The Minister for Agriculture and farm organisations are attending a high-stakes meeting today to debate 30 new proposed TB eradication measures.

Among the controversial proposals are:

  • Mandatory whole-herd blood testing in herds with large breakdowns and herds over 60 cows where there are 10 reactors or more.
  • 30-day pre-movement test to be introduced.
  • Restriction on sale of cows whose cohorts went down with TB.
  • TB-risk category to be displayed at point of sale.
  • No compensation for animals bought from herds that had a breakdown in the last five years.
  • A new IFA report this week has found that compliance with the current TB Eradication Programme is costing farmers over €150m every year.