Survey supports fox hunting ban in NI

A new survey by Alliance MLA John Blair has found that 72% of people in NI support a ban on hunting with dogs. Blair is in the process of bringing a private members bill before the NI Assembly, which proposes a ban on hunting wild mammals with dogs. The survey received over 12,000 responses, with 40% stating that they lived in NI.

“The results are in line with various opinion polls which have been carried out over the years, that always show around 70% in favour of a ban,” Blair told MLAs last week.

BVD restrictions to be introduced

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) herd restrictions are being introduced from 1 June for herds across NI with animals over 30 days old that haven’t been tested for BVD. Movement restrictions will be applied to herds with animals of unknown BVD status (BVDU). These restrictions will initially apply to only the most non-compliant herds; those with 20 or more BVDUs calves older than 30 days old. DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said: “There is a small cohort of farmers that are not testing all their animals for BVD on time, some of which may be infected with the virus, therefore posing a risk to their herd and to other herds.”

The new BVD Control Order (NI) 2024 which came into effect on 1 February have given DAERA powers to apply herd restrictions in specific circumstances to control BVD. Herds in which one or more animals have tested BVD positive (BVDP) or inconclusive (BVDI) will be restricted following a ‘grace period’.

Since the 1 May 2025 this grace period has reduced from 28 days to seven days.

Big cuts to hogget and lamb prices

Factories in NI have made significant cuts to quotes for both hoggets and lambs this week. Base quotes for hoggets run from 580p to 600p/kg, down 30p/kg on last week. More factories have also dropped weight limits from 23kg to 22kg. Quotes for spring lambs are back 20p/kg this week and run from 685p to 700p/kg up to a 21kg weight limit. Factory cuts hit the live trade in the local marts earlier in the week, but prices had picked up by mid-week mainly driven by live exporters from Britain. In Ballymena on Wednesday, the run of lambs weighing from 20kg to 23.5kg sold for £147 to £167 a head.

England bluetongue status to change

The restricted zone for bluetongue will be extended to cover all of England from 1 July. This will allow for movement of livestock within England without a bluetongue licence or test being required. As a result of confirmed cases of bluetongue virus in Britain, moves of all live ruminants from Britain to NI remain restricted.