising.
The minister also highlighted the critical need for strict biosecurity protocols to be applied at individual farm level, to ensure early detection of any exotic disease risk and to mitigate potential impacts.
He committed to further investments under the Rural Development Programme’s Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health (TASAH) programme to provide specialised veterinary advice to farmers.
The minister said: “[The programme] will provide farmers with free on-farm veterinary consultations, focusing on biosecurity for pig and poultry farms, chronic udder health issues and dry cow consultancy in dairy herds, disease management and control advice in relation to bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD), Johne’s Disease, bovine TB, tail biting in pigs and the salmonella control plan (pigs).
“We are committing funds of €3.75 million to support the BVD eradication programme this year, which includes direct support to farmers with test positive animals and also a 20% increased payment towards surveillance testing, at €2.40 per animal, supporting up to 25 animals per herd.”
Data
The minister has also noted the participation by 10,225 farmers who undertook snapshot testing of their herds for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) in the National Beef Welfare Scheme in 2023.
The outcome data from this scheme is available to those farmers to help them understand the IBR status of their herds and manage the risk of IBR on their own farms.
The overall anonymised data is available to inform industry stakeholders in the AHI coordinated technical working and implementation groups, as they consider the development of an IBR eradication programme.
“Preliminary information shows that some 50% of participating herds and 88% of animals tested negative for IBR, which is an invaluable insight into the challenge ahead,” Minister McConalogue said.
“I understand that future research is necessary to validate the efficacy of bulk milk testing as a surveillance methodology in any future control/eradication programme and I have therefore committed €100,000 to AHI to support their research into this and ancillary surveillance test methodologies.”
The minister also indicated that he is seeking to include an animal health measure in the 2024 National Beef Welfare Scheme which will be announced later this year.
Turning to small ruminants, the minister said: “I recognise that animal health challenges exist in the small ruminant sector and that there would be benefit in the industry coming together to explore the development of an industry-led small ruminant health programme.
“I have asked my officials to initiate immediate engagement with industry stakeholders on this and I look forward to seeing progress in this area.”